Install a Pet Door

I recently finished building a lean-to shed and wanted a pet door for my dogs to access it. As the new door had just arrived it's much easier to install the pet door before hanging the shed door.

I don't have a great photo of any of my pets using the door, because they wouldn't stay still for a glamour shot sorry!

• Dog
• Cardboard
• Door
• Pet Door
• Screws
• Paint
• Drill
• Jigsaw
• Tape Measure
• Screw Driver

The first stage is to figure out the correct size of pet door that you need to buy, I looked up a few different sizes online and then made a cardboard stencil with a hole matching the various pet doors. I then got my dog to walk through the different stencils until I found the correct size. I then ordered the door I wanted.

Once your door arrives you need to make sure you position it correctly. The door will normally include instructions on this, but a basic way is to measure the height of your dog at its shoulder and then add an inch or two and that will be the height of the top of the opening.

My pet door came with a template to tape onto the door, I then traced around this with a pencil.

Please double-check the layout before cutting any holes, I've heard of people accidentally putting the hole in the top of the door.

Drill a hole away from the edge of the pencil line and then use a jigsaw to creep up on the line and cut around the layout lines you drew in the previous step.

Take your time, don't rush this step. You want a nice fit, not an ugly mess.

Now test fit all the parts to see if you need to make any adjustments.

I did have one small issue, the timber on my door was a little thinner than the pet door was designed for. I could have trimmed the pet door down a little but instead chose to make a packer out of some spare plywood.

I repeated the process of cutting the hole out on a piece of plywood and added about an inch of clearance around this. I then painted the timber with primer. After drilling & countersinking some holes I screwed the packer to the wooden door.

You should test fit all the parts again at this stage.

It's a good idea to paint and seal this exposed timber to prevent any water soaking it. I'm working on a brand new door that required painting anyway, so this wasn't really any extra work.

Now just follow the instructions to install the pet door, this is most likely just a case of adding a few screws.

Now you just need to teach your dog how to use the door, I find this can be quickly managed with a few small treats.