Considerations When Choosing a Pet Door for Sliding Doors
When deciding on a sliding door pet door for your home, it is important to make sure it will work well for you and your dog or cat. This article is written from the perspective of a pet owner trying to understand the most important factors when choosing a pet door solution for a sliding patio door. For more information about the various types of pet doors you can install on a sliding door you can read our article Detailed Comparison of the Three Types of Pet Doors for Sliding Glass Doors.
These are the factors we think are most important for the majority of pet owners when choosing a pet door solution for a sliding door:
Will it keep your family safe?
Will it keep your home secure?
Will it keep the weather out?
Will it be easy to install and remove?
Will it work for your needs, and your pet’s?
Will it add value or detract from your home?
Let’s examine each one to make sure you are considering all of the relevant factors and have all of the information you need to begin your search for the best sliding door pet door for your home.
Will it keep your family safe?
We started with this one because this is arguably the most important consideration in your choice of pet door. Simply put, if it isn’t safe for your pet and family, don’t buy it. Fortunately, the majority of products on the market are very safe, and with most of them the worst thing that might happen is a slight scare or very minor injury. But the design of the product and the manner in which it is installed can increase or decrease the risk. Similarly, you will increase the risk of potential injury if you install an automatic door opener and decide to forgo manual operation in favor of full, unsupervised automation. If safety is your top concern, too, you can see our ranking of sliding door pet doors by safety.
Will it keep your home secure?
Keeping your home secure may be something you are already thinking about as you search for a pet door. The overall security of the solution can vary significantly based on the type of sliding door pet door you choose, and how you install it. In our article ranking sliding door pet doors by security we discuss the potential security risks associated with sliding door insert pet doors if they aren’t secured permanently to the door frame with robust hardware. It also discusses the risks associated with plastic flap pet doors, and some advantages of products in the automatic sliding door opener category.
Will it keep the weather out?
Depending where you live, the ability of your pet door to insulate your home from bad weather may be a critical factor. Many sliding glass doors are double-pane and fit snuggly to create an effective barrier against the weather. By installing any type of pet door in your sliding patio door you reduce it’s ability to block out weather. Sliding door insert pet doors, especially those with flaps, will significantly reduce your door’s ability to insulate your home against heat and cold. You can reduce this problem significantly by choosing instead to to install a sliding door opener because they use your existing door and keep it’s ability to block out the weather intact completely except when the door is opened to allow your pet to pass.
Will it be easy to install and remove?
Unless you are very handy with tools and enjoy DIY home improvement projects, you may wish to know how easy or hard it will be to install your new pet door. If you rent, or want to preserve the resale value of your home, another important consideration can be how easy it is to remove the pet door and what kind of lasting damage there will be to your door. Some sliding door pet doors require more than an hour to install, and some even require a that professional installer come to your house. Don’t worry, we’ve done the research and you can read our ranking of pet doors based on how easily you can install them in your sliding door.
Will it work for your needs, and your pet’s?
In addition to the three main types of sliding door pet doors (Insert, Opener, Hole) there is also a major distinction between solutions that use flaps and those that activate based on some type of input or command. If you haven’t already, we suggest checking out non-flap pet doors (i.e. Smart pet doors) as they are generally more secure and provide far better insulation. Some also offer collar tags and other advanced features like scheduling, voice control and camera integration. You can learn all about the options available in our article: Should you Buy a Smart Pet Door?
Will it add value or detract from your home?
This might not seem like a big deal at first, but we think it is worth a little thought up front. Many dog door solutions for sliding doors require permanent modification to the door itself, and the most expensive type — the hole-through-the-glass — is permanent. And while a pet door may seem like an incredibly useful feature to you, the next owner (or your landlord, if you rent) may not feel the same way. We suggest carefully reviewing the installation steps for your preferred solution before you buy it so there won’t be any surprises down the road when it comes time to move.