Plexidor Wall Dog Door

Comments about Pet Doors USA Inc Plexidor Wall Dog Door:

I bought this to use in my sun room for two rescue cats I ended up with. As they were 9 months old and had become accustomed to the litter box, I was concerned that they would have little use for it. I was however able to train them to use it in less than a week and now after a couple months, it's second nature for them and no more litter box. Whoo Hoo.

The door seems solid and the spring seems balanced well for the door, not opening in heavy winds though I do have it partially protected by an outside storage box. It did seem at first that the door was closing a little hard on the cat's tails but it seems they learned to enter and exit quickly to avoid that. Even on really cold nights, I can not feel any drafts coming through the door.

The negative on this door is the installation. Cutting the holes is not too bad though getting the correct alignment betwen the inside hole and outside hole is a little more challenging than the instructions imply.

The top and sides used for the tunnel are less finished than I would have hoped. The top and bottom are the 'U' shaped pieces but the forming is not exact and you have to manipulate the bends a little to get it all aligned. Because the sides overlap the bent sections on the top and bottom, you will have four edges near each corner along the tunnel. Even if you caulk this, which needs to be done to mask the rough edges, it presents a slight less than finished look. I would suggest using a file or deburring tool to make all the edges smooth before installing and certainly break all the sharp corners.

With the small door, screwing the side panels of the tunnel into the side supports will be challenging as you will either use a very short screwdriver or end up with the screws being angled. Plus the heads of the supplied screws will be stuck out and if your screwdriver slips in the screw, you might end up with some sharp burrs.

If you are picky as I am, you can mark the screw positions, buy some flat head screws and predrill and countersink the screw holes so there will not be any screw head standing proud in the tunnel. This takes a while as you have align everything, mark and remove the sides and drill them, re-install the sides and making sure it is all re-aligned well, mark through these holes to the bends on the top and bottom pieces, take it all out and drill those holes and then countersink the sides (make sure you get the right side of each piece) and then re-install and re-align before completing the installation.

For ease of installing, you can buy flat head wood screws that use an allen or square drive so that a small socket wrench can be used. Carefull not to over torque and strip out the wood.

The area where the spring mechanism for the door requires that the side support on that side be notched out. This is not covered well in the instructions so if you have to add this support instead of using an existing stud, make sure to notch it before you install it.

Overall, I think this is a good door though the door portion is only one, pre-assemble component. I think the rest of the unit could have been a little better engineered. But then I am a mechanical engineer and typically see ways to improve many of the things I purchase.

I suggest collecting all the tools and materials you think will be needed ahead of time and plan on several hours for this if you want it to turn out with a professional look.

Comments about Pet Doors USA Inc Plexidor Wall Dog Door:

wasn't able to expand that there is a metal plate that screws into the door from the inside that secures door when on vacation; am moving and will purchase another one for new home