Fix Closet Doors
Closet doors keep your clothes and personal belongings inside your closet out of sight. Most closet doors are either sliding doors or bi-fold doors. Over time, these closet doors will eventually not work quite the way they should. You can fix most common closet door problems yourself quickly. You only need a couple of hand tools to repair tracks and guides to get your closet doors working like new. If you do find that you need replacement parts, they are available at most home improvement centers. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Bi-Fold Doors
1. Open the bi-fold closet door and loosen the top pivot bracket with a flathead screwdriver. The pivot bracket mounts to the track and the top of the door rides on a pin in the bracket. When the bracket becomes loose or moves, the door becomes out of level which causes the door to bind and stick.
2. Position the open door parallel to the side jamb. Tighten the pivot bracket with the screwdriver. While the door is open, tighten the screws that secure the bottom bracket to the floor or jamb.
3. Lift up on the open bi-fold door and swing the bottom out of the bottom bracket. Pull the door out of the closet frame and inspect the top and bottom guides. Remove guides that have damage and purchase replacements at a hardware store. The guides will slip in and out of their location with your fingers.
4. Place the top of the door into the opening, positioning the top guide into the bracket. Swing the bottom of the door back into the bottom bracket.
Sliding Closet Doors
5. Grab both sides of the outer sliding door and lift the door up into the top track. Swing the bottom toward you and remove the door from the closet. Remove the inner sliding door in the same way.
6. Inspect the upper track for damage and loose screws. Tighten any loose screws with a screwdriver. If a screw will not tighten down, replace the screw with a slightly larger diameter wood screw. Straighten any bent track with a pair of pliers. Grab the edge of the bend with the pliers and pull the edge out to straighten.
7. Look at the roller assemblies on the top of the two sliding door panels. Remove the screws that secure the roller assemblies to the door and take the roller assemblies to a hardware store to replace them. Compare the distance from the bracket to the center of the roller on the new assemblies. They must match the offset that your current roller assemblies have.
8. Install the roller assemblies using the securing screws. Grab the door panel and insert the top rollers into the top track and swing the bottom of the panel over the bottom glide.
9. Place a level along the side of the door panels. Adjust the bottom glide to level the doors. Loosen the screw that secures the bottom glide to the floor with a screwdriver. Move the glide forward or backward to adjust and tighten the glide to the floor.
Tags: roller assemblies, bottom bracket, bottom glide, pivot bracket, sliding door