Opening your patio sliding glass door should be an easy task. If your sliding door is giving you a work out every time you open it, most likely it is your rollers that are causing the problem. The rollers are located on the bottom of the sliding door and give the door the ability to slide. Often times they get dirty and wear out, making it difficult to open the door. If you have an older sliding glass door your rollers may have become rusty because sliding door units did not always use stainless steel rollers.
Hiring a professional to replace your rollers could cost you around $100 not including the cost of the replacement parts. Below are detailed steps containing all the information you will need to know to replace your patio sliding glass door rollers yourself.
* Before you start, understand that you need to take the sliding glass door out of its frame to work on the rollers. The sliding glass door is heavy. You may need the assistance of another to help you remove the door.
1) Your patio glass door will have two separate glass units. One unit is the door that you slide and the other unit is stationary. First, stand outside your house and look at your sliding glass door. If the stationary unit is between you and the sliding unit you will most likely have to remove the stationary unit so that you can get to the glass sliding unit.
Before you go through the trouble of removing the stationary unit, first try to go inside your house and see if you can remove the sliding unit. Usually you cannot because there is a lip along the bottom of the patio glass door frame (it keeps moisture out of the house) that prevents the sliding glass door from being removed from the inside.
If the rollers on the bottom of the door are difficult to get over the lip, you can adjust them to help you create more room (go down to step 2). If it is not the rollers but the sliding unit's frame preventing you from pulling the sliding unit out of the door frame, you are going to need to remove the stationary unit first before you can remove the sliding unit.
To remove the stationary unit, you first need to take out your screen door (if you have one). Lift one end of the screen door frame and use a screwdriver to lift the roller on the bottom of the screen door frame off of the track. Do this to both ends of the screen door and your screen door will pull out of the door frame.
The stationary unit is held in place by a metal piece that runs along the bottom of the track from the corner of the stationary unit to the bottom of the side jamb (there is a chance this piece is missing but if you do have one remove it from the track). After you have removed the metal piece, look for screws holding the stationary unit frame in place. After removing all of the screws try pulling the stationary unit out of the door frame. If you are having trouble pulling out the stationary unit, try placing a screwdriver between the stationary unit's bottom frame and the track it is resting on. Lift up on the screwdriver while you have a helper pull out the stationary unit from the door frame. Be careful not to use too much force with the screwdriver so that you do not damage the door track.
2) You may need to create more room when you attempt to remove the sliding unit from the door frame. To create more room you can adjust the rollers on the bottom of the sliding unit. By turning the adjusting screws on the rollers clockwise the wheels move up into the sliding unit's frame giving you more room. The adjusting screws are located either at the bottom of the sliding unit's frame or in the sides of the frame. There is a chance that there are plugs covering the screws.
After you adjust both rollers (one on each side of the sliding unit's frame) try to remove the sliding unit from the door frame. If the unit is still getting stuck you may need to get someone to help you. Have your helper lift one side of the unit and pull outwards while you try to pry the other side of the unit over the track.
3) To remove the rollers from most sliding unit's you need to remove the bottom of the sliding unit's frame. Most likely the screw that holds the roller in place is the same screw that holds the frame together. Remove the screw from both sides of the unit. Then try to remove the bottom piece of the frame off of the sliding unit you may need to use a rubber mallet or a piece of wood and tap on the bottom of the frame until it comes off of the sliding unit.
Now that you have removed the bottom of the frame you can take a close look at your patio glass door rollers. Remove one of the rollers and match it up with one of the rollers on the link at the bottom of this article or bring it to your local hardware store.
It is a good idea to replace both sliding door rollers at the same time to prevent extra wear-and-tear to one new roller, which will have to work twice as hard when paired with an old roller.
4) After your new rollers come in, replace your old rollers with the new ones. To make it easier to install the sliding unit back into the door frame, adjust the rollers to be all the way up into the frame. Once you have the sliding unit back in the door frame you can adjust the rollers for optimal performance. Keep adjusting the rollers until the door is sliding back and forth easily.
» left by Paul McQuesten from Upland, CA (3 years 345 days ago.)
It seems that this article has the information that I need. Thanks. A couple of diagrams would be very helpful. Respond to this comment
» left by CC from Florida (3 years 334 days ago.)
Good article well written. Now to see if it works fairly easily. Respond to this comment
» left by Steve Wickens from San Diego, CA (3 years 137 days ago.)
This article saved me from trying things to get that door out which would not have worked - thanks for the informative, useful help! Taking out the stationary unit was the key. Respond to this comment
» left by Thomas Gill from Orlando, FL (3 years 96 days ago.)
Very helpful article and explanation on how to replace the rollers. With a little help from my son and only $10 in parts, we were able to replace the rollers which made our door slide so much easier. Thank you. Respond to this comment
» left by Greg K from Merritt Island, FL (3 years 61 days ago.)
Excellent article. I already knew how to get the doors out but the advice on adjusting the rollers before you take them out helped alot. Also, I wasn't sure on how to remove the roller but found this to very helpful. Bought $10 worth of rollers at Home Depot (the last 2 I might add) and took about 15 minutes to install and replace the doors. Respond to this comment
» left by Robert from Florida (2 years 364 days ago.)
This is a good article. However, I have doors with 2 stationary panels (one on each side of the sliding section - which is inside of the 2 stationary ones. My question is how to remove the slider so I can replace the rollers.
Any information on this? Respond to this comment
» left by Mike from Alabama (2 years 346 days ago.)
Great add with a little common sence anybody can do this. Thank you very much! Respond to this comment
» left by Anonymous (2 years 122 days ago.)
Lowes and Home Depot did not have my rollers, AWESOME LINK! with very reasonable prices. Thanks! Respond to this comment
» left by Randall from NC (2 years 108 days ago.)
Lowes and Home Depot did not have the roller unit for my door. I had to replace the rollers only. I also place a small washer on each side of the rollers between the roller and the slot on the unit to deal with spacing issues. I found this article to be very helpful. Respond to this comment
» left by Anonymous (2 years 46 days ago.)
Well, Home Depot didn't QUITE have my rollers, however they had ones with a 'catch tab' that was too big, but otherwise fit. Quick tap of the ole grinder and they fit fine. Only took a sec to make the tab smaller. All better. Respond to this comment
» left by JT from Mira Loma CA (1 year 194 days ago.)
Good words but I need pictures too... Respond to this comment
» left by Clemet from Laguna Beach Ca. USA (322 days 17 hours ago.)
I can't seem to find my roller on the page you sugusted.
My rollers have two wheels one in front and one in back and they pivot.
I updated the link in the article that will bring you to all of the patio glass door hardware available at SWISCO. Take a look at the section of 'Doubled Wheel Rollers' for your replacement roller. Respond to this comment
» left by Geri from Chester County, Penna (270 days 15 hours ago.)
Can anyone tell me how to fix a set of sliders where one seems to be warped? They were new construction 2 years ago, and it looks like one door of slider set (the one that moves always was sticky) has bowed out over time, away from the other door, at the middle height of the door. Could this be a roller problem, or something else? There is no condensation, think the seal is still good, just the bowed in part (away from other door) can be seen where the door meet when closed, there is a gap where air is pouring in this winter. Help? The builder refuses to return and address the problem. Drafty in Pennsylvania...
» left by Dave from Toronto, Canada (124 days 21 hours ago.)
Thanks for the article!! I didn't know how to remove the rollers. $10 worth of parts at Home Depot and the door is back to new :) (Original rollers were 25yrs old lol)
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