pawesome-fist-bump After my husband and I threw down 600 bucks on a new couch we knew we had to do something about the cats. Since kitten pie was out of the question, we thought to invest in a scratching post that was so enticing, even the couch would no longer appeal. Unfortunately, when I went to the pet store, the sisal cat scratcher I've always wanted was priced at $70. Um, no. Sorry. Luckily, a few days later my husband came home  with all the ingredients to make the ultimate sisal and carpet cat scratcher. Here's how we did it.

giz-enjoying-the-sisal_1
 
 
What You Need
• 100 feet of sisal rope
• Two 2-by-4s
• One piece of scrap plywood to act as the base
• Remnant carpeting • Drill
• 1" wood screws
• 4" wood screws
• Small hammer
• Staple gun that can handle 9/16" staples
• A pack of 9/16" staples [gallery]
 
Instructions
 
Part One: The Posts
1. Cut each 2-by-4 to the length you'd like your posts to be. We cut ours to about 35-inches. Remember that how tall you make your posts will determine how much sisal rope and carpet is needed.
 
2. With your drill, screw the tail end of the sisal rope to the bottom of one of the 2-by-4s.
 
 
3. Begin to tightly wrap the sisal around the 2-by-4.
 
4. Every 10 rows, stop and use a hammer to lightly tap the top of the rope while still pulling on the rope's end. This will make sure the rope is as close to the wood as it can get. Then use the hammer to tap around the top edge of the rope to make sure your rows are as tight as possible.
 
 
5. Secure the 8th row with a wood screw. We drilled the screws directly into the body of the rope, making sure not to go too far. Only affix screws on one side of the post---this comes into play later, as you don't want your kitty nails getting stuck on metal screws.
 
6. Repeat these steps until you get to your last section of rope. Before you screw the last few rows of rope, you'll want to secure the carpet on the other half of the post. Alternately, you could use longer rope to cover the whole post with, but we found that our cats love ripping up their fare share of carpet, so we decided to cover the top half with what they love.
 
7. Roll out your remnant carpeting, face down.
 
8. Place the 2-by-4's bare end (hee, hee) on the carpet in order to measure out the amount of carpet you'll need to wrap around the post. Once measured, cut the rug to size.
 
9. Using a staple gun, affix the carpet onto the post as if you were wrapping a gift. Make sure to keep all your affixing on the side of the post you did all your screwing. Remember your kitty's claws!
 
10. For the top of the post, where the remaining carpet is now sticking out, cut off the end that's on your screw/staple side and use the remaining carpet to fold over like gift wrapping (see photos!)
 
 
 
11. Drill 2-3 screws in to keep this flap down.
 
 
12. Tightly wrap the remaining sisal around the carpet base, affixing the end of the rope in several places to the wood. Not to sound like a broken record, but again, make sure to keep screws on the screw side of the 2-by-4.
 
13. Now that you've got one post done, go have a glass of wine and then come back to do it all over for the second post.
 
Part Two: The Base
1. Hopefully you've picked a piece of scrap wood that's just the right size to act as a base for the posts. You want it to be large enough that it will be able to balance the two posts without any risk of having the whole thing topple over. Our plywood is 1.5-by-2 feet.
 
2. Roll out your remnant carpeting, face down.
 
3. Place the plywood down on the carpet and measure out the amount you need to wrap around the top of the plywood. You'll only need about an inch and half to two inches of extra length to properly affix it to the plywood.
 
 
4. With your carpet cut and your plywood properly placed on top, fold one side over and staple it into place. Do the same for the opposite end, making sure to pull taut as if you were stretching canvas over a frame.
 
5. For the next two sides, cut the corners off from each side of extra carpeting. This will help you flap the material over the plywood.
 
6. Flap over and staple.
 
 
7. Now that you've got the base done, have more wine!
 
Part Three: Putting it all together.
1. Place the base on the floor with the wood side exposed. Stand the posts on this wood side in the manner you'd like them to be standing once they're on the carpet side. You want the posts to stand back-to-back, with screws sides facing each other.
 
2. Using a pencil, trace around the posts' bases to create a visual of where they will be placed. Mark where your four screws (two for each post) will be drilled into within each of the traced boxes.
 
3. Get your screws and start drilling them in. As soon as they start to poke out through the carpet on the other side, stop.
 
 
4. Now you need a friend. One of you holds the first post in place over the exposed screw tops on the carpet side. The other stands on the wood side and drills full force. With both screws drilled fully into the base of the post, it should be secure.
 
5. Do the same thing with the second post, making sure that it lines up nicely, back-to-back, with the already affixed post.
 
6. You'll probably notice that the tops of the posts don't line up as tight as you want. Using 4-inch wood screws, drill at an angle through each of the posts. You'll want your screw to start in one post and end in the other. We used two screws for each post. You don't want to overdue it as this will be the one section of your cat scratcher that your cats may interact with screws.
 
7. You're done, so sit back and watch your kitties have fun. You may want to rub some catnip on the new piece de resistance in order to entice your little friends to party down. You can check out this video of my little ones enjoying their new cat scratcher with dad.

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