Dog Doors | Basic Pet Door Screen Installation

With nicer weather coming just around the corner, now is the time to think about installing a dog door for your favorite pet. Many homeowners are are reluctant to install them by themselves but it is a fairly simple process, especially when you install it in your patio door screen. My animals loved it once I gave them the freedom to come and go as they pleased during the summer months. It was also nice not having to get up and let them out into the backyard every time one of them wanted to go out. Once you have a dog door installed you'll be pleasantly surprised how nice they are. Here are some basic instructions for adding a dog door to your own patio screen door.

1. Doggie doors or Cat doors that are made to go into sliding patio screen door are usually installed in one of the the bottom corners of the sliding patio screen door depending on how your door opens.

2. To Prevent you from installing the Doggie Door in the wrong location make sure to mark it using some sort of tape or other material that wont come off. You would hate to cut a hole in the top of the screen instead of the bottom. Trust me this is a stupid mistake you will want to avoid at all costs.

3. Once you have your screen door out place it on the ground or a solid flat surface. You will need to locate a piece of wood slightly larger than the opening you plan on making for the Doggie door to place under the screen door. Make sure to put this under the screen where you previously marked it with tape. Installing the Pet door will require that you do a bit of hammering that is why this board is needed.

4. Your new doggie door or Cat door will usually come in two halves. One half will go behind the screen on top of the wood you placed behind the door. The other piece of the Doggie door will go on top of the screen. Make sure to follow the instructions that came with you specific model of Pet door. Each different model may have specific instructions not covered here. Don’t just throw the instructions to the side and ignore them, you don’t want to ruin your patio door and screen.

5. After you have the new Pet door securely in the place you want it, you can cut away the screen for the opening. Again follow your instruction manual to prevent any accidents.

6. Once the opening has been made, lay the top half of the Dog door onto the the lower half. Most of the time you will use a rubber hammer or mallet to seat the two pieces together. . Now you have to hammer the two halves together with a rubber mallet. Take care as you seat these two pieces together with the mallet that you don’t damage the new door.

7. At this point install any additional hardware such as locks and make sure they are aligned properly. Stand the patio screen door up and verify that your new Doggie door operates properly. Make any necessary corrections to the lock alignment at this time.

8. After having fully tested and you feel that everything is correct, reinstall the patio screen door. Your new Pet door is now ready for use. If your dog or cat is afraid to use the dog door , coax them with treats a couple of times to get them used to it. It may take a while before they fully understand what that the door is there for their use. It took my dog almost a week before he would start using it without assistance or being coaxed by treats.