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By Mike McClintock
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, May 11, 2000; Page H04

Sliding doors used to have front-page status in home improvement catalogues. Now they are stuck behind French doors and other more decorative units--and in thousands of aging aluminum tracks where they once slid so smoothly. But the most common slider problems are easy to fix, and you generally don't have to lift the heavy glass panels off their tracks.

The outer frame

Framed openings for sliding glass doors rarely cause problems in new installations. But years of weather exposure and gradual settling can cause problems above, below and on the sides of the doors.

The structural opening is important because a large panel of glass can slide freely only when the slider frame floats inside the wall. The frame is connected to the house, but isn't strong enough to bear structural weight. That job is handled by a header made of two timbers, such as two 2-by-8s set on edge.

The header picks up structural loads that would have been carried by wall studs and transfers the loads to the sides of the opening.

An adequate header takes the pressure off the door panel so it can glide on its built-in wheels over a ribbed track on the base of the frame, while slits in the top of the panel slide along a rib in the top of the frame.

Cleaning the track

When a slider sticks, first check the track in the lower frame for debris. Open the door and sweep the track free of leaves or twigs. If the raised rib is grimy, clean it, and apply a coat of lubricant such as WD-40.

On older doors, sticking also can be caused by a worn or torn brush strip. These strips are inset in a narrow groove along the bottom face of the door panel and can be replaced.

If you hear or see debris inside the hollow base of the panel, you'll have to lift the door off the track for more thorough cleaning.

Most people will need a helper for this operation--one person on each side of the door lifting straight up and shifting the base off the track. Then you can maneuver the door onto a pair of sawhorses (or just set it on its side) to get a close look at the wheel assemblies. Generally, you do not need to remove the wheels to clean the cavity.

Also check the main track rib for dents or burrs that can impede the wheels. Burrs can form if the door is not properly adjusted and requires a lot of effort to open because it is scraping against the track. If you find burrs, use a metal file to smooth them, and then adjust the door so the problem doesn't recur.

Making adjustments

Most sliders have an adjustment screw that raises and lowers each wheel assembly. If you lower the wheel carriage, the door rides higher and is less likely to scrape.

If you raise the carriage, the door panel frame will ride closer to the track.

If one of the wheels is broken, you need to take off the door to remove and replace the wheel. You don't need to remove the door to make a small adjustment, but you do need to unload the weight of the door from the wheels.

To do this with the door in place, insert a flat bar under the bottom edge of the frame and set a small piece of wood under the bar to serve as a fulcrum. (Again, a helper will be handy.) The idea is to push on the bar and raise the door just enough for the wheels to float. If you're working alone, raise the door and insert a piece of wood between the frame and the track.

After the wheels are unloaded, you can turn the adjustment screw on the side of the door adjacent to the wheel. There is one on each side for each wheel.

There is no adjustment on the upper track. The slits in the top of the panel frame are deep enough for the door to operate with the wheel carriages raised or lowered.

Adjusting locks

You can lock sliding panels against the frame by lowering a small hook in the door over a bracket mounted on the frame.

Although this lock has only marginal security value (it's more effective to insert a bar in the track of the sliding panel), lack of alignment can make the door difficult to close completely.

There are two ways to fix the problem and make the door line up with the latch: Use the wheel adjustment screws to align the door, or reset the latch. You can determine the better method by watching how the lock and latch collide as you close the door. If the mismatch isn't obvious, coat both pieces of hardware with blue chalk and check for telltale imprints when the units meet.

If the door is riding smoothly, work on the latch. Most sliders have the mounting screws in slots instead of holes so you can slide the latch up or down as needed.

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