Sliding patio door, sticking, how to adjust/access?

[Chris Green]

We have a sliding patio door which has taken to sticking and also getting itself off its track. It's fairly old, wooden frame, double glazed.

I can see no way to take it apart or adjust it, is this normal or am I missing some magic hidden screws somewhere. I can't even see a way to lift the sliding door out and there surely must be a way to do that somehow, or how was it installed?

I could possibly put some pictures up somewhere but they'll show nothing but a wooden frame and a sliding door and no screws or anything.

Apart from an very large sledge hammer and/or an angle grinder does anyone have any idea how this is likely to come apart?

[Tricky Dicky]

Have you just tried lifting it to disengage the bottom rollers from the track and tilting it inwards to unhook the top. I know it is not the same but many sliding doors simply detach that way.

Richard

[Jeff Layman]

Is there something fitted above the top frame of the moving door as a security device to prevent it being lifted off its frame and taken out?

Is there any room to use a thin endoscope to view what's happening under the door when it moves over the track?

What does the door slide on? is the frame steel or aluminium? If it's coming off the track, that suggests something is worn. If it isn't worn, and it's sticking as well as coming off the track, have you checked the frame is still square? Is there any chance there is subsidence or heave which is affecting the frame or track?

[Chris Green]

No, it doesn't lift off the bottom track, it can't be lifted that much.

[Chris Green]

Nothing obvious, it's just a solid wood frame. There's only a tiny gap between the top of the door and the wood of the frame, maybe 1/8". The top just runs between two guides, its whole weight rests on the runner at the bottom.

Possibly, an endoscope might be a 'good thing' for my tool-box anyway.

The frame is wood, there's a single metal track mounted on the bottom frame, it's sort of brassish colour but probably steel. It's likely quite worn as it's over 20 years old now. Once back on the track (brute force and ignorance required) it runs reasonably well,

I have discovered two holes covered with plastic covers at the bottom of the door, I've taken the plastic covers off and you can see something metal down the hole but it doesn't seem to have a slot or anything that would turn (i.e. an adjuster). The 'thing down the hole' isn't very well aligned with the hole though so it's difficult to see what it is.

[Brian Gaff]

Yes and sometimes this is only possible at one point in the travel. Its one reason why I hate sliding doors. We have some on a fitted wardrobe, and something has moved slightly, so one of the doors now falls inside in the middle of its travel. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Inside the bottom slider is there a plastic strip? The one a neighbour had seemed to have been assembled with the door in place but after a while this strip wore, making the top almost come out and jam. The question was how to replace the strip. The answer was involving a number of pars of hands and some disassembly to pull out the strip and put another one in. The designer was obviously bonkers. Brian

[David]

A while since we had sliding doors, but the aluminium ones had a blanked off hole as you describe to access an adjusting screw which moved a wheel up and down. The wheel ran on a central rounded metal track. After a while the wheel/track system seemed to wear down (or the adjustment slip) so the screw had to be twiddled a bit to stop the sides of the door rubbing on the base.

However as others have said you could lever the door up until it would swing in and be removed for servicing.

If you can't get the door out, and you can't access an adjuster, your options may be limited.

Possibly worth contacting a professional who may have come across this particular type of door before?

Cheers

Dave R

[Chris Green]

That sounds something like what we have, however I can't really see what the adjuster needs to turn it. Is it just a slot for an ordinary screwdriver or something 'cleverer' than that?

There's no way it can swing in, the sliding half is outside the fixed half. It's closer to swinging out but there's still not enough clearance to get it off the track.

Hmm, maybe. :-(

[David]

Yes, thinking back the sliding part could well have been on the outside. That is the logical place for it.

Sod's Law might be that an outside trim was fitted after the door went in so there was no easy way to remove it. Although this does sound unlikely.

Although this is a DIY group, someone who does doors for a living might be sensible.

Cheers

Dave R