Dog door flaps are a convenient way to let your dogs in and out without having to open the door every time. But how to keep dog door flap from blowing open when it’s windy? This article will give you some tips.
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If you live in Boston where the wind blows almost throughout the year. It becomes difficult to keep things in place. The heavy winds tend to blow away almost everything and dog door flaps are no exception.
During heavy wind season, this flap blows open almost every time and sucks out the heat from inside. Hence, it becomes imperative to keep the dog door flap from blowing open.
You can add some weight to the flap to prevent it from blowing. You can also replace the plastic flap with a metal cover or rubber flaps. As these flaps are heavier than regular flaps hence remain unaffected by winds.
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Why Do You Need To Have A Door Flap?
If your pet needs to get back in the house, it’s a simple and easy way for it to do so without having to bother you all the time.
Dog door flaps are small coverings for the dog hole in the entrance gate. They are made of plastic for the convenience of dogs to enter and exit without any hassle.
You do need to secure the dog flap on your door. A door flap for dogs is a convenient passage for your pet to come in and go out of the house without disturbing you.
This pet access door can become a liability if you cannot successfully secure the door flap. If you don’t have a dog door flap, you will have to open and close the door for them repeatedly.
The majority of door flaps on doors are made from vinyl. Vinyl dog doors are most commonly used for such purposes as they are pretty durable. Vinyl is a durable substance, but it is also pretty lightweight, due to which it can blow away with the wind.
It doesn’t wrap because of the temperature and moisture. If your dog door is made up of plastic, then you should replace it with a heavy-duty material of the same size.
A heavier door flap is more secure as it would shut automatically due to the excess weight, and there is less risk of this door flap flying away with the wind. These door flaps can also block the cold wind in winters and keep your house warm.
You can reinforce this door flap by gluing some strips of metal along the bottom of the door. Your door flap shi be bottom-heavy, so the wind doesn’t blow it open.
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Are Dog Doors Responsible For Letting The Heat Out?
Yes, dog doors or flaps can let the heat out from your home in the winter season.
The amount of heat escaping your home depends on the door flap you are using on your dog door. If you are using a lower-quality door dog, then there will be a significant amount of heat escaping.
But if you use a sturdy weather-protective dog door, you should be fine as it doesn’t let any heat escape your home. Rather it keeps the heat trapped inside.
How Do You Secure a Dog Flap?
Rubber Flaps
You can secure a dog flap on your door by installing some shields on the door. You can make these dog flaps secure by changing the flap with either metal covers or rubber flaps. Rubber flaps are heavier than vinyl flaps, due to which they are less affected by the wind.
Metal Shields
Some people also secure these door flaps with metal shields when they are not in use. Once the wind has toned down, and you feel it would not break away the flap, you can remove this shield from the door.
Silicone Caulking
You can cover up a pet door using silicone caulk. This caulk can close the air gaps and holes on the door and make the flaps more secure. One of the easiest methods for protecting the door flaps is to add weather strips around the frame of the door and the door flap.
Magnets
You can also use magnets around the doors and prevent them from opening up again from the wind. These magnets will hold off the door flaps in place, and you can also add a second door flap if you want to secure the door flap against fast winds.
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How Do You Stop Your Dog’s Home Door From Opening From The Wind?
Well, you can carry out some changes and practices to ensure that the door of your dog’s home does not blow open with the wind. Usually, most dog home doors are made of wood.
They are vulnerable to the effect of wind and rain. If you live in an area where the winds can blow at a very high speed, you should think about using some extra tips to help you.
Some of the tips to protect the doors are:
- You can use magnetic weather stripping on the doors to protect them from the powerful winds. If you use high-quality weather stripping, it will keep your dog’s door shut and sealed. You can seal your dog’s house down when it is not in use, and this step will also prevent the warmer air from the home from escaping.
- If you want to use something more cheap and practical, you can use a rubber or plastic flap covering the dog’s house. Your main focus should be preventing the air from getting in the house. If the air can get in, then it creates a high-pressure zone, due to which we see kennels flying away with the wind very often. Then it might keep the mosquito away from dog kennel? read more here.
- You can also use double layering of flaps to protect your door flap from flying away. But you should have it in mind not to make the door flap so heavy that even your dog cannot open it. A heavier flap will not be easy to blow open with just wind pressure.
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A Few Final Words
Blowing away the door flaps from the wind is a common problem faced by many people. You can take some thoughts from the tips mentioned above and information to secure these door flaps onto the doors of your home.
You must give your pet dog free access to go in and out of the house; otherwise, keeping them isolated in a house can hurt their mental and physical health.
Thank you for reading. We hope this answered your questions about how to keep the dog door flap shut. You might also like to read: Should I Let My Dog Roam The House At Night? And When Can I Let Puppy Roam House?