[jpollman]

Big Daddy asked me a month or so ago about putting a dog door in his screen door to the patio. I told him that I thought they sold them at PetSmart. I looked and they refer to a "Patio Door" model but couldn't find a picture of one and they didn't carry them anyway. Now that Smokey is getting bigger he LOVES to go out on the deck. But it's constantly in and out, in and out, etc. It's driving me nuts because the bugs are starting to come out and I can't just leave the screen open for any length of time without getting bugs in. Well I think I've solved the problem.....

I was at Home Depot the other day and I saw that they carry a really cool system for adding screens to a covered porch. It consists of a base piece and a cap. You just screw down the base and install the screen with regular spline. Then you just snap the cap on and you're all done and have a custom size screen. That got me thinking. I went and bought a regular large size dog door. (the kind that installs in a normal solid door) I just made up a nice sturdy wooden frame out of 1X stock that I can install the door into the lower portion. I bought enough base/cap and screen to cover the upper portion. It's all fabricated now and in the morning I'm going to prime it and then throw a coat of paint on it. Then i can just install the door and screen and it'll be ready to go. It's very easy to install and I can still use the screen door. As I said, it's not completely finished yet but I'll post some pics when it is. If anyone else out there has this problem and would be interested in trying it just let me know. I can post a plan and simple directions as to how I did it.

Stay tuned!

John

 

[2ESRGR8]

Yes, please do.
I have had the same idea for a while now but have not seen the cap and screen attachment solution you speak of.
I've seen the patio door and posted a link to one last week for someone but personally did not want to drop the 2 hundred bucks for it. Afterall that's almost a full tank of gas nowadays.

 

[jpollman]

Will do. I bought the dog door for $54 at PetSmart and spent about $70 at Home Depot. But I bought good quality clear pine. You could probably find a cheaper alternative or maybe even use some existing material to help keep the cost down. I really think it's going to work well and not cost an arm an a leg.

John

 

[BigDaddy]

John, I knew you could come up with something!! Please call me I'd love to get one!

 

[jpollman]

Will do Mark.

I just found a minor oversight this morning. I'm not sure if I'm going to have clearance to leave it in place all the time. I may end up having to remove it when I want to close the glass panel. If it works out that way, so be it. The thing is very easy to install/remove. But there may be a quick easy way to modify my installation slightly so that I can leave it in place full time.

Oh well, that's all part of R&D. Trial an error. :lol: The paint is drying now and I used oil so it's going to take the better part of the day to dry so I probably won't have pictures until tomorrow. But at this point I think this is going to work out just fine.

I'll keep you posted.

John

 

[BigDaddy]

Help me understand what I'm missing.....????

 

[Hunter333]

jp, if that doesnt work..... we have a screen that covers our slider doorway. It has 4 pieces that overlap each other and connect at the bottom via strong magnets. The pieces are held into place with a tension rod. It is not mosquito proof but it does work very well and is easy to take up and down.

 

[FREEPOP]

John, this is for a door not a slider, what my step father did, was add a piece of frame on the lower part of the door. Then cut a section out of the screen for the "door". Then he cut strips of fiberglass screen and stapled it so it hangs in front of the door. Make sure they overlap. It takes very little training and are happy within an hour.

 

[NEMichsportsman]

Be sure to post the pics...I have a dog door that fits next to my regular slider, but I get not fresh air if I use it.

 

[jpollman]

OK I've got it working now. As I suspected yesterday morning, I can't leave it in place and close the glass portion of the door. But that's no big deal. This is only going to be used when the weather is mild enough to have the door open. When it's too hot, the A/C will be on and we won't have the doors open anyway. I could make a very minor change in the way I planned on mounting it and that would work but I'm not going to bother. This very easily slides into place and stays put. Here are some pics....

Basically I just used 1x3 and 1x2 and made up the frame. I then painted it and installed the door in the lower portion. Then then just installed the screening and was all done. For the length of time I screwed around with it I think it might be worth spending the $200 and just buying one designed for the purpose. But work has been slow and I didn't have anything to do anyway so it filled up some down time.

Take care

John

 

[Hunter333]

That looks a LOT like the one that I bought! Mine has double pane glass as well as a steel plate that covers the hole for when we are out of town. Mine also has a "plate" at the top that is adjustable. We leave it in year around and it seals off very nicely even with the high winds form living close to Lake Michigan. Hope yours works for you!

 

[2ESRGR8]

My only worry is when the 60 lb. dog sees a squirrel in the backyard the whole shabang is going to get ripped out during the exodus.

Anyone got an arc welder? :lol: