How to remove this sliding glass door?

This door is hard to slide. The track itself looks ok and the door doesn't drag on the threshold, so I'm guessing the rollers are clogged with pet ha ir and dirt, etc. I have changed rollers on other doors and in those cases the door just lifted up and tilted out from the bottom. This one looks to me like it was installed backwards or something because I cannot lift the door high enough to get over the bottom lip on the inside and it seems my o nly option is to remove the stationary pane and tilt it out going the other way. I cannot seem to figure out how to get the stationary pane out thoug h. In the last two pics you can see metal plate things at the top and bott om held on with screws. I have removed these thinking I would be able to s lide the stationary pane away from the jamb and then tilt it out, but I cou ldn't get it to budge, and I was afraid of bending something or breaking th e glass.

Or does anyone see some other way to get this out this that I'm not seeing?

This is looking at the sliding pane from the inside:

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This is a close-up of the bottom lip on the inside. You can see there is n o way the door will lift high enough to get over this lip:

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This is a close-up of the top of the frame from the inside:

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This is looking at the lower track from the outside. The right pane is the slider, the left is stationary:

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And this is looking at the upper part of the track from the outside. Right pane is the slider, left is stationary:

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Reply to
Dave
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Dumb question, but did you slide the operating half to the same side as the stationary half?

It might lift out from that side. There might be an up-stop screwed into the overhead portion of the track on the closed side of the frame, keeping you from lifting the door out on that side.

Reply to
thekmanrocks

he stationary half?

o the overhead portion of the track on the closed side of the frame, keepin g you from lifting the door out on that side.

Yeah, I know what you mean. There's nothing like that. It is just that th e lip on the bottom is too tall for the amount of clearance between the top of the slider and the frame. You can actually see the top of the door hit ting the frame when you lift it and there's still about another 3/8" of lip to overcome.

Reply to
Dave

Did you remove that blocking clip at the top? That is there to keep the door from coming out.

Reply to
gfretwell

It looks like the brackets with the slot will release the door if the screws are loosened....tried that? Probably then would be able to lift the door enough so that the bottom clears the track.

Reply to
Norminn

____________

That's what I was referring to in my intial post as "up-stop".

Reply to
thekmanrocks

It woudn't have to be screwed in.

I put a piece of broom stick, classic straw broom stick, above my sliding door, and when I open the door, the broom stick travesl with it.

I'd have to open it part way and push the broom stick out to remove the door.

Reply to
micky

Absolutely. And the worst part is when you got it out alone and still don't realize how heavy it is, and it's an inch from where it was, but then you try to tip it. It almost went over my arms to crash on the inside floor. Once I stepped back a few steps I was able to hold it and lay it down or whatever.

Reply to
micky

Dave,

You've done the top and bottom clips. The stationary panel is now held in by a decades worth of crud. Check for old caulk. Lift it with a pry bar. Once the pry bar ungums it, it will slide towards the middle. From there you can pick it up and swing the bottom free of the door frame. Et c. You're doing the right things, just be a little more forceful. This really isn't a Winter job.

Dave M.

Reply to
David L. Martel

..snip...

You do realize that we can see a lot of pictures that have nothing to do with your sliding door, right?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

't drag on the threshold, so I'm guessing the rollers are clogged with pet hair and dirt, etc. I have changed rollers on other doors and in those cas es the door just lifted up and tilted out from the bottom. This one looks to me like it was installed backwards or something because I cannot lift th e door high enough to get over the bottom lip on the inside and it seems my only option is to remove the stationary pane and tilt it out going the oth er way. I cannot seem to figure out how to get the stationary pane out tho ugh. In the last two pics you can see metal plate things at the top and bo ttom held on with screws. I have removed these thinking I would be able to slide the stationary pane away from the jamb and then tilt it out, but I c ouldn't get it to budge, and I was afraid of bending something or breaking the glass.

no way the door will lift high enough to get over this lip:

he slider, the left is stationary:

ht pane is the slider, left is stationary:

I had much the same problem - obviously needed new rollers, not just cleani ng. Couldn't get it high enough for the rollers to clear the channel - cau se - sub floor swelled a bit. 3 of us (2 window guys and me) managed to pr y it far enough. I ground a 'notch' in two spots so the rollers could clea r to get it out. A few years later I was once again using a hair dryer to thaw the ice out of the end of the channel with a -20* wind blowing snow do wn my back. That did it - that sumabitch was ging to disappear when the we ather warmed up. It did. I swore then that I would never again have a hou se with one of those abortions. Worse method of closing a hole in a wall t hat was ever invented. Piss poor insulation around the edge, flimsy locks, channel a perfect place to collect crude, etc. I now have a door that sea ls, locks, well insulated and DOES NOT USE ROLLERS.

Harry K.

Reply to
Harry K

Thanks Dave. You seem to be one of the few that bothered to absorb what I was saying in my original post. I'll have another crack at the stationary side this weekend. I live in Phoenix so we don't really have "winter" here . The high this weekend is expected to be 86 so I don't imagine the weathe r to be a part of the problem I had in getting the door loose. :-)

Reply to
Dave

I had much the same problem - obviously needed new rollers, not just cleaning. Couldn't get it high enough for the rollers to clear the channel - cause - sub floor swelled a bit. 3 of us (2 window guys and me) managed to pry it far enough. I ground a 'notch' in two spots so the rollers could clear to get it out. A few years later I was once again using a hair dryer to thaw the ice out of the end of the channel with a -20* wind blowing snow down my back. That did it - that sumabitch was ging to disappear when the weather warmed up. It did. I swore then that I would never again have a house with one of those abortions. Worse method of closing a hole in a wall that was ever invented. Piss poor insulation around the edge, flimsy locks, channel a perfect place to collect crude, etc. I now have a door that seals, locks, well insulated and DOES NOT USE ROLLERS.

Harry K.

Mr. Harry K said what I could never think to say. Fortunately I've never owned, nor lived in a home with a sliding glass door. Growing up, and seeing them at friends homes, I always thought they were the coolest things ever. After reading this ,and remembering the guilt I felt when it was my turn to open such a door and inevitably it would jam, or just come off a track and I felt responsible. Reading all this nonsense has taught me a valuable lesson.Just say no.

Daniel

Reply to
Daniel Cairns

...snip...

On the other hand, you may be basing your "just say no" on poor installations and/or cheap doors.

I installed a good quality, insulated glass, aluminum clad wooden sliding patio door about 20 years ago. Still love it and operate it multiple, multiple times a day (I have an old dog with bladder problems and a cat who hates being inside but keeps forgetting how cold it is outside)

It rolls effortlessly, it locks securely with the vertical deadbolt I added, it doesn't leak air. It just does what it was intended to do: give us easy access to the deck and not take up any floorspace inside the room when open.

I don't want to sound mean, but based on the pictures from the OP, I could see why no one would want a sliding glass door. However, if you buy a quality door and install it correctly, they can provide decades of trouble free operation.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

My POS was an Anderson door, definitely a quality door, installed in 1984. Replaced the rollers twice, every winter down there with a hair dryer cleaning snow/ice out of the track and cussing the abortion every time. Removed it 20012.

As for a normal door taking up space in the room - install it correctly (opening OUT) solves that. That also makes the house more secure - almost impossible to kick in a door that opens out.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

How can you call it a POS and a quality door in the same sentence? That makes absolutely no sense.

How often were you "down there" with a hair dryer? What caused ice and snow to get in the track? My track is inside the house. It would be hard to get ice or snow in it.

2012 - 1984 = 28. 2 sets of rollers in close to 3 decades? That doesn't sound so bad. I've done one set

When it opens out, does it open 180° so as not to take up any room on the deck? Does it open when there is a foot of snow on the deck?

We often keep our sliding door open when it's raining. I wouldn't want the inside of my wooden door exposed to the elements.

As far as kicking in the door, I don't consider that an issue. If they want in, they're coming in. Did you happen to notice the 2 large panes of glass that most sliding doors come with? If they want in, they're coming in.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

't drag on the threshold, so I'm guessing the rollers are clogged with pet hair

-------------------> Snipped

Reply to
a2rjh

Sliding door = POS - the worst design ever developed for closing a hole i n an outside wall.

Almost every time it snowed. It opened directly on to the patio, snow woul d lodge against the door, open it and it fell into the track, close door it pushed the snow against the jam and froze there.

And all the rest of my outside doors have not needed ANY roller replacement - your point is??

Almost and it takes up no useable room. It opens onto two steps going down so deep build up doesn't happen.

I'll put up with repainting over the problems people have trying to remove a slider to replace rollers any day.

So you don't both locking up, got it.

At least you didn't pull the old "code prohibits doors opening out" which i s an outright lie but shows up every time in these discussions. This is th e first time it hasn't.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

You opinion based on your bad experiences. That's fine.

Never happens to me. I get snow on my deck but I never have snow in the track problems. Maybe it's the slanted design of the sill. Can't say without comparing.

My point is that I like my sliding door much more than I would like a swinging door. I like it enough that if I had to replace rollers once a decade that would be a small price to pay for everything else I like about the door.

We step directly out onto the deck. Any door that opened onto the deck would take up usable space. Different situations warrant different applications.

My door is stained on the interior. I wouldn't want it outside.

As far as "problems" removing it, it goes back to the design of the door. All that is required for me to remove the slider is 6 screws to remove a piece of wooden molding at the top of the door and the panel just tilts down into the room. It's a simple one man operation.

Now you're just being silly because you want to argue. Sensible people don't make it easy, but no one can make it impossible.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Look, we could go on forever with you bad mouthing sliding doors and me defending them, but the bottom line is this:

Millions of people have sliding doors and enjoy them. Some people have sliding doors and hate them. Now, before you jump all over me about the vagueness of the words "some people" there's a reason I said it that way.

We know for a fact that millions of sliding doors have been installed over the years. We also know that we have seen many posts about people having problems with their doors and about how much they hate them. What we haven't seen are _millions_ of posts from people having problems with their doors. What we will _never_ see is millions of posts from satisfied users saying things like "Hi! Just checking in to let you know I love my sliding door. I'm not having any problems with it."

It the same situation with just about any product. The happy people typically stay silent unless they are specifically reviewing a product - or defending it when someone makes a blanket statement such as "They all suck". The unhappy people, or those with a problem that they are trying to resolve, will post. Those that hate the product will point to those posts as if they are overwhelming proof about how that product is. They will neglect to point out that millions of satisfied users _aren't_ posting about how happy they are.

I like my slider. You hated yours. I've never had a serious problem my slider. You had multiple problems with yours. Based on my experience I think sliders are great. Based on your experience you think sliders suck. The major difference is that I don't think _all_ sliders are great, but you appear to think that _all_ sliders suck.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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