Lock Roll and Tracks

Sliding Door Repairs Sydney

Sliding Door Repairs Sydney
Sydney Sliding Doors 0481 164 669

Home Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs for Sliding Door Repairs

Here are the top Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Sliding Door Repairs.

Click the link to skip to each FAQ.

faqs sliding door repairs

  • How do you fix a sliding door?

This is the most common question we get asked. I have spent more than 10 years perfecting the process on how to fix a sliding door. Fixing a sliding door is not something that is ‘simple’ to do. There are so many components to a sliding door that need to be considered. At its most basic, to fix a sliding door you need to have high-quality sliding door rollers and a heavy-duty track that is able to withstand the constant wear and tear of opening and closing your door.

  • Can sliding doors be adjusted?

Sliding doors can be adjusted but if they are broken, you have to remove and replace the rollers on the door. It is usually commercial doors and hydraulic transom door closers which can be adjusted. Normal sliding doors cannot be adjusted but instead, the rollers and tracks need to be replaced.

  • Can aluminium sliding glass doors be repaired?

Yes. In fact, aluminium sliding glass doors are our most common repair all across Sydney. Most sliding doors are aluminium. The weight is in the glass and so the frame is usually made out of light-weight material like aluminium. Most times, you can just focus on replacing the sliding door rollers and then re-capping the track. But you might want to check the integrity of the door to make sure it is still safe and not causing ongoing damage to the internal components of your door and the frame.

  • How much does it cost to repair a sliding door?

The cost to repair a sliding door depends on a number of factors. I’d love to be able to give a specific figure but every door is specific. Some doors are so badly damaged that we have to repair the actual door frame, which takes more time. Other times the job is a matter of removing and replacing the rollers plus stripping back the track to a bare minimum then putting a brand new steel capping over the top. This means the roller will fit perfectly to your new track, giving you the longest possible time for future use.

  • How do you remove a sliding glass door?

Any time you work with glass you MUST have the correct safety material. Glass shatters and can cause serious damage to your floors or carpets when it breaks. You must have the correct gear to safely remove a sliding glass door.

  • How do you repair a wardrobe sliding door?

Wardrobe sliding door repairs are one of our most common repairs. The internal parts of a wardrobe sliding door can be quite tricky and require knowledge in how to remove and replace the internal components. Inevitably, you need to replace the cracked or chipped rollers and make sure the track is running smoothly. If you don’t repair the track it can often damage the new rollers and you need to replace them again shortly after fixing them.

  • How do you install a sliding door track?

Repairing a sliding door track is one of the tricks of the trade. It is our most vital aspect to our sliding door repairs and took our team years to perfect. Most people simply put a new capping over the top. But this causes the rollers to expand and break quickly. Instead, what you need to do is machine the old track back to a stump so you remove all the gauges and problems on the existing track. Then you need to custom lay a new sliding door track over the top of the current one. Once this is done, you know for sure the track is custom built to fit the new rollers.

  • How do you clean sliding door tracks?

Never use oil. To clean sliding door tracks, use a vacuum clean to remove any obvious bits of dirt and grime. Then you can use a disposable wipe to really get in there and give it a good clean. Oil based products are a big no-no. Do not use them. You can use things like rubbing alcohol and so-on to give it a really good clean and provide enough traction for the rollers to roll smoothly.

  • What are French sliding doors?

French sliding doors look fantastic. French sliding doors have the iconic squares within the sliding door frame. They are usually white in colour and really create a stylish look and feel in your home. They are often made out of Timber but can be done in white aluminium as well.

  • How do I fix a sliding door lock?

Normally, to fix a sliding door lock you need to replace the entire thing. But it is possible that your sliding door lock has become difficult to open as a result your sliding door rollers being damaged and therefore your door has dropped. We often fix sliding door locks for those whose door has worn or damaged rollers and the track is chipped and no longer smooth. Once we replace the badly damaged rollers with high-quality rollers, the door lock lines up perfectly and locks every time with ease. Our number one priority with your family is safety. You must have a fully working sliding door lock.

