Screen door with dog door- how to?

**smmokan** · 05-21-2007, 07:37 PM

I've got a sliding screen door (behind the sliding glass door) that leads out to my backyard. I tried putting a dog door into the screen, but like I expected, the fucker fell apart shortly after I installed it due to my dogs running in and out too fast. Does anyone know how I'd go about building (?) a sliding screen door with a wood panel for the bottom half, so I could put a more secure dog door in there? I still want a screen on the top half... I've seen them, but I can't find anything on Home Depot or find anything related on Google.

**Tyrone Shoelaces** · 05-21-2007, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by smmokan

I've got a sliding screen door (behind the sliding glass door) that leads out to my backyard. I tried putting a dog door into the screen, but like I expected, the fucker fell apart shortly after I installed it due to my dogs running in and out too fast. Does anyone know how I'd go about building (?) a sliding screen door with a wood panel for the bottom half, so I could put a more secure dog door in there? I still want a screen on the top half... I've seen them, but I can't find anything on Home Depot or find anything related on Google.

Just do what I did.....or more accurately, what my dog did.

I have the same deal as you...sliding screen door behind the sliding glass door. A couple of months ago, my dog Sponge tore a hole right through the screen and created his own doggie door for awhile...i left it like that for awhile because a) I was too lazy to fix it, b) it was kind of funny, and c) i was too fucking lazy to fix it.

However, I did eventually get around to replacing the screen and I had a little eureka moment as I was installing the new screen. I basically attached only 3 of the 4 corners of the screen to the door frame, and left the lower left corner hang free as well as about 18 inches up and to the side of the lower left corner (lower left when your inside facing outside). So essentially what you have is a secret doggie door. Because the rest of the screen is attach to the frame like normal, the screen just sits over the corner and it looks like a full screen and it does it's job (keeps bugs out), however, when Sponge goes out, he quickly learned he just has to "nose" the corner of the screen and he comes and goes as he pleases. Piece of cake to do it and it looks like a normal screen door and it costs you nothing more than the screen, the cord to attach the screen to the door, and the little roller thingmajig to install the screen. If you already have a full screen in there, just try detaching the lower left corner and you'll dog will eventually figure out the rest.

I can post up a pic if you like

**El Chupacabra** · 05-21-2007, 09:37 PM

Sliding glass patio door?

Just insert one of these:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...=1179804892308

Install it between the "fixed" door in your patio door (they usually move too) and the frame. Your "moving" door and screen will operate as normal.

They make different size patio door inserts for small/large dogs.

L7 · 05-21-2007, 09:38 PM

Slightly more secure and bugproof but more ghetto would be to screw 3/8 ply into the screen frame a couple of inches higher then the dog door needs to go and on below that point. Mount the doggie door to the plywood and staple the screen to the top side of it. Excess screen could still hang down and offer some more protection as long as it wouldn't get caught. Might depend how nasty your bugs are.

**truckeelocal** · 05-21-2007, 09:44 PM

My sliding screen door no longer slides, it kind of grinds

200+ pounds of dogs rushing to say hi to the bear took care of that. The screen was an irrelevance, so would have the patio door if it had been closed. The good news was the dogs stopped real quick when they realized how big the bear was

Which gets me to another point. The wife doesn't want a dog door. She's concerned about making it easy for criminals to access the property. I'm thinking that any criminal who's brave enough to enter through such a big dog door deserves everything s/he gets. Mostly licks actually.

**smmokan** · 05-21-2007, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

Sliding glass patio door?

Just insert one of these:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...=1179804892308

Install it between the "fixed" door in your patio door (they usually move too) and the frame. Your "moving" door and screen will operate as normal.

They make different size patio door inserts for small/large dogs.

I looked into that, but one of those things (we'd need a large, as we have two labs) would take up half of the opening. We need something more like what L7 suggested. Maybe I'll take apart the sliding screen door and see what I can jerry-rig.

**INDY GS** · 05-22-2007, 08:06 AM

Why not build a frame out of 1/2" x 2" wood, route an edge along the top for the screen cord, buy a doggie door and attach to the frame and it paint to match. It could be really nice. something like this....

maybe make the door a 3 screen door and a doggie door in the middle.

So each of the bottom panels would have an individual screen in them.

**smmokan** · 05-22-2007, 08:18 AM

I like that Indy, but I want a screen up top to allow for maximum airflow (to get the cross breeze thing working). I'm going to look into putting a piece of plywood on the bottom half of the screen door and putting the dog door into that.

I need to figure out how to get the plywood to stick in the door frame now.

**LaBelle23** · 05-22-2007, 08:28 AM

2nd on the lazy dog door. We replaced our screen door multiple times, but the dog kept ripping through it when she saw something she wanted to chase so we stopped doing that. Now that she's old it has been replaced again, but now she just bumps into it and stumbles backwards.

**snowsprite** · 05-22-2007, 08:36 AM

Tyrone's approach wins for being lo-effort yet effective!

Sprite

**Tyrone Shoelaces** · 05-22-2007, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by snowsprite

Tyrone's approach wins for being lo-effort yet effective!

Sprite

Finally a voice of reason in this thread!!

**atomicboy** · 05-22-2007, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by Tyrone Shoelaces

Finally a voice of reason in this thread!!

Don't read into things. She is just trying to impress you because she wants you.

**smmokan** · 05-22-2007, 08:10 PM

OK, here's what I finally did. I bought some 1/2" thick fiberboard (?) that is a little more sturdy than a piece of plywood. I drilled it onto the frame of the sliding screen door, and then cut out the opening for the dog door and put that the opening. I left the screen on the door, and only had to cut out what was in the way of the dog door opening. Its not too heavy, and seems to work perfectly. We're not going to leave it ghetto-brown, we'll paint it white- eventually.

**KnuckleDragger** · 05-23-2007, 07:22 AM

I just installed one of these last week:

http://www.moorepet-petdoors.com/Hal...-Door-s/46.htm

Seems really sturdy.

**smmokan** · 05-23-2007, 08:50 AM

Nice... but with two labs running around full-speed, I didn't want to get anything that mounted into the screen itself. They'd tear that thing right out.

**INDY GS** · 05-23-2007, 08:11 PM

The idea behind my design was to have a screen above similar to yours while maintaining support for the door without blocking out the entire bottom half.

The light gray areas were supposed to be screen, dark gray was the doggie door.

Looks like you came up with a decent solution though.