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Remove/Repair a Patio Door

Clewless1 | Posted in Construction Techniques on January 24, 2011 08:36am

I have questions about a sliding glass door.

  1. How do I remove the slider? I thought easy; lift and swing in, but it looks like I can’t … the inside lip is too tall.
  2. I need to fix the rollers. I saw some repair parts in HD, but don’t know which to use. Do I simply remove the door first and then find the matching parts?
  3. I’m assuming I can’t, but has anyone ever replaced single glass w/ double insulated in the same frame? My door is 10 ft (two 5 ft sections), so if I don’t have to replace the entire door, that would be a lot less expensive.
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  1. DanH | Jan 24, 2011 07:35pm | #1

    Look for some blocks screwed into the upper tracks, to prevent the doors from being lifted all the way up.  Or some other similar scheme.  (In particular there's usually a mechanism to prevent the doors from being lifted out when in the latched position.)

    Replacement parts may be easy to find or hard (or impossible), depending on brand and age.  Some manufacturers such as Andersen make it a policy to carry parts for everything they've ever made, but others couldn't give a rip.

    It would probably cost more to replace the glass than it would to replace the entire door.

  2. calvin | Jan 24, 2011 09:54pm | #2

    What the heck brand is it?

    Almost all are different to take out the operating sash.

    Does the interior or exterior do the sliding?.....................I'm thinking you said lift and swing in.

    If that's the case, and there's no removable stop along the top  (like an andersen-you'll see a series of screws in a square stop)

    so, no removable stop-lower the wheels all the way, now when you pry (with thin red devil small flat bar (maybe two wonder bars.) up it'll clear the track.  Use blocks on the floor for leverage-get it up and pull in.  Try to do this with the door half open.

    1. DanH | Jan 24, 2011 10:10pm | #3

      Yep, even on the ones with a removable stop of some sort you generally need to retract the wheels all the way.

      1. calvin | Jan 24, 2011 10:14pm | #4

        nope

        The removable stop such as the type Andersen uses requires only it's removal-you tip it in no problem..................

        The only time you need to lower the wheels is when some numbnuts raised them too high

        or

        the header didn't carry the load properly and it's sagged, pushing down the head jam.

    2. Clewless1 | Jan 25, 2011 08:18am | #5

      No idea what brand it is. It's an older all aluminum frame. Single pane glass.

      I don't see a way to 'lower the wheels'. I'll check for the blocks at the top; makes sense.

      1. DanH | Jan 25, 2011 08:32am | #6

        Generally the wheel adjustments are through holes near the bottom of the door -- remove a cap, stick a screwdriver in, and turn.  Then turn the other way because  you were going the wrong direction the first time.  On some screen doors (and possibly your lightweight aluminum one) the adjustments are at the edges of the door.

      2. calvin | Jan 25, 2011 08:31pm | #7

        aluminum.....

        screw it, find a new door to put in it's place.

        But, the wheels on those were adjusted in a couple places-both on the edge of the door.  Some had a hole you used a slotted (maybe phillips...........been a while), others had access in the notch that's over the guide rail (rib).

        If the adjusters are shot-you might be able to remove by bringing the door to the middle, after wd40'ing the crap out of what you can aim up at the wheels and in the slot or adj. hole at the end-try your screwdriver du jour, and turning (while tapping with a hammer-controlled impact ).  Back and forth...............but plenty of penetrating oil.

        You may not be able to move them.

        A good commercial (long time business ((from the 20's)) glass company might have the wheels for it.................need to compare-examine and match.

        Blaine Hardware might be an online source if you're lucky.

        As far as dbl pane.................doubt it.  The glass stops would have to be narrower yet fit that model

        New Door................

        1. Clewless1 | Jan 25, 2011 11:01pm | #8

          Screw it, buy new

          Yeah ... I hear you. Keeping plan B firmly in mind. But until I actually motivate to spend the $2500 + to replace it, I'm going to go into a bit of a learning mode to see what about sliders. 'Sides ... for 10 bucks worth of hardware, if I can gain some life whilst I go in search of a great deal on a replacement, it would be worth it.

          I'm going to get it out, check it out and either lube it up or replace some hardware. Never too old to learn a bit. I'm not in a bind over this, so I have the luxury of making this a bit of a study.

          I agree about the glass. This thing is all aluminum and single glass, so I'm not at all opposed to replacing. It's also east facing in the hot desert ... I need some sun control, too!! 7 x 10 is a heck of a lot of solar gain in this small house of mine. I think I could cut that by a factor of 5 given choices on glazing.

