Sliding glass doors feature in many homes because they are modern and allow people to enjoy the outdoors while inside their homes. In addition, they allow light into a room and complement interior design.
DIY slide door installation projects may require more than two people to accomplish. The process of installing glass doors is like that of installing sliding glass windows and may take hours to finish.
Instructions
Check the threshold of the door for level using a carpenter’s level. Use wood shims to achieve level. Insert them using a hammer.
Add metal flashing to the door’s threshold. 1 inch flashing nails and a hammer can help tack the flashing into place.
Take height and width measurements of the new sliding glass doors as well as those of the door opening. Use spacer boards to cover up for discrepancies. Typically, new sliding glass doors are half-inch to three-quarter inch smaller than their openings. A 1/2 to 3/4 inch spacer board can be nailed to the top or side of the doorframe to make up for the difference.
Bend the weather flange out with your hands. The weather flange is a small metal piece found on the side of the sliding glass door. Run a 3/8 inch caulking along the sliding door’s doorframe as well as along the bottom of the door’s threshold over the flashing.
Lift the sliding glass door and place its bottom edge on top of the threshold. It should be at a 45 degree angle and face away from the home. This will help you set the door into place. Make sure the door is tilted towards the doorframe. Once the door is in place, take a 2 inch nail and drive it into the metal flange. The nail will go into the side of the structure and secure the door in place.
Use a carpenter’s level to check the door’s levelness. Tap the doors forward or backwards until it is on the same level with the home walls then nail 2 inch nails through the doors to secure them in place.
How to Replace Sliding Glass Door Rollers
You will need help with this project; I called the pros from Haldane Fisher in to help me. In addition, you need to stand outside when installing the rollers to ensure a perfect fit between the stationary door and the sliding glass door. You will only be able to remove the sliding doors and replace the rollers once the two doors are moved.
If you have a screen door, make sure it is removed by lifting one of its ends using a screwdriver. Use the screwdriver as a lever to lift the roller located at the bottom of the screen doorframe off its track.
Again, use the screwdriver to remove the stationary door by popping up metal pieces that run along the bottom of the track connecting to the side doorjamb. Remove all screws holding the stationary unit frame in place. Lift up the stationary door and pull it from the doorframe.
With the assistance of friends or family, lift up the sliding doors and try to remove it from the doorframes. If you cannot lift the sliding doors from the doorframe, try adjusting the rollers on the bottom of the sliding doors. Unfasten the screws on the rollers and try to lift the sliding doors out of the doorframe.
Use the screws used to adjust the rollers to remove the bottom of the sliding door’s frame. Unfasten the screws in a counter clockwise direction. Tap the bottom of the sliding glass doors using a mallet until the frame comes off.
Install the sliding glass doors back into the doorframe and readjust the rollers downwards by screwing them anticlockwise.
Jack Burns is a joiner by day and blogger by night. He likes use his expertise to help people with their DIY projects.