doggie door / pet door installation
hello – can anyone recommend someone to install a pet door (for a medium sized dog) in a glass french door? thanks!
oliver_nyc
in General Discussion 3 years and 4 months ago
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andriywww1990 | 3 years and 4 months ago
so i thought about this a little bit more. a handyman CAN change that glass. if i had to do this on my house, this is how i would proceed: i would remove the glass trim on that door and measure the glass and then go to the glass company and have them cut a new piece of glass (even if your current glass is laminated) and have them cut the hole in that new glass and then bring it back standing on edge in the back of an suv (i move long sheets of glass in the back of an old volvo wagon all the time. if it is very long, i stand it on edge between the console and seat and if it is short, i put a perfectly flat piece of plywood in the back and lay it on that; laying glass on an uneven surface is risky as glass longer than say 3′ cannot support its own weight while flat and will crack, so it is stood on edge and carried that way).
i am assuming a couple of things here:
that the glass in that door is an insulated unit and will be at least twice as thick as 1/4″ lami. this means the handyman has to be able to source or cut (a really good handyman should have a table sa w) some trim to take up perhaps a 1/4″ gap left by the thinner glass. an alternative is to ditch the existing glass trim and install new glass trim, cut wider and shoot it with nails or wire brads. unless things are perfect, the old trim from that door may not be made to work with the new glass/wood arrangement anyway (some of these are pressed or snap in)
that the doggie door halves will be able to be secured to each other with screws that will not have to penetrate the glass. this is going to take some accuracy and planning. also, tightening the two halves together may draw the inner edge of the halves close together, pulling the outer seal against the glass away (this is stuff you learn when you have spent a lifetime assembling things; your handyman may not think of it until it is happening and then he has to think of plan “B” instead of having plan “B” in his back pocket when he arrives). to stop this, some trim or a shim will have to be put around the inner edge between the two halves (this would not happen on a wood door installation because the hole would be cut exactly the size of the inner hole on the doggie door).
if you have to go through any sort of wood modification or trim modification to that wood door, Bear glass may be reluctant to take that on as they may prefer to do things “as they were” to avoid issues later. they may not be in the business of cutting new trim (this is a guess). if those are old doors in there, it will be easier for anyone to alter the trim.
the thought processes i just went through above and the questions i am raising are things i would be considering and trying to answer if i were standing in the house looking at those doors.
Obviously if this was in my own house i would get through this. but here is the issue; this is not without risks and having not done this before, someone like me could miscalculate something or maybe cut a piece of trim a little off and have to go back to the table saw to cut more (usually we cut two or three widths when we do stuff like this). or, never having handled a piece of laminated glass with a hole cut in it, someone like me could crack it. in the end, this could become a lot of running around – 3 half days spread over three days and that kills the remainder of those other days.
I would start with Bear Glass. if they will not get involved in installing the glass, see if you can find out why (might be what i am saying above; altering trim). then use that to look for a really good local handyperson. this is easier, when small bits of trim have to be cut in a shop, for person right there to do.
is there a guy named rick ladd still working down there? he seemed pretty capable.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 4 months ago
you need a genuine glass shop.
it looks like you might have insulated glass in there. i am not sure what to say about putting something like this in an insulated unit. In the event you have laminated glass in there, a cut can be put in that using an abrasive water jet. that is a pricey machine. perhaps bear glass has one that they do cutting with. to try to cut lami with a diamond wheel would be an issue as the plastic interlay between the two sheets of glass would gum the wheel.
i am not sure of the risks associated with a hole cut into laminated glass, ie, if it might be susceptible to cracking. i have never had it done.
i would send that picture you just posted to one of the big glass shops like bear and ask them. they are down by Greenwood Cemetery.
the other option is what i describe above, alter the doors with a cross rail and put smaller glass in the top with a wood panel below and the doggie door cut into that panel.
oliver_nyc | 3 years and 4 months ago
thanks for the thoughts all… definitely not a project without some complications/ considerations… here is a pic of what it could’ve look like (i know, not super pleasing!) [3E751BFE-95E1-4FFD-B15D-65D8E4622226](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:ksnk:3e751bfe95e14ffdb15d65d8e4622226.jpeg.jpg)
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 4 months ago
NYC-sport: usually what people mean by glass french doors is a pair of divided lite 12 or 15 pane doors. we don’t see them used as entry doors so much on 19th century houses, but on 1920’s houses in say Westchester, they are often used to open onto patios behind the houses (they are used to divide rooms in brownstones but these were often added later). op may have used the term “french” door to refer to a single divided lite door.
since you have asked, i will go into more detail than i did above. on the divided lite door i have in my house, i would remove the bottom two rows of glass and the related divided lite trim and then close that area up with wood (up to the bottom side of a piece of glass trim; i would fit the wood to the trim). if i used 1/4″ marine ply, i would use the old glass molding to hold the ply in place, making up a new removable inside piece of trim. this would look funny, especially next to the other door, assuming french doors means a pair of doors. a door maker can remove the glass on both doors, up to say the 1/3 or halfway point a nd install a cross rail below the glass and intended panel below that rail in each door, and fit the panels with panel trim and they might look like they were made that way. that would be the most secure, professional way. what they would end up is a 2/3 or 1/2 divided lite door.
a lot is possible with doors. when we rebuild doors, we frequently have to modify them to suit a customer’s current needs. this includes adding or removing rails and adding or removing, or enlarging the window area. it does not matter what material is used in the middle of a door. be it glass or wood, it is interchangeable with some modifications for differences in thickness between wood panels and glass.
nyc_sport | 3 years and 4 months ago
I don’t understand how one would install a pet door in a “glass door.” But I suspect anyone doing this in a cold weather climate and one concerned about critters (much less burglars) would purchase one of the many modern options that are insulated and have a collar or transmitter that opens the door electronically only for your pet (which also can be put in a wall rather than a door).
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 4 months ago
so here is the issue with finding someone to do something like this. to do this right and make a panel that the pet door can be placed in – even out of say 1/4″ exterior or marine plywood – and fitting it nicely in the existing window trim and carefully cutting out unneeded trim without making a mess of the remainder of it, is going to take some time. add in a site visit and work priming and painting wood that they may have to source before arriving to install, and this little project that any realistic person would hope a handyperson can do nicely, becomes a full day project spread over two days (two half days including travel) for a professional who is really trained to do cabinet work and make doors (read “bills at a higher rate”). even when this is done, it still might not look nice, like it really belongs there. it is hard for any self respecting professional to say “this will cost this much because….” and then deliver something that does not look the part anyway.
if i can answer any questions that may help you as you source someone else, perhaps yo u find someone who has the tools and knows how to use them but has never done something like this, feel free to ask.
RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 3 years and 4 months ago
That’s assuming the dog doesn’t deter them.
Putnamdenizen | 3 years and 4 months ago
Be aware that medium size burglars have also been known to use such doors…