The porch door which came with this house was in pretty bad shape, so we decided to replace it. Along with this, we also thought that it would be easier to put a pet door in the door, rather than in one of the porch walls. So after a trip to our "local" hardware store, we returned with a new door, an extra large pet door, new hinges and some extra wood to fill in the bottom portion of the screen door.
I replaced the hinges because they we rather warn out and didn't close the door very well. I did reuse the existing Handle & pull knob though. We also had to replace the eye & hook latch, as the existing one was too long for the new door. I ended up installing two of them, so help hold the door a bit more securely against racoons, since we currently have chicks on the porch. The pet door has a removable security door which can be put in place at night to keep unwanted critters out as well, so this will help keep the chicks safe overnight.
After cutting the board to fit the bottom portion of the door, and measuring the fitment for the pet door, we put everything together with a bit of screws, biscuits and glue. Drilled the holes for the pet door and then got it installed. Once everything was together and door re-hung, I cut off the excess bit of screws, and then used the grinder to get them down close to the door surface. Then to top it off I filled in the gaps with some heavy duty, all-weather silicon, and while at it, I put some over the screw ends to help protect the dogs from bumping into them and injuring themselves.
Now I just need to paint the exterior of it, so it matches the rest of the porch (and hides the bright white of the silicon).
I replaced the hinges because they we rather warn out and didn't close the door very well. I did reuse the existing Handle & pull knob though. We also had to replace the eye & hook latch, as the existing one was too long for the new door. I ended up installing two of them, so help hold the door a bit more securely against racoons, since we currently have chicks on the porch. The pet door has a removable security door which can be put in place at night to keep unwanted critters out as well, so this will help keep the chicks safe overnight.
After cutting the board to fit the bottom portion of the door, and measuring the fitment for the pet door, we put everything together with a bit of screws, biscuits and glue. Drilled the holes for the pet door and then got it installed. Once everything was together and door re-hung, I cut off the excess bit of screws, and then used the grinder to get them down close to the door surface. Then to top it off I filled in the gaps with some heavy duty, all-weather silicon, and while at it, I put some over the screw ends to help protect the dogs from bumping into them and injuring themselves.
Now I just need to paint the exterior of it, so it matches the rest of the porch (and hides the bright white of the silicon).