  • Is it expensive to fix a sliding door?

Fixing a sliding door is very cheap relative to replacing your current door with a new one. Unless you really dislike the look and feel of your current door, it will always be less expensive to fix your sliding door rather than replace it. The best thing to do is to get a free quote on your sliding door repair and we can discuss exactly what your needs are and fit it in with your budget. But one thing is for sure, no matter your investment in getting your sliding door repaired, we guarantee it will slide with one finger with ease.

  • What are the main types of sliding doors?

There are a few main types of sliding doors including:

  • Aluminium sliding doors
  • Cavity sliding doors
  • Timber sliding doors
  • Screen sliding doors
  • Wardrobe sliding doors
  • French sliding doors
  • Glass sliding doors
  • Commercial sliding doors
  • Sliding door closers
  • Internal sliding doors
  • Electronic sliding doors
  • Automatic sliding doors

Plus there are likely a few others too.

  • Can sliding doors be replaced?

Yes but this is very expensive. Unless the structural integrity of your door is compromised, you will have more money in your pocket and a similar result if you get your door repaired rather than replaced.

  • Which sliding doors are the best?

The best sliding doors come down to personal preference. Having said that, we have put together a helpful page to outline the top 10 sliding door brands you might want to consider as a short list.

  • Why has my sliding door become difficult to move?

Your sliding door is difficult to move due to a number of reasons. The main one is general wear and tear and years of use. It is a door with moving parts after all. You wouldn’t think twice about getting your car serviced to increase mileage, so you must think of your door as needing basic maintenance and repair as well. The most common sliding door problems are broken rollers and a damaged track.

  • What are high-quality rollers, and how are tracks repaired correctly?

Our sliding door repairs primarily utilise twin bogie rollers, ensuring effortless movement and longevity for the doors we service. The extra rollers in bogies give your sliding door four rollers that will always sit on the track.  Our sliding door track repairs involve installing new stainless-steel tracks over precision-cut worn tracks, ensuring rollers and tracks fit perfectly. Thanks to our unique technical skills, we can precision-cut worn tracks.

  • My frame is falling to pieces? And the glass is dangerously exposed?

On sliding doors, there are four fasteners or screws that hold the frame together. These fasteners will break when sliding doors get old or break when they are incorrectly serviced. When we service any sliding door, if there are broken fasteners, we will remove the frames from the glass and cut out these broken fasteners. We will then replace them so the frames are secure and safe. The rubber gaskets or seals separating the glass from the aluminum frame can corrode with time and need replacing. However, many of these seals are unavailable. In these cases, we offer a service to reseal glass in aluminum frames.

  • My lock and sliding door don’t line up correctly?

It must be serviced when the lock falls out of alignment and no longer latches. Fixing this problem will usually start by replacing the rollers on the sliding doors. This will allow the door to be adjusted to sit square with the door jamb.  At this point, we can service the lock and handle. Adjusting the latch in the handle and the striker plate on the door jamb will align the lock correctly.  We will finally apply a special lock lubricant so the latch engages and locks quickly.

  • The fixed aluminum and glass frame has separated from the door jamb?

The fixed glass panel sits together with the glass sliding door and does not move. However, when sliding doors are installed or serviced, the fixed glass panels can sometimes not be attached.  Sometimes, if not attached properly, the fixed panel will come free of the door jamb over time. This means your sliding door is not sealed, which is a significant security concern.  We will fasten and possibly silicone the fixed panel into the door jamb when we service any sliding door. This will secure your home and prevent people from gaining access this way.

  • The fixed and sliding aluminum frames are catching?

When the fixed and sliding aluminum frames are aligned incorrectly in the door jamb, they will catch. Catching between aluminum frames occurs when doors are serviced incorrectly and sometimes fall to pieces when they age. We fix this by installing the sliding door to seal and lock properly, then installing the fixed section so the two align correctly and do not catch. Sliding door frames can also catch if the two meeting frames are bent, in which case a bow will usually be visible on one of the frames. Bent frames will occur if someone has fallen in it hard. The bent frame is corrected by removing it from the affected panel and gently bending it straight.

