If the sliding glass doors in your home are more than 10 years old, you may find that they are getting harder to open. This problem is even more common on aluminum framed double pane doors. The reason is that the doors are heavy due to the double pane of glass, but many of the aluminum units did not use stainless steel rollers. So, in many cases, the rollers rust from moisture and start to get stuck.
To replace the rollers, you need to remove the sliding panel from the opening. In most cases, the fixed panel must be removed for the sliding panel to come out. There is an easy way to determine if your sticky panel should also go out or not. If the slider is on the inside track and the fixed panel is on the outside track, both panels need to be removed because the slider will only come out. There is a rim at the bottom of the track inside your house. That lip keeps water out. Unfortunately, that lip is also too high to lift the sliding panel. Therefore, you must first remove the fixed panel, then lift and rotate the slider from the outside. If you are one of the few people who have a slider on the outside rail, you can lift it up without removing the fixed panel.
But let’s say you first need to remove the fixed panel. Here’s what to do: Remove the screen door if you have one. The screen door will have two rollers at the bottom. Lift up one end of the door frame with one hand while using a flathead screwdriver to lift the roller off the track. Do this on both sides, then remove the screen door and set it aside. Now find a piece of metal on the bottom track that runs from the bottom corner of the stationary panel to the bottom of the side jamb that has the door lock on it. If your door is very old, that piece may be missing. If you have one, you can lift it off the track. It’s snapped into place even though it looks like it’s part of the track. Once you’ve removed that piece, you’ll want to look inside the house where the fixed panel is against the wall jam. Find the screws that hold the frame to the jam. They usually have one near the top and bottom corners and one near the center. Remove these screws and place them where you won’t lose them. You should now be able to pull the fixed panel out of the side jam. There is a big chance that it will get stuck. If so, grab the center rail near the bottom and lift it up as hard as you can. If you feel the panel rise, pull it down. Do this a few times, then try to get it out of the side jam again. This usually loosens it up enough to pull it out. If it still won’t come out, you’ll need to insert a thin screwdriver between the fixed panel frame and the side jam and pry while a helper prys the panel out of the jam. Once you free it from the side jam, grab the side rail from the stationary panel and have a helper grab the other rail. Lift the panel toward the top track and remove the bottom of the bottom track. Remove the panel from the top rail and set it aside with the screen door.
Now, you can try lifting the slider up and out, just like you did with the fixed panel. If the slider doesn’t clear the lower track, there are a couple of things you need to do. First, look to see if it is the old rollers sticking out of the bottom that are preventing the door from coming out, or if the bottom of the door frame is hitting the track. In almost all cases, it will be the old rollers. But, if the opening is 8′ wide, sometimes the wooden header across the opening has sunk in enough that it is tight in the center of the opening. If it’s the rollers, you should adjust them all the way toward the door. Find a hole in the bottom where you can put a Phillips screwdriver and find the set screw. Then turn that screw counterclockwise as far as it will go. Do that on both sides, then try to lift the door. If you still get stuck, have your helper lift one side and pull it out as you try to pry the frame up and roll onto the rail. If you pull out one side, have your helper hold that side with their foot to prevent it from going back in while you lift up the other side for leverage.
Once you get the slider out, almost all of the rollers are held in place by the same screw that holds the corners of the frame together. So you have to put the panel on one side, remove the screw from the corner, flip the panel over and remove the screw from the other bottom corner. Now, you can take a rubber mallet or the wooden handle of a hammer and hit the bottom frame of the glass. This will give you access to your skates. Take a close look at how they are inserted into the door frame. In fact, it’s a good idea to remove just one roller to take with you to match the new ones. Then when you return home you can use the roller that is still in place as a guide to install the new ones.
Places like Home Depot, Lowes, and Ace Hardware sell about 80-90% of rollers. So, you should be able to find them. However, let’s say that this is not your lucky day and you can’t find your rollers anywhere. You’re going to have to have them sorted. Take the roller to your local glass store. If you’re lucky, they’ll have them in stock. If not, they can order the rollers, but you won’t receive them for another week. Do not panic. Just go home and tap the bottom frame back into the door panel, but leave the corner screws out. You can even leave the roller you removed outside. Lift the door into place, install the stationary panel but do not replace the bottom piece and do not install the internal screws. Then from inside the house, pull up the slider and close it. You don’t want to drag it if you left the roller out. It will scrape the bottom track. Just lift it high enough to take the pressure off, close and lock it.
When your new rollers come in, remove everything and install the new rollers. Adjust the new rollers all the way up before reattaching the door. That way, the new rollers won’t interfere with your lifting in place. Adjust the new rollers down until the door slides smooth and locks. You need to make sure there is an equal gap at the top and bottom when the door is within an inch of closing on the side frame. You can adjust the rollers to make this dimension uniform. If you can get a professional to do the job for $50 or $60 including parts, it might be worth hiring someone to do it. But, in high population areas like Los Angeles, it’s common to pay $100 for labor alone. Then they increase the cost of the rollers and you could end up spending $130 for a job you can do yourself for around $20. Next week I’m going to tell you how to fix your broken or faulty window glass.