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10,425 posts, read 39,362,072 times Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.Edit ArticleHow to Clean and Lubricate a Sliding Glass Door Two Methods:The Thorough WayThe Quick WayCommunity Q&A Sliding glass doors can become difficult to open because the track accumulates dirt and debris. The steps below tell you how to keep your sliding glass door sliding smoothly. Use this method at least once a year to thoroughly clean and lubricate the track to your sliding door. If you have a screen door, remove it first—–it will easily lift up and out of the track. Remove drapes, blinds or any other window furnishings from your door. Grasp each end of the door. Push the door up so that the wheels on the bottom of the door clear the track. You may have to use a screwdriver to loosen the level screws for the bottom wheels in order to get them to clear the bottom threshold.
Keep pushing the door upward. Place the door on two sawhorses so that you can clean the track wheels. Use a wire brush to loosen the hair and dirt from the wheels. Vacuum the debris from the wheels and the entire bottom and top of the door. Apply a non-stick silicone lubricant to the wheels. Test the rollers to be sure that they are clear of all debris and are moving freely. Vacuum the door track. Wipe out the door track with a wet rag. Apply some of the lubricant to the tracks in the door opening before you replace the door. Lift the door from the sawhorses. Push the door up so that the bottom rollers clear the bottom threshold. Let the rollers drop into the bottom track. Slide the door back and forth until it is sliding smoothly. If the track to your sliding door isn’t too gummed up with dirt and grime, you can get your door sliding smoothly again in about 15 minutes. Thoroughly vacuum the track to your door while it is still closed.
Slide the door all the way open so that you can access the other side of the track. Scrape out the dirt and debris from the track using a flat blade screwdriver. Vacuum the loosened dirt using an attachment with a narrow tip. Use an old rag to apply generous amounts of a non-stick lubricant to both tracks of the sliding door. Slide the door open and shut several times so that the entire track gets lubricated. Show more unanswered questions It also helps to lubricate the tracks to your sliding doors every few months. Be sure to clean the tracks on both sides of the door. Clean the track to your sliding door every few months with a wire brush. The brush will loosen stubborn dirt deposits, which you can then vacuum. Try to avoid oily lubricants because they attract dirt and dust; you’ll have to clean the rollers and tracks of your doors much more often if you use any kind of grease or oil instead of a non-stick lubricant. It’s best to have a helper if you are going to remove your door from its tracks.
If you should have to loosen screws, your helper can spot you and make sure the door doesn’t fall before you can remove it.When to Repair Sliding Glass Door RollersEventually every sliding glass, or patio, door will need help. They get harder and harder to open and close over time and the most common problem is that the rollers they slide on simply wear out. The door used as an example in this hub finally got so hard to move that children could barely open it and the handle broke off from excessive force. It was (past) time to do something! The most obvious first effort should be to clean the track out - remove any debris, small rocks or gravel, etc. Vacuum the track thoroughly and see if there is any improvement - this is sometimes all it takes and is quick and easy to do. If cleaning the track doesn't work, try to adjust the rollers. This is part of any repair work and is explained below with pictures showing where the adjustment screw can be found. While adjusting the rollers sometimes helps, it is usually an indication that they are wearing and will need replacement in the future.
Rollers on the example door were adjusted some time back, and it worked for a couple of years, but eventually just plain needed replacement. If replacement is necessary, begin by removing the door from the track. Removing the Door From the Track.While it may be necessary to remove the outer door first, this is not usually required. In nearly all cases the upper track of the door is deeper than the lower track and the door is not so tall that it actually reaches the top. This is so that the door can be picked up enough so that the roller assembly can clear the bottom track. Removal is generally quite simple; raise the door further into the top track and pull the bottom towards the inside. If the inside room is a hardwood floor or even vinyl tile flooring it is recommended that some kind of cover be provided to sit the door on so as not to scratch or dent the flooring. Continue this process until the top of the door comes free from the upper track and removal is complete. If you have trouble doing this it may help to adjust the rollers completely up into the door;
see the final paragraph for instructions on adjusting the rollers. Sliding glass doors can be quite heavy and it may help to use a pry bar to lift it. In addition it may require help to carry the door or even to slide it on the floor. When the door is removed, it is best to lay on a carpeted floor on its edge as shown in the photos ; the work to be done will be easier. The example door had a major problem in removal; over the 30 year life span of the door both the floor and ceiling had warped very slightly. It wasn't enough to prevent operation of the door, but the upper track had a very slight bow downwards and the bottom track had a similar bow upwards. The result was that the door could not be lifted enough to clear the bottom track even with a prybar. The answer was to use a small grinder and very carefully remove a small amount of metal from the bottom track. The very upper portion of the track on the inside was removed down to floor level; when the door is installed it still fits below this level and is thus still supported but would now clear the lower track when raised into the upper track.
If you have trouble getting the door high enough to slide the bottom out you might check for this problem. Replacing the RollersThe roller assemblies are visible in the bottom of the door, near the sides (see photos). Although typically held in place with a single screw your door will likely be slightly different and you will have to find the screw(s) that hold the assembly. Remove any screws holding the roller assembly in place and remove that assembly. At this point there are two options; either replace the entire assembly or just the roller, with replacement of the entire assembly preferable as it is much simpler. Individual rollers are available, but will most likely require using a drill to drill out the rivet holding the current roller in place and fitting a new roller into the assembly. Whether buying either an entire assembly or just rollers, an exact replacement is necessary; while assemblies may well be similar they are very unlikely to actually work if not identical.
Take the assembly to the store or use exact measurements to find a replacement. Replacement rollers may have a screw and nut arrangement to hold them in place instead of rivets; make sure that there is sufficient room for the screw and nut if you are replacing just the roller. In the example, a local home improvement store had both; a pair of rollers was $6 while two complete assemblies were only $7. The choice was obvious and two complete roller assemblies were purchased. Amazon offers many such roller assemblies and a few examples are shown below. There are many more, but make absolutely sure you are purchasing the correct assembly for your door. Fit the new assembly (or the old one with new rollers) into the door frame in the same manner they came out and put the fastening screws back into the frame. It is wise to adjust the rollers up into the door as far as possible to make installing the door easier; the next section gives those instructions. The door is re-installed the same way it came out: insert the door into the upper track and slide the bottom of the door over the lower track.
The center of the door should line up on the section of track the roller rides on, but it can be moved later if you find during the roller adjustment phase that it isn't centered properly. Adjusting the RollersThe final step in the process is to adjust the door rollers. Using a screwdiver (probably a phillips type), turn the adjustment screw until the door itself is raised just slightly off the bottom track. As the adjustment screw is turned it pushes the actual roller wheel down which is what pushes the door up. This screw will probably be turned in a clockwise motion to move the roller down and the door up, but it may be necessary to turn it the other way depending on the assembly that fits your door. Expect the screw to turn quite easily for a few turns but then get considerably harder to turn as the roller comes into contact with the track and begins to raise the door. It may help to raise the door very slightly with a screwdriver or prybar as that will make it easier to turn the adjustment screw.