Easy Repair on Sliding Glass Doors
- , by Trudy Chuoke Trudy Chuoke
Do you have a sliding glass door that doesn’t slide that well? Does it jump, but not slide? I want to talk about maintenance for your door today to help prolong its life. Do you know how much a new sliding glass door costs? Or what it costs to install one? The cost of a plain patio door runs from $900 to $ 1,500, depending on size and materials. You can count on about $ 2,000 to $ 4,000 for installation. So let me walk you through how to take care of that expensive door.
Usually, when a door doesn’t want to slide easily, it’s the track. Not the rollers. And the track is so easy to take care of. Mainly, it just needs cleaning and lubrication. Open the door and clean the track from any debris. The debris usually in my door is from my dog tracking in. And dust and mud will do damage to the track and rollers. It’s hard to believe that just dust particles can do damage to a metal track, but it can. (Don’t get me started on the damage that dust and dirt can do to a wood floor.) So, clean the track first, vacuuming out any dirt. Do the whole track. Then use a little paint thinner on a rag to clean off any previous lubricant. So, let’s talk about the right kind of lubricant. Because they are not all alike.
When you think of lubricant, what name comes to mind? Probably WD40. They have done their due diligence to get their name out in the market. But WD40 is not a true lubricant. WD stands for water displacement. And the 40 is the number of times it took to get the formula correct. So, when do you use WD40? Spray your outdoor tools to prevent rust. Spray it into power tools to drive out moisture. But I wouldn’t use it to lubricate hinges and squeaky parts because it attracts dust. And that’s what we are trying to avoid on this project. So go to your local hardware store and pick up Tri-Flow. I know you might not have heard of Tri Flow, but it is a superior lubricant. I like to say - it’s like a ball bearings in an aerosol can.
What makes Tri Flow work well for tracks is that it doesn’t attract dust. It is made with solvents that allow it to reach small areas and hard-to-reach places, and these solvents help keep the surface clean. That’s what you want in a lubricant. After you have cleaned the track, spray the track with Tri Flow. I like to spray a couple of feet, run the door over it, and then do 2 more feet, and then finish the track. After you have lubricated the track, I have a warning: the door won’t require as much “oomph” as you previously had to use. In fact, if you pull hard on this newly maintained door, you might push it into the next wall.
This all works great as long as the track is intact; if it's crooked, you can straighten it with a pair of pliers. Then there is a stainless-steel track you can pop over the damaged one, giving you a brand-new, smooth surface. They are not expensive. If you can’t lift out the door to install the track, you can trim the track and put half in at a time. Use a silicone caulk to seal it to the original track. There are lots of examples of how to do this out on YouTube.
What do you use as a door lock? When I bought my house, the previous owner had just destroyed the door lock by installing so many different locks. So, for security, he put a dowel rod down into the track. Okay, that does work. But if you don’t like bending over to remove it, I have another suggestion. Prime Source makes a sliding door latch that is perfect for your door. It can be added security, or if you're like me, it’s the door latch. It’s easy to install. Position the latch and mark the screw holes. One side will go on the door frame, and one side on the actual door. It will be a very strong latch.
I hope this helps, but if you have any questions, you can call me at the store or email me through the website, www.happyhandyman.com.