“Obviously, it’s the Super Bowl. We’re going to have a party. My husband, he is a very social person. There must have been thirty people in our kitchen at one point.” Diane shook her head. “So people are going back and forth through the sliding glass door, so they can have a smoke on the deck, and along the way the door is damaged.
It used to open and shut absolutely effortlessly – now I have to tug and drag this heavy door open every time the dogs want to go out. So something has to happen, because I can not live like this.”
Sliding Glass Door Common Issues
A sliding glass door that won’t open or close easily is a very common complaint. In Diane’s case, it’s easy to suspect two potential causes – a guest leaned on the door hard enough to bend the track just enough to impede the door’s easy movement or dirt, debris, or perhaps some stray party snacks had traveled down into the sliding glass door’s track, again, blocking the door’s path.
Can sliding glass doors be fixed? Absolutely. The first step here for the homeowner is to take a flashlight and look down into the track the door moves along. If there’s an immediately identifiable obstacle, clean that blockage out and the door should function properly again. Sometimes sliding glass door tracks need a very thorough cleaning to function properly.
The other issue – a bend or other damage to the track – can be repaired by a professional glass service that provides sliding glass door repairs. Repairing the sliding glass door is a much more affordable option than sliding glass door replacement.
If you are considering if sliding glass door replacement is the right option for your family at this time, it’s good to know that the expected useful life of a sliding glass door is around 30 years. So if the door is relatively new, it could offer you decades of performance for the price of a sliding glass door repair. However, if the door is approaching or even past the end of its useful life, it might be time to upgrade.
