Every part of our home has an expiration date, and sliding glass doors are no different. Whether it is in a year, a decade, or a century after the door was first installed, someday it will need to be replaced. Of course, we don’t want you to spend money to replace it unnecessarily. How do we know then when it is time for us to replace our sliding glass door, or simply to repair it?
Rip It Out Or Repair It. Is It Time For An Overhaul?
When someone reaches out to have their sliding glass door repaired, it is normally because of one of two common problems:
- The door isn’t sliding closed correctly.
- The lock on the door is broken.
These sorts of issues are fairly common “repair,” jobs, and more than likely won’t require your door to be replaced entirely unless the door is much older. A contractor may send out a handyman to straighten the track that the door rests on, double check the rollers that allow it to move, or make sure the wheel mechanism is operating correctly.
This sort of repair is also one that you may be able to do on your own, but it should be noted that sliding glass doors can be incredibly heavy, and therefore fairly dangerous to work on if you’re unfamiliar with how they operate or are disassembled. A six-foot sliding glass door alone can weigh upwards of 150-200lbs, and that is one of the smaller sized doors.
When Do I Need To Replace My Sliding Glass Door?
When getting your sliding glass door repaired, your sliding glass door will be put back onto its track and locked back into place. But there are some situations where you will need to consider getting your door replaced entirely. Even when it only requires a small fix, many time replacement is advisable, or even necessary depending on the problem. Some of the issues that require replacement may include:
- Doors with a Single Pane– Many older homes have never had their original sliding glass doors replaced, and feature single pane glass options. While not inherently broken, these sorts of doors allow excess energy to escape your home throughout the day, leading to energy bills that are much higher than they need to be.
- Doors with a Draft – If you can feel a slight breeze when walking past your door, it means the frame has been damaged or has fallen into disrepair and needs to be replaced. It is possible to patch such a problem with weather stripping for a time, but eventually you will need to schedule a new sliding glass door installation.
- Any Damaged Glass – If there is any actual visible damage to your sliding glass door, a replacement should be arranged immediately. Broken glass or similar issues can be a safety hazard for your home, on top of leaving your sliding glass door in a state of disuse.
Repairing your sliding glass door in most cases is only going to be a band-aid on a problem that you’re still going to need to deal with at a later date. Fixing the rollers or relocking the tracks can buy you extra time to shop for the perfect replacement, but they are not going to last for long.
You also don’t need to wait until your sliding glass door breaks to replace it either. Rather than focusing on the mechanical deficiencies, the problem may simply be that you’ve made aesthetic or functional changes to your home and the old glass door doesn’t fit with the property anymore. If you are swapping out for new windows, for instance, it can be a good time to replace your sliding glass door as well so that everything matches. Choices like this can raise the property value of your home while also updating it for better energy efficiency.
To learn more about obtaining new sliding glass doors, or to get a quote, contact Cal Energy today.