mine ignores it all week and then sits out there in the rain like hes paying rent on it lol

Hello and good day all,

I have quite an ambitious project, and Im hoping the fine folks here can help me out. Even simply images, layouts, ideas, reference materials, build parts, dimensions, brackets, etc - I will absorb it all and it will help!

I apologize in advance for the length, but I will try to be detailed to prevent lack of information issues. (HOUSTON TX AREA)

I have this large-ish patio area that is 10 ft by 12 ft solid concrete slab (original to the house). It is 10 feet deep from the back door (which used to have an old doggy door from the prior owners that we originally were going to repurpose, BUT we have since replaced the backdoor and cannot - so we will resort to opening a window as a pathway). Our Pavers were not as deep, but I recently re-paved them, levelling them, and extending them to just shy of 10 feet (theyre actually 9 ft 9 inches, but I plan to get a seperate smaller paver to officially make them 10 feet exact).

In my images you can see that I had bought those self-standing catios - three of them, and at first we had them longwise, but turned them sideways to fit better after I extended the pavers. We had them against the house, but for the window access, I had to build a wooden frame to slide into the brick windowframe to cover any gaps because I am extremely paranoid about them finding a hole.

We recently had new windows installed. That wood frame no longer fits. If I try to rebuild it and set it in, it runs the risk of damaging the windows already and would 100% void my warranty for it (by owner caused deliberate damage).

*So I am in need of getting some MOVEMENT on my grand ambitious catio idea. *

I want to entirely enclose the patio as a walk-in catio. Then extend it down the 45-50 foot line down the pavers to just shy of the AC (Leaving room for maintenance to work around it, of course). Potentially we may stop it just shy of those back windows. I also cannot drill into the soffets or roof edge without voiding the warranty on the (also new) roof, soffets, and fascia.

We are not opposed to breaking up the 10 by 12 patio into a 10 by 10 section, or a 10 by 8, since we plan to extend it the whole way down. The only height rule we have is "tall enough for us to not bonk our heads" (which happens with the other smaller ones we bought). My gitters/soffet line runs approl 9.5-10 ft high, and Im the tallest one at 5'11'' so theres a decent play there.

My original thinking was to build it in "sections". Do the patio first. Then the section next to it. The section next to that. Etc. So each is structurally sound, just placed side by side (and no mesh between them). We plan to add a door right by the patio, and another at the far end.

Our problem is we cannot decide on how to start. It rains a lot here. I see folks use a 4 by 4 as a base frame, and build the walls on top of that. Ours would rot sitting directly on the concrete where the wood would absorb all that water upwards. I saw folks use these concrete risers, but again, that wouldnt work so well as I dont want to "put a deck", and Id have to deal with framing around the slanted concrete to prevent cat escapists. Then I thought maybe I could frame he thing in concrete cindeblocks, but 1: potentially expensive, 2: thats a lot of cinderblocks to get enough to frame the whole thing so we dont have to re-frame around the blocks, and 3: aesthetics (thats my moms argument).

We will be doing all the manual labor. Im pretty handy and weve done plenty of projects on our own.. just never building an outside structure that sits. My greatest concern after structurally sound is weathering (rains a lot, and windy, as were near Houston TX area).

So.. help a gal out?