Frequently Asked Questions: Doggy Doors and Cat Doors
The Pet Door Store Top 5 Reasons to Own a Pet Door:
1. Just imagine if you had to wait 10 HOURS to go to the bathroom! A pet door allows your animal to "take care of business" whenever necessary.
2. Great for people with limited mobility. Your pet can go in and out all day without relying on you to get the door.
3. Pet Doors provide refuge from wild animal attacks such as coyotes and Africanized bees.
4. A pet door is a fire escape for your pets.
5. Allows pets access to mud rooms, garages, or basements without having to leave doors open.
Q: How do I install a pet door
into a door that has recessed panels?
This is a very common
question and the answer is dealt with in more detail than this space allows
on this at this link.
Q: Can I install a pet door into my glass door or French door?
If you have a French door with divided, separate panes of glass, then we have a quick and easy to install solution for you. We can have a custom size Hale pet door manufactured specifically for your door. This only works if your door has individual, separate panes of glass, and many newer doors have one big sheet with the gridwork on top, or a dual pane window with the grid in between the glass. The easiest way to tell if the panes are individual is to look for the manufacturers stamp in each little window. Doors that were produced before the late 60's won't have these stamps, but if the door is that old it's a pretty safe bet that the panes are really separate.
Glass doors are becoming more and more common in new home construction so this question is becoming more frequent. The answer is tricky. First, most homes built since the late 60's or so will have tempered glass in the doors and windows. Tempered glass cannot be cut. So when you see "glass fitting" pet doors on other websites, keep in mind that the manufacturers of those doors are mostly in Europe, where tempered glass isn't required. There is a way to install a pet door into a glass door though. The process which your local glass company will follow is this: They will disassemble the existing door and remove the glass pane. They will then make another glass pane the same size, and cut a notch out of the bottom corner before the glass gets tempered. Then the glass goes through the tempering heat treatment, and now a pet door which fits on a thin surface like the Pet Safe Classic can be mounted onto the glass. The pet door has a female edge, and the door has a female edge, so the two cannot be connected together directly. A piece called a bridge must be made to fit the two together, this is usually made from polycarbonate. Needless to say this is quite a project and usually a wall mount pet door is a cheaper more viable option, or replacing the glass door with a wood or steel door and installing a regular door mount pet door in that is usually a more cost effective solution. If you still want to find out about installing a pet door in glass, first thing to do is pick up the Yellow Pages and call glass companies in your area and see if you can find someone willing to take on the project.
Q: What about security? Is a thief going to enter my house through my pet door?
A:There are 2 answers to this question. 1. A thief who sees a pet door large enough to enter through would also have to figure on a very large dog being on the premises too. 2. All cat and doggy doors sold by The Pet Door Store in medium and larger sizes come with locking covers or deadbolts. These locking devices are all tough. Tough enough that breaking a window to gain entry would be a better alternative for the prospective thief.
Q: I have a sliding glass door which is attached to my home security system. What can I do to install a pet door in this area?
A: You have a few choices here. You can install the pet door and have a home security technician come out and install the necessary sensor on the pet door, or you can leave the side of the sliding door that opens alone, and install the pet door on the stationary part of the slider. Stationary panels are usually screwed in place or held in place with a long flat shim which sits in the threshold. The screw in type can be unscrewed, slid over, and new holes drilled to fix it in its new location after you have completed the pet door installation. The shim type can be dealt with as follows: Remove the shim, slide the stationary panel over, fit the pet door, then cut the shim to the new shorter length and reinstall. Take a look at the setup for a Johnson pet door and a Hale pet door for more specification details.
Q: How do the electronic pet doors sense that my pet is approaching?
A: The electronic pet doors we carry use a magnet as the collar key, or use a battery powered infra red collar key. The magnet type creates a very small amount of electricity inside the pet door when it nears the outer frame piece. The door senses the electrical charge, and reacts with an electric solenoid which pulls the lock down, allowing the door to be pushed open. The other type of electronic pet door we carry uses an infra red collar key. These electronic pet doors work in much the same way as the remote control for your TV, and are also very reliable. There are other types of cat and doggy doors on the market which use radio frequency keys, but we have found the magnetic and infra red key types to be more reliable.
Q: Do I need dual pane glass for my sliding glass door pet door?
A: It is not necessary to purchase a cat or doggy door with dual pane glass even if your door has dual panes. Dual pane glass is desirable in extreme climates or noisy areas, as it does a very good job of insulating both weather and sound. Take a look at a Johnson pet door or a Hale pet door in the SLIDING GLASS area to see how it can work in your home.
Q: How hard is installing a pet door in a steel door?
A: The installation procedure is exactly the same whether you have a wood door or a steel door. The only things that need to change are the tools used. Wood drill bits won't work on a steel door, and it is necessary to use a metal cutting blade for the jigsaw or sawzall used to cut the hole for the door.
Q: Will my little dog or cat be able to use a big dog door?
A: In most cases yes. All of the doors we carry are easy to open. The only time a small dog would not be able to use a big door is if they were too timid to do so, but usually small dog = big attitude, so this is usually not a problem! Some of our customers with cats and dogs have used very large pet doors for both, so cats can also use a very large dog door if inclined to do so.
Q: Can I purchase a door with
the pet door already installed?
A: No. Unfortunately
there are too many different door sizes to make this feasible, not to
mention the cost of shipping a complete door would be far too expensive,
and besides, hanging a door is a much more difficult procedure than
installing a pet door. Installing a pet door is not difficult
and can be done by just about anyone, given the right tools. If you
are not comfortable with installing your new door, we suggest that
you find a handyman. If you are installing a wall through unit, a licensed
contractor is the way to go.
Q: Why won't the Pride screen
adapter work on my screened in porch?
A: The Pride adapter has a U shaped channel which
plugs onto the 1/2 inch thick screen framing of a sliding screen door.
The framing for a screened in porch is usually about 2 inches thick, and
so the U shape simply doesn't fit over that thicker framing. The Hale Screen door can be ordered in a thickness that does work for screened porch, lanai, or pool cage framing.
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