Description
Keep your pet happy and safe with pet doors specially designed for aluminum sash windows.
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Aluminum Sash Window Pet Door
10 review
★★★★★ 5/5
$45.00
Additional information
| Asin | B000TVSXI6 |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | |
| Weight | |
| Manufacturer |
James L. Dickinson –
This solved my need to add a pet door in a window without a lot of hassle or work. It is made of exceptionally nice materials which are perfectly finished and looks great in my new house.
As a plus, it was shipped in sturdy packaging which kept it in perfect condition, which is not always the case in my experience.
This product exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend it if you want a quick, attractive and easy solution to adding a pet door to you house.
Nicole Johnson –
Emma –
This is so easy to set up and works great. I have two cats, one is bulky and the other is skinny. I accidentally bought one that’s too small for my big cat. I would like to exchange it but other than that is a great product.
DVB –
We have two Pekingese. For the uninitiated, they’re dogs. Small dogs. Very small dogs, in fact. They both love going out on the porch. To bark. At squirrels. And anything else that moves. The problem is, more often than not, they want to come back into the house right after they’ve gone out. It’s a rule. And after they’ve come back in, they want to go right back out. That’s also a rule. They’re ridiculous beasts, to say the least. But also cute.
During the warmer months, we will leave the porch door open to help the hell beasts move between realms. We have a door screen that self-closes in the center with magnets so that the dogs can push their way out and push their way in as they see fit. It works great and they both make liberal (oh stop, this is about dogs, not politics) use of it.
During the colder months, however, we are at the mercy of their whim, letting them out while keeping the door open just enough that they can push their way back in. The drafts are annoying, and once they’ve pushed the door open to come in, we have to get up to go close it again…or to let them back out. This would go on all night. Because we have no willpower. And because the annoyance of getting up to open and close the door was still less annoying than having a dog pawing at our legs all night, wanting to go out.
Then we got an idea: what if there was a pet door that could be installed in a window…like one of those dual fans? If I’ve learned anything over the past 15 years, it’s that if you can imagine it, someone is already selling it on Amazon. So, I confidently searched on Amazon. I don’t think it took me even 30 seconds to find what I was looking for: a pet door that was mostly designed for cats but also works perfectly for the tiny Pekingese dog breed.
I wouldn’t say this pet door is perfect, but it is well made, with a strong frame and side panels. The door itself is perhaps a little flimsy, but as long as it is not abused, it should last a long time.
One feature I did not realize the door offered when I ordered it is a one-way setting. Meaning when you feel that your dog or cat has had enough outside time for the night, you can set the latch all the way to the left, which will allow the door to open inward but not outward.
The latching mechanism is a bit of an annoyance in one way, though: the door simply does not settle back into the right position for the latch to do what it needs to do and there is no easy way to get it there, since the door has nothing to grab on to. We arrived at a simple solution for that, though: we attached a 1-inch suction cup to the lower right corner of the door so that we can pull the door inward to the right position for latching. Easy Peasy. Ideal Pet Products would do well to include a suction cup for this reason. Hopefully they read these reviews.
The side panels are spring-loaded, so you won’t have to hold them in place while you tighten the knobs. Just squeeze the panels inward so that the unit is narrower than the window opening; tighten the knobs; set the unit in place; loosen the knobs; let the side panels settle into the sash; then tighten the knobs again.
Amazon will recommend that you buy foam weather stripping. Don’t do it; the door comes with some. Now I have some weather stripping that I will likely never use. Will I be initiating a return for a $7 package of weather stripping? Nah. And in fact, I have not yet added the weather stripping that came with it. It just doesn’t get cold enough here for me to feel all that motivated to add it. But I will. Eventually.
Regarding the width: My window is just about 28″ wide and this product was JUST wide enough. So when they say 23″-28″, they mean it. Could you rig up some expansion panels from some other material, like plywood or something? Sure. But just be aware that if you buy the 23″-28″ version of this product and your window is wider than that, you *will* need to come up with a way to adapt it.
You might consider adding some sliding window locks if you live in an area where break-ins are a problem. Obviously, if a thief wants in badly enough, they’re going to get in, but deterrence measures may slow them down enough that they either give up or get caught in the process. Many people forget that there are many types of thieves: professional thieves, determined thieves, desperate thieves, and casual thieves. The latter will try a window or door and only enter if that window or door opens easily. A little resistance and they give up. The other three groups are unlikely to be deterred, but if you can reduce risk by 25%, isn’t it worth it to spend a few dollars for a little added security? I think so.
But back to the dogs. One is a bit of a wild child. She loves to play. She takes risks. She throws her weight around. And she steals treats. She got used to the door over the course of one day. She goes out and comes back in several times per night as if she was raised from birth with pet door opening as her purpose in life. Two weeks later, however, we still have to push the other dog – a prissy, prancing little wuss (unless the wild child steals her treats, in which case it’s a Battle Royale) – out the little door because she typically won’t go through on her own. And when she’s ready to come back in? She looks at us through the transparent door and whines to get us to help her come back in. That being said, she has gone out and come back in a few times on her own. She will get used to it. We went through the same thing when we installed the screen on the door. She is simply slow to adapt. But again, she’ll get it. Eventually. It’s something you should keep in mind for your own beasts. Work with them. Show them how to use it. If they stare at you from outside, use your willpower and don’t let them in. Wait them out. Offer them treats to entice them to come back in on their own. Eventually, if they want in bad enough, they will use the door.
Overall, I am happy with my purchase. And at least one of my dogs is also happy with my purchase. The other dog thinks it is a gateway to hell. Maybe she’s right.
