Sliding doors are becoming common for closets in homes. Because the mechanisms used for sliding doors are more complex than traditional door hinges, the doors can develop a wide range of issues that prevent them from functioning properly. Some of the problems can be fixed quite easily, but others might not be repairable. Does this Spark an idea?
Door Jam
A sliding door jam is the easiest issue to find and fix. A jam occurs when a fairly large object falls into the path of the door. The door functions mostly normally but stops completely before sliding open fully. The solution is to slide the door a bit outward from the stopping point and check near where the door and wall meet. In almost all cases, you should be able to move the object out of the door's path, after which the door will function normally.
Track Clog
A sliding door that slides fully but with great difficulty may have a clogged track. The track is the piece on which the door slides. A clogged track usually occurs only in sliding doors with rollers on their bottom. Sliding doors with rollers on the top usually never have issues with a clogged track. Dust, dirt, hair and other debris fall into the track and obstruct the path of the rollers. Cleaning out the track without removing the door can fix this problem with relatively little work. The door needs to be removed only if the rollers are clogged. Remove the door only if the problem persists after you cleaned the tracks.
Misalignment
A sliding door needs to be aligned completely with its track to move smoothly. Sometimes a door goes out of alignment if it is used too hard or pressed at an odd angle. A misaligned door might not move at all or move only with extreme difficulty. The biggest mistake many people make is to try to pop the door back into place. That is not always possible and may increase the misalignment problem. Pushing the door upward to remove it from its bottom track is the first part of the solution. Then you should be able to pull the door from the top track. Once the door is completely out, slide the top of the door straight back into the top track. After the top is straight, pop the bottom of the door back into the bottom track.
Unfixable Issues
Not all sliding door issues can be fixed without partial or full replacement of the door. If one of the tracks is damaged, the track probably needs to be replaced. The materials used for most sliding doors are too brittle to repair correctly. Clogged rollers might have debris embedded to the point that the debris is no longer removable. Replacement rollers usually are available from the door's manufacturer. Just remove the old rollers and install the new ones using the original screw holes. Most sliding doors are made of wood. Under the correct conditions, a door can warp to the point that it cannot align with its tracks.
Tags: sliding door, sliding doors, back into, clogged track, bottom track
