Pet Doors to Install in Walls
A wall mount pet door can be a great choice. While installing a pet door in
a door effectively ruins the door, a wall mount pet door can often be
removed and the wall patched leaving no trace of the pet door. Stucco
exterior and dry-wall interior is the perfect example since both sides can
be patched and painted-to-match if the pet door must be removed later.
When installing a pet door in a wall, the wall must always be 'framed out'.
That is, after cutting the hole, the inside of the wall must be sealed off
so that moisture cannot penetrate into the interior of the wall. The
'self-framing' pet doors and wall kits listed below will help to do this
step for you and make the job much easier.
However, if you can
Frame
the Wall Yourself, you can choose any pet door for a wall. For example,
if you wanted a Classy Custom pet portal in your wall, you'd have to
frame it yourself as there is no wall kit for that door.
All of these pet doors come with a locking cover, or other
method of locking the door shut, unless otherwise noted. Be alert to
the possibility of an overhang above the pet door which could interfere with
the operation of a locking cover. Each brand has notes regarding this point.
Hale, in particular, may be ordered with a 'side-loading' locking
cover which avoids this problem.
Important: Don't
confuse these with self-framing door mounts! The adjustment range for
a self-framing wall mount must be much greater then for a door mount.
A second important consideration in a wall mount pet door is whether to have
a single flap or a double flap (flap on both sides of the wall). The
air-space between the two flaps of a double flap wall mount will insulate
much better than a single flap pet door and the double flaps will stand up
to wind much better also. Finally, it will look more finished to have
the flap on both sides of the wall.
We haven't encountered any additional difficulty for the pets
in using a double flap provided that a reasonable flap size is chosen by the
customer.
Vital Note Regarding Installation of Pet Doors in a Wall It is imperative
to remember that even a self-framing pet door must be properly installed and
caulked to ensure that no moisture enters your walls. If you have any doubt
regarding your ability to do this, please assign the job to a qualified
person. Likewise,
cutting a power line or hitting a pipe with power tools could cause injury
or even death. If you are not sure you have the skills to tackle this kind
of job, please have a qualified person do it for you.
Generally, you can be confident that a properly licensed and insured
contractor will have the necessary skills.
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