According to this old house debris build up is the main reason for a sliding door that refuses to glide.
Sliding glass door not sliding smoothly.
This is something you should do as part of the regular maintenance of your replacement windows and patio doors but if your doors are not sliding smoothly it may be because there is debris or a buildup of dirt in your patio door track.
Never leave the glass door unattended.
First slide open the door completely and remove the head stop.
Then lift the door up and out of the track laying it down carefully across two sawhorses.
Most sliding doors have a mechanism called an adjusting screw located at the bottom of the door ends.
First all you need to do is simply give the sliding door track a good scrubbing.
This slows down your door considerably.
To clean the track vacuum or wipe the area thoroughly with a damp cloth.
Silicone spray along the top track helps keep things gliding smoothly.
Be sure to brush down both sides of the track as well as help scrub out the dirt that exists in the middle move the door along the track to expose the front scrub move the door back to the closed position scrub and so on.
If things still don t run smoothly after.
Remove the door from the track.
The track acts as a guide for the door and also allows roller wheels to help the door run smoothly.
Standard sliding glass doors all have tracks.
Clean the sliding glass door track.
Rub paraffin or candle wax along the bottom track.
Dirt mud hair and fur can collect along the track and in the groove which clogs the rollers underneath and prevents smooth motion.
To quickly clean and lubricate a sliding glass door start by vacuuming 1 side of track while the door is still closed.
Give the screw a clockwise turn and test to see whether the door slides easier.
Sliding doors are very heavy very breakable and very expensive this is a two person job.
If the door becomes even harder to open turn the screw in the opposite direction.
Here s how you can clean the rollers and the track.
Silicone doesn t attract dirt.