My cat, Willie, is 17 years old. This is not “Dog/cat years” it is actual years.

I've had him for about 2 years now. He’s a good cat most of the time, but tends to be rather stubborn. His preferred place in the world seems to be in the garage, where he spends most of his time. Unfortunately, he can’t see outside while in the garage and doesn’t get much fresh air when it is nice weather outside. There is a window in the “person door” going out of the back the garage, but I hesitate to stack up some plastic containers so he can see outside. If Willie jumps down off a surface of a couple of feet, he tends to injure one of his front paws when he lands. A limping cat is rather pathetic. So, I made a “cat barricade” that fits under the garage door to allow him to see out from ground level and let in some breeze.

Step 1: The Frame

The barricade can be easily installed and removed from the door. The barricade slides into the track of the garage door.

The frame for the barricade was made out of 2x2's and plywood. Window screen and wire shelving units keep out most flying bugs and any stray dogs. The first step was to cut out the plywood for the frame. When setting the height of the barricade, I wanted to be able to insert bolts in the garage track to keep the garage door from being opened from the outside when the barricade is installed. For me, the two plywood pieces on each side were 13.5" tall by 18" wide.

When setting the width of the plywood, I wanted to have a center support for the barricade using a short length of 2x2 and to use two, 12 inch by 36-inch wire shelves from the hardware store.

The plywood was attached to 2x2’s using 1.5-inch wood screws. (Two on the end of each 2x2)

The center support for the frame (shown in Figure 9) was attached by using 3-inch wood screws. (Two screws on each end) The holes were predrilled so I didn’t split the wood.

Once the frame was assembled, the barricade was painted white to match the garage door.

Step 2: The Window Screen

Window screen was then cut out to match the area where the wire shelves would be installed. The screen was stapled down.

Step 3: The Wire Shelving

The wire shelves were screwed down over the top of where the screen was stapled down.
The screen was wrapped around the edge of the shelves at the top and shelving was then fastened down using hole punched aluminum pieces. Note that large washers could have been used with bolts to hold down the wire shelving. (I didn’t have any washers the correct size, so I improvised)

Step 4: Attaching the Shelves

Each shelf has 6 fasteners to hold it to the wood frame; three on top and three on the bottom.

Step 5: The Trim

The last thing to put on was the trim to cover the edges of the window screen. I needed three pieces, one for the center (shown below), one for the right side and one for the left side.

Step 6: The Handle

Any good project needs a handle. So, a handle was put on the back of the frame, in the center

Step 7: The Happy (?) Cat

Things I would change:
The window screen probably wasn’t necessary. The idea was to keep out flies and mosquitoes, but the gap in the top of the top of the garage door when the barricade is installed allows plenty of flying insects into the garage. (whoops)
Otherwise, the barricade is light enough to easily be installed and removed.
Below is Willie.