Dog Door In Window?

[intownfarm]

Does anyone have any ideas on how to frame a regular dog door into a window? The ones built for windows are very expensive and I already own this one. I think I'm going to experiment this weekend and try to get it to work. Any advice would be great.

 

[arlee453]

How about getting panels that you use to block in a window air unit? Raise the window, bolt the doggy door to the bottom of the lower sash that you raised and then use the air conditioner panels to block in the side(s).

You could probably get the panels still this time of year from Lowes/Home Depot, I'd think...

An alternative that would maybe not look quite as nice but would work would be to use plywood to fill in the area to the side of the door - build a little frame that would be the size of the window opening out of 1x2 or 1x3 and then cover with plywood.

Just a thought - not personal experience here.

Susan

 

[BarbK]

We have done this to ours so here is what we did... Cut a piece of marine plywood(preferably a 1/2-3/4 inch) to fit the bottom half of the window. It needs to be cut to fit into the groove of your window. The slide area. The height needs to be tall enough that the top hinge of the door can be mounted at the top. You need a good 2-3 inches left at the bottom after mounting the door. Then lay the dog door on it and measure the size of the opening and mark it. Then use a jigsaw and cut out the opening. Mount the dog door to the wood then fit it into the window and pull the window down to sit on top and hold it. We suggest cutting a spacer that will fit from the top of the window to the window frame so the window cant be opened. Then seal the edges of the wood with silicone to keep out rain and air.

To protect the window sill you may want to put a piece of carpet or rubber matting because the dog going in and out will track in wettness that will destroy the finish on the window sill.

We also built a ramp on the inside and outside up to the window with a landing on top of the ramps for the dogs. We also weather stripped the ramps so the dogs wouldn't slip on their way up and down the ramp. Also if you nail anything on the ramp be careful of the nails you use and check them periodically. We learned the hard way that they can work out when my shelty cut her paw pad almost competely off.

If you have any questions you can email us and we can try to help. We also do have a window dog door that we could possibly sell if you would be willing to pay shipping and it would fit your window. Our shelties recently passed so we no longer have a need for the door.

 

[intownfarm]

Thanks so much for the advice. We had already come up with a similar plan (plywood cut out with Jigsaw) but I hadn't thought of the carpet to protect my windowsills or the strips on the ramps. Now if we can just get him to use it after we get all this work done. I figure lots of hotdogs should do the trick!