Sliding Glass Dog Doors

Sliding Glass Pet Door Panels

The spring loaded style are easy to install and remove, and when removed they leave virtually no trace. This makes the sliding glass door an ideal place to install a pet door for a person who rents.  

 

Temporary doors are generally spring loaded and require no cutting of the aluminum frame, so they are very easy to install. They lock with a simple and secure pin lock which requires drilling a hole through the top of the sliding door. Temporary doors can be screwed in if desired. The Thermo Panel 3e, and Fast Fit panels are temporary pet doors. The video below details the installation procedure of a temporary door.

Semi-Permanent doors must be screwed into the door frame to lock, and use a more conventional hook and latch style lock. The Hale Standard panel and Ideal VIP are semi-permanent pet doors. The Hale dog doors will have their own lock that will mount about a foot above the existing latch. The VIP is the only door which uses your existing door lock. You remove the latches from the door jamb and install on the edge of the pet door. It makes for a nice final product, but the installation is a little more complicated as the latches have to line up.

This 15 minute video details the installation procedure of spring loaded panels and answers common problems and questions:

 

 

Alternatives to Panel Pet Doors



Panels are an easy option for putting a pet door in a sliding glass door, but they aren't always practical. There are a few common issues with panel installations: 

1. A panel that fits a large dog often takes up so much space that a person can no longer get through the slider. 
2. The original sliding door lock doesn't work with a panel installed (except the Ideal VIP). 
3. Panels aren't the best aesthetically speaking. With a panel installed, the door frames are slightly overlapped, which disturbs the symmetry of the windows.
4. Panels don't always match your door color. Some sliding doors are stained wood, or beige, or white on the inside and bronze on the outside, and you can't always get a pet door panel to match.
 
These options allow your pets to use the sliding glass door without having to use a panel. It is pretty obvious what is going on with the in-the-glass units, but the Autoslide is tough to see from the picture. It is actually an automatic sliding door opener. They have several different opening mechanisms that your pet can use; a motion sensor, collar key, or pressure pad and when your dog activates it the sliding door will open partway to let them through, then close again. The company that manufactures this product has done commercial door openers for stores and that sort of thing for years, so this is not a one off product. It is well designed and constructed and although it is still fairly new, we have no reason to doubt the manufacturer's expected lifespan of 10 years. This is really a neat alternative for people with really big dogs.

Related Blog Posts:

Sliding Glass Door Dog Doors for Great Danes and Other Giant Breeds

Measuring Sliding Glass Doors for Pet Door Panels

Comparing In Glass Dog Door Options

Sizing Your Pet Door Properly

Installing a Spring Loaded Aluminum Dog Door in a Vinyl Sliding Glass Door
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