Question: Dear Robert, do you know what we can do to reinforce the dog door in our sliding glass door? We bought the best insert we could find, and it says it’s heavy duty, but it really is just super thin and the heat of the summer comes right through.
Any ideas on how to make this better? I think we are using way more energy with this, but we really need to have access for our two shepherds to go in and out while we are away. Any ideas, we’d be grateful for.
— Amanda C.
Answer: Amanda, if you have the funds, I’d recommend speaking with a local glass door company. They are spendy, but they can customize a dog door right into the sliding glass door. The top two-thirds or so is standard, then there is a horizontal frame, and below that another section of glass and then a dog door.
Everything is insulated as a normal sliding door would be, and the dog door itself is very heavy duty. I’ve seen this many times and they are quite impressive. Glass door company rep will come out to measure, and a new door will be installed on site. Best of luck.
Robert Lamoureux has more than 40 years of experience as a general contractor, with separate licenses in electrical and plumbing contracting. He owns IMS Construction Inc. in Valencia. His opinions are his own, not necessarily those of The Signal. Opinions expressed in this column are not meant to replace the recommendations of a qualified contractor after that contractor has made a thorough visual inspection. Email questions to Robert at [email protected].
