When I began this project what seems like months and a lot of money and trips to B&Q ago I had a vision on a piece of paper. This build was primarily for the Degus, but also to try and finish off our lounge that we had spent so much time decorating and making as we wanted (as well as the benefits of not lifting a Double Thickets cage up and down and the lack of scattered poop, substrate, sand etc).
A large part of this was the front of the box, rather than a mesh front I wanted sliding doors so we could see clearly into the cage. The successful completion of this part would determine the overall impact of the project so it was a fairly daunting task!
First off I wanted the doors to be fixed to a fully removable frame - over the course of this project I started having nightmares about the Goos eating the Perspex doors and me having to replace them with toughened glass so the ability to easily deconstruct the front to swap glass was paramount.
I took the decision to build the frames out of pine because if the girls could reach them, they would eat them (naturally) so in case of any contact I wanted to make them safe.
Also this was an aesthetic choice - to be honest about this project I could have made the whole thing cheaper, but this is going to be a huge feature piece of our living room so there were occasions such as this where I pushed the boat out.
The starting point was to measure the top and the sides and cut lengths of pine to fit.
I then attached brackets - one each end for the top and bottom brackets and two on each side pieces.
Once these were ready it was simply a matter of drilling holes and bolting them in place, securing with nuts and washers.
What this left me with was a solid frame that matched the top section, but with the added bonus that it would all come to pieces with great ease.
Step one was complete!
The second stage was the runners that housed the sliding doors.
I wanted Double U shaped twin track runners but our B&Q didn't ever have them stocked in metal for some reason - plastic fine - so eventually I decided to use a larger runner and sit the two panes of plastic in one channel.
This wasn't my ideal solution but at least in future I can always remove the runner and replace them and the doors will fit new runners. At this point the desire to get the lounge back over-rode the patience for twin sliders.
Having cut the top and bottom runners to length I used Gripfill to hold them in place as I did not want to drill into the sliders (give two doors in one channel was going to be challenge enough!).
With the runners in place I turned my attention to the Perspex panels.
A note to anyone wanting to build a Degu house using Perspex, it is not cheap.
This was actually the single biggest outlay.
It is also galling when a work colleague then tells you the week after that he could have got you toughened glass on the quiet!
Still it was with great care that the Perspex was cut to size.
Using workbench.
G Clamps.
Masking Tape to protect the surface from the jigsaw...
Eventually the Perspex was cut and it was time to test the fit.
It was (thankfully) perfect.
The process was repeated for the second panel.
Once both pieces were in place edge guards were added to act as a deterrent to rodents who like to chew everything.
Well let's face it - it won't act as a deterrent, but it will stop them eating plastic!
After these bits were added it was time to put a decorative handle on the doors.
These would serve two purposes:
1. To open the doors (Well, duh).
2. To act as a natural stop position for the doors.
First I drilled the holes in the Perspex - slowly and carefully!
Then I secured the handles.
Then I maneuvered them into position.
Once the glass effect was finished it was just a matter of adding the final trims to tidy the front up.
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