Sliding door questions, answered properly

Most single-door roller and track jobs take 60 to 120 minutes on site. Multi-panel doors, pocket systems and anything needing frame work run longer. Glass is the exception: we measure on the first visit and return to fit the tempered unit, usually within a week.

Almost never. A door that jumps the track has usually lost a roller, and the panel itself is undamaged. The risk is what happens after — an unsupported panel of glass leaning in an opening is heavy and dangerous. Leave it where it is and call us rather than trying to reseat it.

It depends almost entirely on how far you live from the water. Homes in Coronado, Pacific Beach or Imperial Beach often need roller service every seven to ten years. Inland properties in Poway, Escondido or Santee frequently go 15 to 20 years on the original set.

The parts are inexpensive, but the panel is the problem. A standard patio door panel weighs 80 to 150 pounds of glass in an aluminium frame, and it has to come out of the opening and go back in without racking or dropping. Most DIY attempts we get called to have either cracked the glass or bent the frame.

Usually yes. Minor deformation can be dressed straight with the panel out, and a grooved running surface is solved with a stainless cap. Replacement is reserved for tracks that are perforated by corrosion or bent badly enough that the profile no longer holds the panel.

It is a hardened stainless profile bonded over the original aluminium track, giving a new running surface. Because stainless is far harder than the aluminium underneath, a capped track normally outlasts several sets of rollers.

In most cases just the glass. The panel comes out, the failed or broken unit is removed from the frame, and a new one goes in. Replacing the entire door is only necessary when the panel frame itself is corroded or bent.

Not dangerous, but it is not cosmetic either. The seal failure means the insulating gas has escaped and the unit has lost most of its thermal performance, which you pay for in cooling costs on any sun-facing elevation.

Often not. The usual cause is worn rollers letting the panel drop, so the hook no longer aligns with the keeper in the jamb. That is why we check roller height before quoting a lock replacement — replacing the lock on a dropped door does not solve it.

On keyed patio door locks, usually yes. Many residential sliders use a non-keyed interior thumb latch, in which case we can fit a keyed unit if you want the door to be lockable from outside.

Yes, provided the frame is straight and the corners are sound. Rescreening is far cheaper than replacement and takes well under an hour. If the frame is racked or the corner keys have failed, a rebuild is the better value.

Pet-resistant mesh, which is a heavy vinyl-coated polyester roughly seven times the tear strength of standard fibreglass. It is slightly more visible than standard mesh, which most owners consider a fair trade against replacing the screen twice a year.

Thermal expansion. Aluminium frames grow measurably in heat, and in the inland valleys — El Cajon, Santee, Escondido, Temecula — a door set with minimal clearance in January can bind in August. The fix is to set the clearances for the hot end of the range.

The adjustment screws are accessible at the bottom of the panel, so a small correction is within reach for most people. The difficulty is knowing whether the problem is adjustment, worn rollers, or a racked frame — turning the screws on a door with collapsed rollers achieves nothing.

Measure the two diagonals of the opening, corner to corner. If they differ by more than about an eighth of an inch, the frame has racked. The visible symptom is a gap that tapers from one end of the door to the other.

If the corrosion is surface pitting, yes — it can be treated and capped. Once the aluminium is perforated and water is passing through into the structure, the sill section needs replacing and any wet framing behind it needs attention first.

A standard replacement into an existing opening is typically a one-day job. Multi-slide systems, or openings needing structural or waterproofing repair, run to two days or more.

For a like-for-like replacement into an existing opening, usually not. If the opening is being enlarged or the header altered, a permit is required. We will tell you which situation you are in before work starts.

Sometimes. If a carriage has simply jumped its track it can often be reseated through the opening. If the track is bent or a hanger has broken, access is needed — but that usually means removing the casing rather than cutting the wall.

Yes, including hangers, tracks and bottom guides. If the mirror itself is cracked we replace the panel, and we will always recommend a safety-backed mirror on a bedroom closet door.

Yes — sliding windows, single-hung and double-hung. It is the same mechanism at a smaller scale and the same crew handles it, usually on the same visit as door work.

The balance mechanism has failed. It is the spring device that counterweights the sash, and when it goes the window drops. Balances are matched to sash weight, so the replacement has to be specified to your window rather than picked off a shelf.

Yes, 24 hours a day. A failed automatic entrance is both a trading problem and a liability exposure, and it is prioritised accordingly.

Usually the motion sensor. Reflective floors, moving signage, rain on the sensor housing and heat shimmer can all trigger detection. Realigning or recalibrating the sensor normally resolves it without any parts.

Yes. The phone is answered 24 hours a day and we dispatch for genuine security emergencies at any time, across San Diego County and the surrounding areas we serve.

Tempered glass breaks into blunt granules rather than shards, which is much safer than plate glass, but the volume of fragments is significant and the frame edges are sharp. Keep children and pets away from the area and let us clear it.

Annually within five miles of the coast, where salt exposure is heaviest. Every two years for inland properties. Doors used many times a day, or with pets and children on them, benefit from the shorter interval regardless of location.

A dry silicone or PTFE spray. Oil-based products like WD-40 attract sand and dust, and the resulting paste wears both the track and the roller wheels faster than no lubricant at all.