The Story of Ophelia's New Door: A Cat Door Built Into an Exterior Door in Edmonds

Her catio was perfect. The door to it was not. So we replaced it with a custom glass door, had a pet door opening factory-cut into the panel, and gave a very good cat her own private entrance.

Updated on Jul 22, 2026 • 4 min read

By Stan Miron • Co-Founder, Project Manager

Share this post

Table of Contents

This is some text inside of a div block.

Ophelia the cat sitting on her catio bench looking through the glass of her new door, with the built-in cat door below

📍 Location: Edmonds, WA (third-floor condo)
🚪 Scope: Exterior door replacement with an integrated cat door
🔨 The door: Custom pre-hung three-quarter lite fiberglass, clear glass, factory-cut opening for a PetSafe Big Cat Door
⏱ Install: One Saturday

Listen to this story • read by Stan Miron

Ophelia has a better balcony than most of us. Her owner Julie turned the enclosed porch of her third-floor Edmonds condo into a full catio: cat tree, cushioned bench, rug, string lights, screened walls with a view of the evergreens. A safe outside, built for one very fluffy resident.

There was just one problem. The door between the living room and the catio was worn out, and it had no cat access at all. Every single trip outside meant Ophelia had to find a human, stare at them, and wait for doorman service. Julie wanted two things: a new glass door that would let the light and the view through, and a built-in cat door so Ophelia could come and go whenever she pleased.

Ophelia the cat on her catio bench looking through the glass of her new door, cat door visible at the bottom — *Ophelia on the catio side of her new door. Her entrance is the small one at the bottom.*

The old worn deck door before replacement, with the screened catio visible through the glass — *The door she inherited: worn out, drafty, and strictly human-operated.*

A Referral, and a Fair Question About Price

Julie came to us the way most of our favorite projects do: a friend vouched for us. Fernando, one of our West Seattle clients, gave her our name.

That got us in the door. It did not close the deal, and honestly, it should not have. Julie did what we would tell anyone to do: she got other bids. A handyman quoted the job for less, and she told us so directly. As she put it: "This quote seems pretty expensive. 800$ to cut a hole for a cat door?"

Fair question. So we answered it the only way we know how. First a straight answer about where the pet door cost actually lives: the factory cutout is precision work with a setup fee, a cut slab becomes non-returnable so that risk sits on us, and the install is mounting, weather-sealing, and testing, not just dropping a unit in a hole. Then we sent her an itemized breakdown of every part of the job so she could see exactly where every dollar went before agreeing to anything. Her reply:

"No questions, thank you. The detail was great. I am going to accept."

We were not the cheapest bid on her table. She hired us anyway, because a friend had vouched for the work and the numbers held up to scrutiny. That is the whole trade, as far as we are concerned.

A Door Built Around a Cat

Here is where a routine door replacement turned into a bit of custom work.

The first plan was a full-lite door, glass top to bottom like her old one. One problem: full glass leaves nowhere to put a cat door. The answer was a three-quarter lite fiberglass door, and it gave everyone what they wanted. Glass for Julie and the view, a solid bottom panel for Ophelia's entrance. Clear glass (Julie asked, no frosting), white finish, an extended jamb to fit the condo's wall depth. Stan measured everything on site in May, and we ordered it custom through our door supplier.

Then the detail that made this project fun. Instead of cutting a hole in a finished door on site and hoping for the best, we had the pet door opening cut at the factory, into the solid bottom panel of the slab, sized to the template for the PetSafe Big Cat Door: weather sealed for exterior use, a four-way lock so Julie controls when Ophelia comes and goes, and a soft-close flap. We set the opening three inches up from the bottom of the slab: enough solid panel below to keep the door structurally sound, and a comfortable step-through height for a cat. The cut edges were sealed at the factory so moisture can never reach the foam core.

And because a cat door only works if the cat approves, we sent Julie the exact model before ordering the cut, so she could make sure it would work for Ophelia. She went and looked at it in person, checked the size against Ophelia's old door, and gave the thumbs up. Only then did the cutout order go in. That is exactly the kind of client involvement we like.

Installer kneeling inside the doorway fitting hardware on the new door — *The new door goes in. Shimmed, leveled, and fitted by hand.*

Close-up of the installed PetSafe cat door in the bottom panel of the new door — *Her own entrance. Three inches off the floor, exactly to spec.*

Install Day

One honest bump first: our door supplier ran behind, and two scheduled dates slipped. After the second one, we made a call. Rather than risk another last-minute cancellation on Julie, we moved the install to her July 18 weekend and refused to book it until the finished door was physically sitting in our own storage. No more moving targets. We told her all of this plainly, and her response was more gracious than we deserved: "I get it. Nothing you can do about it. I am fine for the 18/19th." We do not love pushing dates. But when it happens, the only move is to say so early and say it straight.

Saturday, July 18. Floors covered from the front door to the work area, old door out, new door in, shimmed, leveled, and sealed. A new Schlage handleset and deadbolt in satin nickel, picked to stand up to weather and marine air on a balcony door, and run past Julie the day before. Fresh caulk lines, paint touched up, glass cleaned. The PetSafe cat door mounted into its factory-cut opening. We had booked two days. It took one.

The finished door from the porch with new hardware, factory-cut cat door, and glass looking into the living room — *End of day one. Sealed, finished, and ready for inspection.*

Ophelia Walks Through

The best part of this job did not involve a single tool. That same afternoon, Ophelia walked up to her new door, pushed through the flap, and let herself out onto the catio. No training period, no coaxing, no doorman required.

Ophelia pushing through her new cat door, tail up, headed out to the catio — *Same day as the install. Tail up, straight through, zero hesitation.*

Ophelia stepping back inside through her cat door — *And back in again, on her own schedule.*

She has opinions about the glass, too. Now she can supervise the living room from the catio and demand attention through the window, which we are told is a feature, not a bug.

Ophelia standing on her hind legs on the catio bench with paws on the glass of the new door — *Quality inspection, day one. She approved.*

A door replacement is ordinary work. A door built so a cat gets her own private entrance to her own private balcony? That is the kind of ordinary work we love doing.

Thinking About a Pet Door in Your Own Exterior Door?

Three things we would tell any homeowner before cutting a hole in a perfectly good door:

1. Cut at the factory, not in the living room. A factory cutout is machined to the pet door's exact template and the edges are sealed so moisture never reaches the door's foam core. A rough on-site cut risks the slab's structure and its weather resistance. And once a slab is cut it is non-returnable, which is exactly why precision matters more than it looks.

2. Mind the glass. Full-lite doors are beautiful, but glass top to bottom leaves nowhere to put a pet door. A three-quarter lite door keeps most of the light and leaves just enough solid panel at the bottom. Keep the opening about three inches up from the bottom of the slab: the door stays structurally sound and the step-through height is comfortable for a cat.

3. Use a weather-rated pet door and hardware. An interior flap will not survive on an exterior door. We used the PetSafe Big Cat Door: magnetic weather seal, soft-close flap, and a four-way lock so the humans set the schedule. For hardware on a balcony door in Puget Sound air, satin nickel holds up; we installed a Schlage Century handleset.

Ready to Start Your Own Project?

Whether it is a door replacement, a pet door built into a brand-new exterior door, or a bathroom renovation, odd little ideas that need to be built properly are where we come in. Tell us what you are picturing. We will give you a straight answer and an honest number. Whenever you are ready, we are here.