Pet Door Installation — Through-Door & Through-Wall
Pet door installation is a through-door cut or a through-wall framed opening for a flap sized to the actual pet (brisket height plus chest width, not the manufacturer's shoulder-height chart) — starting at $300 for a through-door install and finishing at $900 for a through-wall electronic flap with insulated tunnel and exterior flashing. The 75-pound lab who has been scratching the back door for three years, the indoor cat finally allowed to come and go on her own schedule, the goldendoodle who is too tall for the small flap the previous owner installed and now wriggles through it like a slinky. Pet doors look like a one-template-one-cut install — but the cut blade has to match the door material, the flap height has to be sized from the pet brisket and not from the manufacturer's shoulder-height chart, the through-wall version needs framed framing and exterior flashing or it leaks at the first rain. Handis brings the templates, the blades, the framing lumber, and the flashing tape.
Service
How Pet Door Installation Works
Six sequential steps from brisket-and-chest measurement to the five-cycle flap test — the order we follow on every through-door and through-wall pet door install so the flap is sized to the actual pet and the wall stays dry.
Measure the Pet — Brisket Height & Chest Width
Manufacturer shoulder-height charts undersize the flap in roughly half the breeds we install for. We measure the brisket (lowest point of the chest, the part that scrapes the bottom of the flap) and the chest width at the widest point on the booking call. Flap height targets brisket plus 1 inch; flap width targets chest plus 2 inches.
Template, Mark & Cut the Opening
Tape the manufacturer template to the door or wall, mark the cut, drill starter holes at each corner, and cut with a jigsaw — standard blade for wood and fiberglass, finer-tooth blade for hollow-core to avoid skin blowout, metal-cutting blade plus cutting fluid for steel doors.
Frame the Rough Opening (Through-Wall Only)
For through-wall installs we cut through the exterior siding and interior drywall, frame the opening with a header above and short cripples below to carry the load around the new opening, and check for electrical or plumbing in the cavity before any cut.
Flash the Exterior — Peel-and-Stick, Shingle-Style
Through-wall installs get peel-and-stick membrane (Grace Vycor or similar) on the top edge first, then sides, then bottom — same shingle-style overlap a window install uses. The exterior trim covers the flashing. The wall stays dry through Pacific Northwest winters for the life of the pet door.
Slide Insulated Tunnel & Mount the Flap Frame
Through-wall installs get an Endura, Ideal Pet, or PetSafe Extreme Weather insulated tunnel sized to the wall thickness. Through-door installs skip the tunnel. The flap frame mounts to both sides with the included cross-bolts; magnetic-seal flaps tested for top and bottom contact.
Electronic Pairing & Five-Cycle Test
PetSafe SmartDoor and SureFlap microchip doors get the 5V transformer wired to the closest outlet, the pet chip paired on the door's pairing button, and five lock-unlock cycles confirm the flap reads the chip and unlocks within range. Mechanical flaps get five push-through cycles to verify the pet clears without crouching.
Pet Door Installation Pricing
Final pricing depends on the door or wall type, the pet-door size, whether insulated tunnel or electronic features are included, and exterior flashing scope. Pet door frame is supplied by the homeowner. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us the pet — breed, weight, brisket height — and the door or wall we are cutting.
Why Handis for Pet Door Installation
The single most common pet-door fix we redo is a flap that is too small for the pet because the previous installer picked the size from the manufacturer's shoulder-height chart. The chart almost always undersizes. A dog that is 21 inches at the shoulder can have a 16-inch brisket and a 22-inch chest width — and the medium flap rated for a 22-inch shoulder is too narrow at the chest. The result is a dog who learns to scrape his back going through the flap and eventually stops using it. We measure the brisket and the chest width on the booking call and pick the size from those numbers. The pet uses the door from day one.
Estimate
Tell us the pet (breed, weight, brisket height, chest width), the install location (which door, or which wall and what siding type), and any flap brand preferences. We will quote the install.
Customer Reviews
Pet door installation reviews from real Handis customers.
75-pound lab, through-wall install. Tech framed the opening with a header, flashed the exterior with peel-and-stick membrane, installed an Endura Flap large with the insulated tunnel, and trimmed the inside in matching baseboard. Dog walked through the same afternoon and has used it nonstop. Six months in, no drafts in January, no leaks during the December rains.
SureFlap microchip door for our cat — only she can come in, not the neighborhood opossums. Tech installed it through the door, wired the transformer to the closest outlet, paired her chip on the pairing button, and showed me how to add a second chip if we ever add another cat. She figured it out in under an hour.
Asked another company to do this last year and they put a medium flap on a 70-pound goldendoodle. He stopped using it within a month — said the chart said medium and that was that. Tech from Handis measured the brisket and the chest, said the flap needed to be a large, and re-cut the opening to fit. The dog uses the door now. Worth doing twice if necessary.
Old pet door from the previous owner was leaking and the flap was cracked. Tech removed the old frame, plugged the opening with a matching solid-wood insert, and refinished the door so the patch is invisible. Then he framed a new through-wall opening on the back side of the house where the dog actually wants the door. Two-step job, one visit, dog approved.
Through-door cut on a steel exterior door. The tech said it would take longer because steel needs a metal-cutting blade and cutting fluid, and he was right — about 45 minutes longer than a fiberglass door. But the install was clean and the metal edges of the cut were sealed before the flap frame went on. No rust line later. Worth the extra time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about pet door installation.