  • My sliding door is scraping the top door frame?

The sliding door can scrape the top frame if the lentil has sagged. The lentil is either timber or steel and can, over time, sag, shortening the sliding door’s jamb. Timber lentils are expected to sag in brick veneer homes. Over the last few decades, roof regulations have changed, and lentils must be more extensive and better supported. If the floor rises, the sliding door can scrape the top frame. This will shorten the sliding door jamb and cause the same problems, making the frame too small for the sliding door.

We can fix these issues for you. These problems can be fixed by removing the aluminum or timber frames and shortening them. Depending on your sliding door type, the frames can be shortened by cutting them down, either from the top or bottom. If the sliding door must be cut down from the bottom, it will affect how the rollers are installed. This means there will be more involved in your door repair; however, for us, these are common problems we solve.

  • Can we change how sliding doors open from the left side to the right side?

Yes, we can change how sliding doors open. We can change many types of sliding doors, opening them from left to right and vice versa. For instance, on a single door, this would be done by completely disassembling everything from the door jamb, removing the frames from the glass, flipping the frames from top to bottom 180 degrees, and turning the frames from left to right 180 degrees, and then reassembling everything. We would have to reinstall new rollers, possibly new guides, and the sliding door locks.

Some types of sliding doors cannot be changed like this; if they can, the result may make the sliding door look slightly different. The best way to find out if your sliding door can be changed like this is to take photos of the door and contact us. Once we identify the type of door you have from the pictures, we can let you know if this service is possible.

  • My sliding door is not sitting square in the frame?

There are two reasons why sliding doors don’t sit square in the frames. The first reason is that the rollers on the sliding door have degenerated, causing it to collapse on one end. The second is if there has been movement in the house that has appeared in the door jamb. In most cases, the door jamb will appear like a rhombus. Most homes will have had a little movement, and adjusting the new rollers will allow the doors to seal and close correctly. In some homes, the movement is so great that even if the rollers are adjusted to their extremes, they still won’t get the sliding doors to close and line up correctly. In these instances, we will install 32.0-millimeter rollers on one end and 28.0-millimeter rollers on the other to close the gap. This may mean we have had to cut the sliding doors down, sometimes at an angle of 0.0 millimeters at one end and 10.0 millimeters at the other. Throughout the entire time we have serviced sliding doors, we have always been able to get them to close and line up correctly with the door jamb.

  • The lock and handle is loose or in need of replacement can this be fixed?

When we quote on replacing rollers on sliding doors, the quote will include servicing the lock and handle. The service of the lock and handles will be to tighten and adjust correctly after the rollers have been replaced. We will attempt to save the existing handle to keep costs low. We will even go as far as replacing the sleeve nuts and screws if we can. If the handle has deteriorated enough so that it cannot be repaired, we will offer to replace it. We carry a quality universal handle that will fit most sliding doors. We can even replace handles on older sliding doors with out-of-date parts, giving them a modern look.

The lock and handles for sliding doors will include all these parts: the internal and external handles, the working interior parts, the sticker plate, two keys, and two barrels. The handles we use are simple yet well-made and require little maintenance. They are black in colour and modern in appearance.
Sliding doors that slide on the outside usually require exterior handles that are not pronounced so as not to interfere with the sliding screen door. We carry these exterior handles. Our handles will give the sliding door a 5-pin cylinder to be key-locked on either side. They will also include a second key. We can even offer to have the handles keyed alike if you require more handles on your other sliding doors.

  • The timber sill underneath the sliding door is rotten, what do I do?

A timber sill can be installed underneath the bottom frame of sliding doors. If the conditions around the sliding door are damp, this timber sill will rot.
When the sill rots, the bottom frame no longer has adequate support and will be loose when stepped on. This can make the sliding doors unsafe and cause them to fall out.  Sliding doors require a masonry step for these systems to sit on. This step is necessary to support the sliding door and protect the home from water ingress. We see many homes with rotten timber sills built on concrete slabs. The timber sill is installed underneath the sliding door; however, it must protect the house from water ingress correctly. This isn’t up to code, yet it is widespread.