          1. DanH | Jan 25, 2011 11:47pm | #9

            With sliders (especially the cheap ones) simply cleaning the track can work wonders.  But if the rollers are going bad (not unlikely with such a heavy door on narrow rollers) then replacing the rollers is in order.  (But, of course, if the track is going bad then nothing's going to help.)

            Trying to put double-pane glass in a cheap AL frame is a losing proposition from the outset.  What you have is a glorified screen door, and it's barely able to take the weight of the single-pane glass -- double-pane glass would be impossible to move and would destroy the rollers and track in short order.

            On the bright side, since the rollers in this sort of door fail so quickly hardware stores are more likely to carry them.

          2. Clewless1 | Jan 26, 2011 08:41am | #11

            yeah, I thought I'd ask about the double pane glass. But you're right ... it really wasn't designed for the weight.

            My track is in good shape and I cleaned it well. I suspect that in my small town that maybe the local HD selection of repair hardware might be in line w/ the housing stock. There are LOTS of houses like mine in the neighborhood. Truly a cookie cutter development. However, not sure if most of these houses have the 10 ft slider like mine. I find it pretty amazing to find this large of a slider in this 1967 vintage house.

            I'm going to get it out and see about getting replacements at HD. If nothing else, I'll fabricate a replacement roller out of stone or a piece of iron wood.  ;)

            I'm betting I'm going to learn something ... I HOPE to have fun doing it, too. Always good to get tidbits of thought or advice from you guys before just diving into this. Gets me noggin' goin' a bit, if you know what ah mean.

          3. DanH | Jan 26, 2011 07:19pm | #12

            If there's a halfway decent hardware store in town, that's a better bet than HD.

          4. DonCanDo | Jan 26, 2011 08:42pm | #13

            in reply to Clewless1

            I suspect that in my small town that maybe the local HD selection of repair hardware might be in line w/ the housing stock.

            What a fascinating concept.  It could be true, at least to the degree that HD maintains stock based on regional differences, but unless there are many thousands of homes like yours, I doubt if HD is even aware of them.

          5. Clewless1 | Jan 26, 2011 09:31pm | #14

            Well the HD here locally carries a lot of stuff I've never seen in other HD, so I assume that there are some local differences in stock. They carry a wider variety of paddle fans and have evap coolers where up in the PNW, they don't really do much of that kind of thing.

            Plenty of other examples where the HD in the large metro area has the item, but this one does not. So out of the many many hardware options for e.g. sliding glass doors, how do they decide to carry items x, y, and z over all the rest? I don't know the answer ... just surmizing that MAYBE there is some logic to the stock (I know, tough to imagine w/ HD (logic that is)).

          6. Clewless1 | Jan 26, 2011 09:34pm | #15

            "I doubt if HD is even aware

            "I doubt if HD is even aware of them."

            Why not? Not too far fetched in the sense that in this small town, the employees are local and could potentially be as tuned into the local needs/housing stock as anyone might. It wouldn't surprise me a bit that the employees could be living in one of my cookie cutter houses just like mine. I walk for blocks in the neighborhood and see the duplicates of my house everywhere.

          7. calvin | Jan 26, 2011 05:57am | #10

            Here's some more removal insight.

            Long ago I may have undertaken a repair on the alum. door.  Usually removal of the operating panel was part of the replacement job.  I remember two steps now in the fog of morning-two pry bars, one on the door (wonder bar) and one on the exposed wheel.  Lift up the door, try to lift the wheel.  Probably done after lowering if possible, but for getting it the hell outta there-didn't much care.

            Best of luck.

  3. Clewless1 | Jan 30, 2011 06:41pm | #16

    Well I did it!! Found out you need to remove the fixed panel and then the slider by lifting and tilting OUT. Generally a piece of cake. I encountered an issue, however. My head sagged about 1/4" and my measurement on one end was less than the other. This prevented lifting the door to tilt outward. Ended up taking the aluminum sash down just a bit in a 2" section. Just enough to allow the door sash to come out.

    Found the replacement parts at the big box store ... perfect replacements!!! WooHoo!! Brought new life to my old door which was a struggle to open/close. Now it glides like new!! Plus I learned how to adjust door rollers and all that other valuable knowledge. I'm stoked.

    1. DanH | Jan 30, 2011 06:44pm | #17

      Yeah, it's amazing what a new set of rollers can do, if everything else is more or less OK.

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