Pet door, yes or no?

[CharlesW]

Hey, it is the off topic forum, right?
My daughter is buying a townhouse/condominium with a single attached garage. She would like to install a pet door in the passageway door between the kitchen and the garage and keep the litter box for their two cats in the garage.
The garage has three walls common to heated areas and the door is insulated and appears to seal pretty good.
I'm considering buying a cheap interior door to cut into rather than destroy the nice metal one that is there now.

What drawbacks are likely to be involved in this project?

It's in Iowa with temps from -20 to + 100, but I'm sure the garage temperature would never be close to either extreme.

Gonna be gone for a day or three so I won't see any replies until Sunday evening.

Charles

 

[audiboy]

My major issue with them is their security risk. Yes, I'm one of the people that lock the door to the garage. The metal door leading to the garage is a pretty good insulator and the electricity bill will be noticeably higher if you swap it out for an interior door. The interior door is really thin and won't create a seal at the floor. It is also a huge security risk having that type of door as an exterior door.

 

[norahcrv]

My major issue with them is their security risk. Yes, I'm one of the people that lock the door to the garage. The metal door leading to the garage is a pretty good insulator and the electricity bill will be noticeably higher if you swap it out for an interior door. The interior door is really thin and won't create a seal at the floor. It is also a huge security risk having that type of door as an exterior door.

. . . also, it might be against fire regulations!!

 

[BlueZero]

. . . also, it might be against fire regulations!!

You need a 20 min. fire rated door and frame. But I really don't think you would get caught.

 

[Pockets]

You need a 20 min. fire rated door and frame. But I really don't think you would get caught.

If there is a fire you will
I will ask the fire inspector that happens to be in my fire dept if having a pet door there would make it illegal. Might take a while though we don't get very many calls :wall

 

[DFTowel]

Seems a strange thing to do really. If she can't keep the litter in the house why does she have cats? The real reason not to do this is that the cats may be in the garage when she opens the garage door and poof... out they go! Or get run over!

 

[CharlesW]

My major issue with them is their security risk. Yes, I'm one of the people that lock the door to the garage. The metal door leading to the garage is a pretty good insulator and the electricity bill will be noticeably higher if you swap it out for an interior door. The interior door is really thin and won't create a seal at the floor. It is also a huge security risk having that type of door as an exterior door.

Sounds like an exterior door would be the thing to use. They aren't terribly expensive. The cat doors vary from 5" x 7" to 8" x 11" so I don't think that will be a big factor since the garage will probably not be extremely cold.

. . . also, it might be against fire regulations!!

Good point and something I hadn't considered.

You need a 20 min. fire rated door and frame. But I really don't think you would get caught.

I would. But I really don't want to do anything that is unsafe or illegal.

If there is a fire you will
I will ask the fire inspector that happens to be in my fire dept if having a pet door there would make it illegal. Might take a while though we don't get very many calls :wall

I would be interested in what he says about pet doors, but I think the comments previously were directed towards my talking about using an interior door rather than a metal entrance door.

Seems a strange thing to do really. If she can't keep the litter in the house why does she have cats? The real reason not to do this is that the cats may be in the garage when she opens the garage door and poof... out they go! Or get run over!

Do you own cats? She can keep the litter box in the house, but litter boxes are not necessarily limited to messing up a small area.
I also ask the question, "Why have cats?"
As far as the use of the garage, it probably won't have a car in it, only stuff, a kayak, bicycles and a motorcycle. The pet doors have a lockout door that will keep the critters from using the door when you don't want them to have access to it
I am not a cat hater, but I'm not really a fan of them either and while I wouldn't want to see them run over, the "poof" and they are gone does sound appealing.
:surrender
Hey, thanks! Great information so far.
We are going to check with the association to make sure what their regulations are. We are also trying to locate friends or acquaintances that have used pet doors.

Charles