We service sliding doors with rotten sills. To remove the sill and rot, support the door with construction shims and fill the cavity underneath the door with mortar. Mortar is preferred rather than timber for damp areas. Mortar is a better seal for water ingress. This cost-effective solution is not preferred but is effective for existing homes. The preferred option would be to replace the sliding door with a new one and install it on a concrete step, as illustrated in NSW guides for standards and tolerances. Unfortunately, that is usually outside of people’s budgets.

  • Are you having water ingress with your sliding door?

We can sometimes address the problem of water entering the home by servicing the sliding door and cleaning out the weep holes. This will allow water that falls on the sliding door to run down into the tracks, through the weep holes, and finally run outside. We can also seal the bottom section of the sliding door so that water will not seep underneath the aluminum frame. There are many regulations on this matter, and that’s why If this does not solve the problem of water entering the home, we strongly recommend using a professional water-proofer.

NSW guide to standards and tolerances insists on a 40mm upstand beneath the sub sill flashing, weep holes clear of debris, a water stop angle on the inside floor, and a waterproof membrane to protect homes from water ingress. Construction codes require balconies with sliding doors to have a 1:100 fall for drainage, balcony overflows, and correct drainage.

  • Is my sliding door too old to repair?

The short answer to this one is no, not for us. The first aluminum sliding doors were installed in the 1960s. Someone would find these older sliding doors in those red brick or yellow brick unit blocks built in that period. We can fix these sliding doors and have them work better than new ones. However, they will require a full service. When we fix any sliding door, we install twin bogie rollers. These rollers are meant for more extensive and heavier doors, so when we repair sliding doors, we install higher-quality rollers than what goes into newer sliding doors. This is how we can get old sliding doors to work better than new ones.

Other than saving on costs, there are many reasons to keep these doors than replace them. If these are in unit blocks, then applying to strata is necessary to replace them. That process can be time-consuming and stressful. The cost of replacing them can be higher in unit blocks, primarily because of working with masonry and transporting the doors upstairs. The average cost for new doors supplied and fitted will be several thousand, not including GST. However, that cost can increase, usually due to working with masonry and replacing flashing and sunken lentils.

  • Is Strata responsible for my sliding door repair?

The simple answer is that for any building built before the introduction of the Freehold Development Act 1973, sliding door repair is the responsibility of the title holders and not the strata. The Strata Schemes (Freehold Development) Act 1973 commenced on 1 July 1974 and replaced the previous legislation Conveyancing (Strata Titles) Act 1961. The new legislation contained transitional and savings provisions that affected previously registered plans. One of the most significant changes involved relocating some boundaries from the centreline of a structure (e.g., wall, floor, or ceiling) to the face of the structure.

  • What happened to structures pre-1 July 1974?

The Strata Titles Act 1961 provided that the centreline of the dividing structures—walls, floors, or ceilings—was the boundary between separate lots or between lots and common property. Upon the commencement of the Freehold Development Act 1973 on 1 July 1974, these boundaries for previously registered plans moved to the inner face of the walls, the upper surface of the floors, and the lower surface of the ceilings. The structure then became common property. The most common example where these provisions create an issue is the wall within a lot between the living area and a balcony; in this case, the wall and any door or window will remain as part of the lot and not become common property. Title holders are responsible for repairing, maintaining, and replacing balcony sliding doors. In these instances, even though the balcony sliding doors are the responsibility of titleholders, they still need to apply to Strata to replace them. This is so the strata can keep the facade of the building in concert with the rest of the units.

Testimonials

We used Lock Roll and Tracks services to fix several doors in our unit. We were extremely pleased with the service provided and value for money. All our door slide with just one finger. I cannot believe it! Will definitely recommend, thanks guys.

Sydney.