When going into your closet or going outside onto your patio that happens to have sliding doors, it can become very bothersome if they don’t slide easily, or don’t slide at all. Either they need repair, replacing, or just cleaned out; it doesn’t have to be a big job to fix the problem.
All sliding doors operate in one or two ways, but keep in mind that the variety of their hardware is practically unlimited. Closet doors and pocket doors (these are doors that slide into walls) usually are the lightweight sliding doors, as well as extremely heavy garage doors, are most likely hung from the top of the rail. The more moderately heavy doors such as the patio doors usually rest on the bottom of the rail. Almost all of the sliding doors glide along on rollers, which they can be adjusted to make the door glide either higher or lower. There are plastic guides at the top or may be at the bottom of the rails, these guides keep the doors vertical and help keep them aligned with their tracks.
To keep the gliding doors at the peak of their performance, inspect all hardware periodically, and make sure to tighten any loosened screws that may become loose in the frame or track. Make sure to replace any part that seems to become broken, worn, or missing. The job of removing a sliding door for maintenance or for repair usually is a simple technique, but keep in mind that the door can be very heavy which it makes it more difficult to maneuver, especially if the sliding door is made of glass.
To keep the sliding door working its best, make sure that all the tracks, especially the ones on the bottom track, is free from debris and foreign objects that may be blocking the door to slide properly. What you could do is to occasionally apply a little powdered graphite or paraffin onto the track to keep it sliding smoothly and quietly, this could make all the difference in the proper operation on the sliding doors. If your sliding doors have metal wheels, apply a drop of oil to each of the roller’s bearing, which would help tremendously. If you have nylon sliding doors wheels, it’s important not to use oil.
If you have a problem with your sliding door jumping its track, you should check to see if there is dirt in the track. Also check to see if a section has been bent out of shape, or maybe a guide that has come out of alignment. If you have a problem with the door dragging or it’s tilted in its frame, it usually just needs a roller adjustment.
There are many things that might keep your sliding doors working properly; these techniques usually will fix the problem. But keep in mind that if you have sliding doors that is seriously warped, you may need to just replace the sliding doors all together.
