Handy Helpful Blog

Ever catch your dog staring longingly out the window but you don’t want to stop what you’re doing and let him out? At Edward’s Enterprises we install dog doors in our clients houses fairly often. They are a great way to keep cooling and heating costs low and let your pet come and go as they please. But what if you have really nice doors and you don’t want to cut a hole in them? Or you want the dog to go in and out of a space like your laundry room? The following is our thoughts on what you should generally consider when installing a dog door into a wall or a French glass door. We will install any door a client wants, but when we are tasked with supplying the door itself we tend to use PlexiDor Dog Doors because they meet all of the criteria we list below.

What Should Your Main Concerns Be?

• Make sure that the door can be installed easily into your wall material; stud, brick, block, cement walls.
• Make sure the tunnel provided for the door is at least 12″ thick so you are sure it can traverse any thickness of wall. The tunnel should be made of a material that is easy to trim down.
• Be sure these tunnel materials will allow for a tight and professional looking finish.
• Be sure the tunnel and interior/exterior frames are made of materials that will not warp, rust and its easy to keep clean.
• It is wise to get a door with a slanted tunnel that sloughs rain water outside and keeps your home dry.
• Make you get a dog door that locks for security.
• If you live in an area with hurricanes or tornado you will want a dog door with doors rated for high wind speeds.

What if I Have French Doors?

There are easy solutions if you want a doggy door in a glass door. They primarily use prefabricated inserts that replace one of the panels in your door. You will want to make sure the glass is well insulated and it helps to have a protective coating on the glass because an animal will be moving through it often. The most important detail is to make sure that you get the right sized panel for your needs.

Helpful Accessories

Dog Door Awnings: These offer a trade off. They prevent rain, snow, falling debris etc from coming into your home. The main consideration is that the awning will stick out from your door. This may be a bother for some people. So you have to weigh that potential draw back against the benefit of rain staying out of the dog door.

A sliding track and flip lock for the security plate. This makes it easier to apply the metal security plate to your dog door and secures it to the door.

There are a lot of options for any home that allow you to get the HVAC savings benefits of a dog door without having to modify your doors if you don’t want to. Installation can be challenging, especially cutting the hole for the door, and you need to be sure the door has sealed well. This can be a DIY project, but if you want help from a contractor, feel free to contact us and we’ll be glad to work with you.