Then the work began. I started on the project right after placing the order online, about a week before it arrived, and there was that first exploratory hole into the plaster. I was naively hoping to find just a hollow wall, but was I in for a big surprise...
Update 12/11/07: continue to report excellent results
with this unit! The pup is in/out approx
20 times a day during the Summer, though not as much during the Winter and
rainy days. One of the best investments/projects I've undertaken,
can't imagine her being without it!.
Update 8/2/08 regarding my Border Collier pup Nikki (now @ 2.5
yrs): my best guess is that she uses her doggie door at least 30 times a
day, and it continues to perform just fine. If I'm beginning to
sound like an ad man for this product, I can fully assure you that's not
the case. I've no connection what-so-ever with the vendor other than
being an appreciative customer. Besides, if you were a vendor, would you
want folks seeing all the steps (displayed below) I went through to get
the job done? I don't think so. Bottom line for me is my pup
loves it, uses it all the time, and I don't have to play door-man for
her..., trying to guess when she has to do her duty. Mind you,
this situation can only work with a fenced-in backyard.
Update 9/29/09: the door continues to work perfectly..., zero
problems since the initial install in 9/2006!
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...and this was everything in-between: |
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| As my probe-hole grew larger, I kept hitting solid wood, finally revealing a stud, 2 - 2x10 footer beams, 3 horz. planks, and 3" of the concrete foundation to get out of the way! | To further complicate things, on the outside I had the vinyl siding, the house's original shingles, and the side-boards underneath them to remove. |
Progress: here I've got the side-boards removed, I can now
peek through! Also on the plus-side, there wasn't any plumbing nor electric to deal with. |
Inside view of same. Now, how to deal with all this structure in the way? |
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| Top view of the two 2x10 footer beams. | The footer beams are out. | The bottom 2x4 footer is out. | Outside view of same. |
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| Starting to remove the concrete. | Side-view of all that was in the way. | Bag to contain concrete dust from power tools. | Outside view of same. |
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| Temp door - awaiting shipment of the Endura doggie door. | The temp door helped assure Nikki would even use the thing, she love's it! | Prepping to cut the wall-tunnel to length, I used tape to make it easy to see where to cut. | After cutting the tunnel to length with a jigsaw. |
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| The test fit, before cutting the anchoring screw rods to length. I used duct tape so the nuts wouldn't mare the finish. | After cutting the screw-rods to length, I at first saw no easy way to feed them through the wall to the frame's hole on the other side, since the nuts on each end are recessed. Then in the kitchen I found just the right size straw to create a tunnel that would feed them thru. | Almost completed, inside view. | Completed outside view. |
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| There was always the concern, with its double-doors..., would my pup even use the thing??? | Turned-out, after a little practice, she loves her new-found independence! | I haven't had to play 'doorman' for her since completing the install... | ...and no more guessing when she needs to go! : ) |