How can I make a barrier to keep my dog in the garage when the garage door is open?
Question:I do alot of work in my garage. I'd like to be able to let my dogs in the garage with me but since I open the door to let the air flow through, they always wander out the garage and into the street. My garage is impossible to be in without opening the door because of the heat so I want to come up with some type of barricade that will close off the bottom 3 or 4 feet of the garage. Kinda like a baby-gate except that my garage door is 16 feet wide. The first thing that comes to mind is using 2 panels of plastic latice framed in some manner that they can be attached to each other then attached to the garage door frame. This presents a storage problem though since these things have to be moved all the time to let the car in and out. Does anyone have any ideas?
Answers:
You've already given yourself 10 points for a best answer. That is exactly what I've done twice.
Without knowing the substance of the door, IE: sectioned steel/fiberglass/wood, I'll assume it opens "UP"
You can frame the lattice with 1x2 treated lumber OR use the Channels sold specific to PVC Lattice. Use piano hinges at the top, allowing that the panels can fold up and attach in your choice of methods, to the interior face of the door,,,Spring clips, etc. To close the door, swing the lattice panels up and clip to the door,,, then reverse to lower the door.
If you have an auto garage door opener, you'll have to work around that challenge, and if it has sensors for safety, you may have to disengage them temporarily when lowering the door to the base frame of the lattice. Lattice is sold in 4x8 and 2x8 sections at HD or Lowes.
Steven Wolf
You can get some of the orange plastic fencing like this. It's flexible, so you could roll it up to store it when not in use. My mom got some to put around a patch of grass on the easement where she had planted grass seed (she didn't want anyone walking on it).
http://www.arkie.net/~eara/images/digtyp...
I'm pretty sure you can get this at Lowes or Home Depot.
Put some eyelets on your walls and stretch a fence (plastic or chain link) across the opening. One side can be secured to the eyelets permanently, and the other side you can use hooks. When your dogs aren't in the garage, you can roll the fence up and store in the corner.
Go check the prices at a baby store for gates that toddlers need.My daughter had them and they were nice.Easy to move and fold away when not needed.Hope this helps.
If you have the space, you could do as you mentioned and put hinges on the side of the garage and hinges between the two sections of lattice so it folds in half. When not in use, it could be folded in half and set straight out from the garage. A wheel on the middle sections and the end would make it easier to move to open and closed positions. Kind of like a folding knife.
If the dogs are small, I have used an upside down playpen to contain them, with water and some toys or a chew bone in there, but only for a couple of hours at a time.
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