Nothing beats the look of love that can give you a sweet treat after a hard day’s work. Your dog jumps, yips and wags its tail to greet you and your cat hits, rubs and penetrates your heart. While it’s hard to beat all of his loves, it’s hard to remember his intense love for you when you’re waking up at 2 a.m. to go out and use the bathroom. By installing a pet door in your home, you can easily prevent the constant whining, barking and barking that comes to travel outside. Use this guide to pet door installation and you’ll be on your way to getting the freedom they deserve and the peace of mind of knowing you’re not the only one waking up outside.
Choosing the door
A pet door can be easily installed on exterior doors or on screen enclosures. If you’re thinking of cutting into the exterior of your home, you’ll probably need to hire a professional builder. to cut a hole for you. Cutting into the exterior of your home can be dangerous and should not be attempted by anyone without the right experience, tools and insurance!
Measure hole
With that said, cutting a hole in your hole is still a challenge but it can be done easily with this guide. Before you start cutting any holes, you need a pet door to make sure the holes are the right width and length. Have the cavity cut to manufacturer specifications, or end up having to buy a new door! Basically, you will need to cut the opening in the center of the door (left to right) and at least six inches (or more) from the bottom of the gate board.
Put it out
Take the door off its hinges and place it face down on the mouth of a strong sawhorse covered with an old cloth to prevent it from scratching the door. Place a mark on both sides of the door using a light pen. Use a wood drill bit on wood doors and a metal drill on metal and fiberglass doors and make a hole halfway through the corner of your pet door to open. Flip the door and push drill bit through the other side and complete the hole.
Configuring
Now you can use the metal blade installed in the jigsaw to cut a hole out of your fiberglass or metal door. Insert the iron so that it only cuts through the door panel and does not go all the way through. You will make a very ugly hole if you cut all the way through the door. Flip the door and finish off.
For all wood doors, you will need to cut the door in half along one side using a circular saw, then flip the door over and finish cut using a jigsaw blade. Taping the cut edge using masking tape can also help prevent the door from getting cut.
Install a Pet Door
In most cases, the pet door comes with a weatherproofing strip that prevents the pet door from leaking. You may want to back this up using a silicone-based sealant before you join the two parts of the pet door together. Have a helper make one side of the pet door square and flat while you install the other side from the inside. Make sure you keep all the screws in the inner housing when the door cap fits and you should have no problems!
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