Tom Ryan –
Easy to install, sturdy, and well-made. I was surprised to find the side panels were made of glass (I was expecting plastic). My only gripe is that a fair bit of air passes through the door flap even when it’s fully closed. I bought this to replace a very drafty old cat door. It’s definitely an improvement, but a little tighter fit for the door to the frame would have made it better.
Tina S. –
Steven Weigand –
Unfortunately, this didn’t fit my window, because I measured the wrong dimensions. So I wanted to give you some advice on measurements.
First, the product measures a minimum of exactly 23 inches wide when compressed. And it measures exactly 28 and 1/4 inches wide (28.25 inches) when fully expanded. I actually measured this myself.
This means that you should measure the narrowest opening of your window (usually the window frame itself) and make sure it’s at LEAST 23 inches wide so the product can fit in.
Once inside, it will expand to fit snugly against the inside track. The inside track is usually an inch or so recessed into the frame on each side. So that’s the second measurement you want to make. The inside track width should be at MOST 28 inches wide.
I made the mistake of measuring just the inside track of my window. It was exactly 23 inches wide. I thought this was what I should have been measuring. But the window frame bordering the inside of my window measures just 21 inches wide. And so the product was too big to fit in my window. I had to return it.
This measurement stuff may seem obvious to you, but there’s actually a youtube video showing someone measuring just inside track for a similar pet door product. And so that’s what thought I had to do. It messed me up.
As for the product itself, I am giving it 5 stars based only on what I’ve seen and felt. Keep in mind that I’ve not actually used it. The quality is better than what I had imagined. The metal parts are fairly thick. I think it has two glass panels, rather than cheap, see-through plastic ones. The functioning of the door itself is fine. It returns to center and doesn’t get stuck open. There’s also the 4-way locking mechanism on it. And the door itself is made of a hard plastic which actually looks good. It looks like the door seals tightly, and so I don’t expect this product to leak much air. It comes with weather stripping and a draft seal. The draft seal should help to eliminate bugs as well. And it also comes with screws you can use to drill into your window frame so that you can lock the window to prevent burglaries.
There are only a minor number of negative things I’ve noticed about it, and they’re nothing to worry about. First, the metal parts are pointy and sharp at the corners, so watch how you handle them. Second, the dog door is made of a see-through hard plastic. I’ve not even used this door yet, but it’s already showing tiny scratches on it. I believe that over time the door will turn cloudy due to scratching and constant use. But the door itself is pretty small, so it won’t become too much of an eyesore. And every dog door I’ve ever seen has the same issue. Third, the white paint on the metal looks like it will scratch easily, but you can always repaint it.
Also, about preventing burglaries… If you look online, there are a number of easy to use methods for locking windows that don’t involve drilling a screw hole into your window frame. One of the ways I’ve seen is to buy a small diameter dowel rod. You just cut it and stand it up vertically on top of the lower window. The dowel rod will prevent the lower window from sliding upwards, if anyone tries to open it. A burglar would need pretty long arms to be able to reach in and grab the dowel rod.
As for the cost of this product, I think relatively speaking it’s a good price. I did a lot of shopping before buying this product. There are a lot of similar products out there selling in the $300 range. It’s certainly a lot cheaper than those. But judging just by the materials and the simplicity of the product’s design, I’d say it looks like it could be made for under $30. The fact that it costs $115-$130 is kind of surprising.
And for the frugal minded amongst you, I wanted to tip you off that there actually are do-it-yourself guides on the web which detail how to make these products yourself. That has the benefit of letting you buy any type of pet door on the market and just making your own custom frame around it. There are perhaps better, more energy efficient or more weather proof pet doors to be had out there. You could even design your own door (in addition to the frame). It’s all possible. But it requires time, effort, and the proper tools. Which is why I decided not to bother with making my own. Though, now I may have to, since nothing out there fits my window.
Hope that helps.
Amazon Customer –
We purchased this to give our cats a way to enter the Catio at their leisure. It works great, and they were able to figure out the door easily. It does have an issue, and that is that the door does not always close back to the middle after each use. It is currently wintertime, and this does tend to let in more cold air than I like, but I am able to just walk by and push it back to the middle. The door swings easily, but my cats tend to pull it open with their paws rather than push through it most of the time. it was super easy to install, and I have two screened areas, so I bought a second one! Good product!
Darma –
We have two K-9’s — a 17 lb and a tall 30 lb with legs like a small goat who can shimmy under a sofa with just 6” leeway. Both are rescues and one just would not alert us to go outdoors giving us the task of mind reading. Until we had a better solution, I ordered the best Wegreeco doggie pants and although that worked like a charm, it made our sweet boy very sad. We have French doors so not an easy pet door option. We do have a basement window at ground level so looked for a way to create access. Although a window insert is most often used for cats it seemed the perfect solution for our situation. We purchased a 10.5” x 15” used insert and it arrived in a beat up box which made us tree huggers happy! Hubby had it installed in two minutes flat and we were in business. He says the adjustment mechanism was very easy. Of course the pups were dubious about the new contraption, but we made it a game and within a day they would enter and exit for treats but on the third day these two were happily running in and out when they pleased. Absolutely perfect for us! So grateful for this well made product. Note: Hubs installed the insert in an outside track so the window can be closed with the unit in place because he does things the way he wants. There is a gap at the top that weather stripping could easily fill but we enjoy the extra air circulation.
Gary.W –
The quality was better than I expected for such a low price. It was very easy to install and has been working well. The only issue is that I have to add lots of tapes and insulation foam around the door, otherwise the cold air could get in very easily and make the room temperature drop quickly.