Sliding glass doors are very common in United States homes, generally as entry doors to a backyard, deck, or patio region. If you are like numerous homeowners who live in older residences, you may find that your sliding glass door is in need of some simple repairs. In this article, we’ll address some of the most common complications afflicting older sliding glass doors, and some simple and low-cost repairs you can do yourself.
Residences will often settle with age and become slightly out of square. This is a natural result of changes in the soil around your home’s basis. If your sliding glass door is no longer slides appropriately, you must inspect it to see if it has fallen out of the square. Look at the top and bottom of the door. If it’s out of the square, you may notice a slight crash at the top or bottom, particularly when you are trying to slide the door backward and forward.
The main and most simple solution to an out-of-square door is to modify the door’s rolling wheels. With most sliding doors, there are two roller wheel assemblies under the door with most sliding doors, letting the door move back and forth easily in its track. Sometimes these holes will be plugged with minor caps that are simply removed. You can insert a screwdriver in these holes to turn the tuning screws, moving the wheels higher or lower, as required.
If this doesn’t correct the issue, another alternative is to shim the door. This is slightly more work because it includes removing the inner trim around the door. Once the moldings are removed, you’ll see that the patio door frame was installed and shimmed into the opening. You’ll possibly also see that it is no longer flawlessly in the square. You can take out or loosen the screws that protected the door frame in place, and then re-square the door, shimming it out as required.
Maintaining sliding glass doors in the upright condition is one imperative part of maintaining your residence. And since repairing a patio door is far less costly than buying a replacement, it only makes good sense to uphold your door for as long as probable. With some basic precautionary maintenance and sporadic repair work, anybody can keep their sliding glass door in an apt condition for many years.