Sliding Screen Dog Doors

There are a variety of sliding screen dog doors on the market today. These doors are intended to fit right into the lower half of a sliding screen door. In this way they provide a way for your pet to get in and out of the house while the patio door is open but the screen door is closed.

Cats and Dogs can be easily trained to use sliding screen dog doors. Many pets train themselves to use them. The doggy door is held closed usually by a small magnet. The pet quickly learns they can push on the flap and make it open. The magnet serves to keep the flap closed so that it does not jam into the patio door when the screen door is opened or closed.

I prefer to use sliding screen dog doors with smaller dogs and cats. Most of the dog doors only have thin aluminum or plastic frames which are not meant to be extremely strong. Once you have dogs heavier than 20 pounds going through the dog door theres a lot more wear and tear involved. A screen door is also not the strongest thing to attach a dog door to in the first place. Its pretty easy for a big dog to push out the screen in a screen door and that will still happen if you install sliding screen dog doors.

How to install Sliding Screen Dog Doors

Cutting the hole in the top instead of the bottom might seem like a silly mistake but once you have your screen door removed its difficult to tell what is the top and what is the bottom. Most screen doors are symmetrical. You can often flip them around and use them "upside down". Take the time to mark the location of the doggy door with masking tape right on the screen door before you remove it. Then there will be no confusion.

A useful thing to have during the install is piece of plywood or a thick board bigger than the new doggy door itself. I usually sit that don on the ground first and lay one half of the frame of the doggy door on top of it. Then the screen is laid on top of everything so you can line up the doggy door in the correct position.

The thick board gives you plenty of support when you are cutting through the screen. It will help you cut a nice even hole as close to the edges of the dog door frame as possible. Some doggy doors then require you to roll the edges of the cut screen into the dog door frame with screen spline.

Others require you to hammer a plastic frame cover on with a rubber mallet. The thick board is vital for these styles of dog door. You usually have to hit the frame pieces together very hard to make them join.