Home›Pet Door Installation Canberra

Canberra is the one Australian capital where a pet door has to be judged on how well it closes, not just on how well it opens. Winters here bite in a way they do not in Sydney or Brisbane, and a poorly sealed flap in a Belconnen back door is a hole in your heating bill from May to September.

That shapes what to look for, so this page starts there rather than with logistics.

A flap that shuts properly

The failure mode with cheap pet doors is not that they break. It is that they hang slightly ajar. A soft vinyl flap flexes, catches the wind, and sits open by a few millimetres you never notice — and it does that all winter.

Every Catwalk and Dogwalk flap is rigid rather than soft, hangs closed under its own weight, and closes onto a seal that runs the full perimeter rather than only along the bottom edge.

If your glass is double glazed

A good many Canberra homes are double glazed, and that changes how the job is done. A sealed unit is two panes with a cavity between them, and it is not drilled while it is in the frame — the seal would be destroyed. Instead the glazier orders a replacement unit built with the opening already formed in it.

What matters when you order is the total thickness of the unit, not the thickness of one pane. Domestic units commonly run somewhere in the region of 20 mm to 28 mm overall, so the models rated to 28 mm and 32 mm are the ones to look at.

Glass, timber, or neither

Before assuming you need a glazier at all, look around the house. A pet door does not have to go in the main back door, and in a cold climate there is an argument for putting it somewhere other than the room you heat most.

• A glass slider or glazed door — glass fitting range, and a glazier does the work.
• A timber back or laundry door — wood fitting range, and you can do it yourself with the supplied template.
• A garage or laundry that opens to the yard — often the best answer in Canberra. The animal gets out, and the heated part of the house keeps its door shut.

Sizes

Size by the flap opening, not by the breed. Measure across the shoulders at the widest point and choose a flap comfortably wider than that figure. Between two options, take the bigger one — a pet that has to squeeze will abandon the door and go back to scratching at yours.

Glass fitting

Model	Suits glass	Cut-out	Flap opening (W × H)
Original Cat Door	3–10 mm	245 mm	165 × 193 mm
Slimline Pet Door	3–21 mm	267 mm	187 × 203 mm
Small Dog Door	3–28 mm	267 mm	187 × 203 mm
Intermediate Dog Door	4–32 mm	320 mm	216 × 250 mm
Dog Door — medium to semi-large dogs	3–32 mm	385 mm	270 × 313 mm

Wood fitting

Model	Fits panels	Flap opening (W × H)
Slim line cat door	11–30 mm	155 × 170 mm
Cat door tunnel	11–52 mm	155 × 170 mm
Small dog door	11–30 mm	180 × 240 mm
Dog door	5–36 mm	270 × 320 mm

Answer a few questions and we will name one model →

Getting it fitted in Canberra

We will be straight with you: there is no Pet-Tek installer listed in the ACT yet. That is a gap we would like to close, and in the meantime it is less of an obstacle than it sounds.

Cutting a circular aperture in a pane is standard domestic glazing work. Ring two or three Canberra glaziers — search for glass repairs or glass replacement rather than for pet doors — and give each of them the same details: which door, whether the glass is toughened or double glazed, the total thickness, and the cut-out diameter of the model you have chosen. That last figure is the one they actually need, and it is in the table above.

If your back door is timber, none of that applies. Fit it yourself in an hour with a jigsaw and the supplied template.

How pet door installation works, step by step →

Common questions from Canberra customers

Will a pet door make the house colder in winter?

A well-sealed one makes very little difference; a badly sealed one makes a great deal. The distinction is whether the flap actually shuts. Ours are rigid rather than soft vinyl, hang closed under their own weight, and seal on all four edges rather than just along the bottom. On the coldest nights the four-way lock can be set to fully closed, which seals the opening outright rather than merely covering it.

Is there a Pet-Tek installer in Canberra?

Not yet — the ACT is one of two gaps in our network, and we would rather tell you than pretend otherwise. It matters less than you would think, because fitting a glass model means cutting a circular aperture in a pane, which is routine work for any domestic glazier. Give them the cut-out diameter from the size table and they will quote it like any other job.

Can it go into a double glazed unit?

Yes. The unit is not drilled in place — the glazier orders a replacement built with the opening already formed, and the pet door is fitted into that. Choose a model rated to 28 mm or 32 mm, since that covers most domestic units, and allow extra time because the replacement has to be manufactured before anything can be installed.

Where is the best place to put it?

In a cold climate, not necessarily the main living area. A laundry or garage door that opens onto the yard is often the better choice — the animal comes and goes freely while the door to the heated part of the house stays shut. It also tends to be a cheaper installation, because those doors are more often timber than glass.

Can I fit it myself?

Into timber, yes — that is what the wood fitting range is designed for. It ships with a cutting template and instructions, and needs a jigsaw and a drill. Into glass, no. Cutting a pane is a trade job and getting it wrong destroys the glass, so that one goes to a glazier.

What does installation cost here?

Whatever the glazier quotes — Pet-Tek does not set installation prices and takes no share of them. Ring two or three and give each the identical details, because that is what makes the quotes comparable. Whether your glass is single, toughened or double glazed is the factor that moves the number most.

How long does delivery take to Canberra?

Orders are dispatched within one to two business days, and delivery runs two to ten business days from there — allow the standard window. Shipping is a flat $10 for up to ten doors, GST included, the same anywhere in Australia. Shipping details →

What if the flap is damaged?

Flaps are stocked as spare parts, so a damaged one does not mean replacing the whole door. Order the flap matching your model — the colour is coded into the model number, where W is white, C is clear and B is brown. Spare parts →