Homemade Doggy Doors for Dummies

dog door

We ran a quick count this morning and, according to our staff, we've nominated no fewer than six DotD candidates on the basis of their foolish, incompetent, cockamamie, or otherwise dumb posts that supposedly explain how to install a doggy door. If truth be told, we have yet to find a single freelancer at any of our usual haunts who didn't botch the plans they pounded out. And eHow.com's Alex Smith kept the string alive with his half-fast attempt to explain "How to Build a Hinged Dog Door" at HomeSteady.com.

It doesn't take much of an intellect to realize that a doggy door has to swing both ways; which means that either the material that comprises the door must be quite flexible, or the hinges on a rigid door must swing both ways. Those are what's known in the trade as "double-action" hinges. Based only on his failure to specify this hinge type (we looked at the original "list of things you'll need" using the Wayback machine), we already knew that Smith was incompetent to be "teaching" anyone this task.
That's not the only reason, of course. Alex also said,

"Cut wood strips to match the four sides of the dog door, which will seal any openings that have been exposed in the wooden door -- if the door is hollow. Glue the strips in place with weatherproof caulk and allow it to dry."

Oh, Alex, Alex, Alex: caulk is not the same thing as glue! Or how about this mismatch:

"Cut a piece of one-fourth-inch plywood [to] be the swinging door.... Bolt the hinges to the swinging door with half-inch bolts and nuts."

Think that'll hold, Alec??? We think it might be a bit... over-engineered.
That's the sort of expertise we've long since come to expect from our eHow Dumbass of the Day candidates. This one was a theater major who claimed to be doing SFX and makeup. Yeah, sure...

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