Sliding Door Repair Questions, Answered

The surest signs are metal shavings or dark dust in the bottom track, a door that drags or needs two hands, a panel that sits lower on one side so the lock misses the keeper, and an adjustment screw that turns without raising the door. Lubricant will not fix any of these. New rollers, and sometimes a stainless track cap, will.

Roller replacement starts at $249 per door for a standard two-panel patio door. That covers two tandem steel ball-bearing rollers, removing the panel, cleaning the track, re-hanging the door and adjusting it so it rolls level and locks. Stainless rollers for coastal homes start at $349, and each additional door on the same visit is $199.

A track cap is a stainless steel channel that snaps over a worn aluminum rail, giving the rollers a smooth, hard surface without replacing the track. You need one when the rail is worn flat, scalloped or split, because new rollers on a worn rail wear out in months. Caps start at $199 for a rail up to 8 feet.

Yes. A door usually jumps the track because the rollers collapsed, the rail is worn, or the head stop or anti-lift block came loose. We remove the panel, replace the rollers, clean and cap the track if needed, re-hang the door and set the height and keeper. Keep the panel upright and keep children away from it until we arrive.

If you live within about a mile of the coast, yes. Salt air pits plain steel wheels and bearings, and a stainless roller, often paired with a stainless track cap, lasts far longer in La Jolla, Point Loma, Pacific Beach, Coronado, Encinitas or Del Mar. Inland, standard steel ball-bearing tandem rollers are the right part and cost less.

About 45 minutes per door for a standard vinyl or aluminum patio door once we are at the door. That includes pulling the panel, fitting the rollers, cleaning the track, re-hanging and adjusting. Heavy Fleetwood, multi-slide and 8 foot panels take two people and longer, and are quoted after a photo or a visit.

Yes. We fit tandem rollers for Milgard vinyl doors, Andersen gliding doors, JELD-WEN and Pella sliders, and the single and tandem steel rollers used on 1960s to 1980s aluminum doors from brands such as Arcadia and International Window. If a door takes an unusual roller we match it to the old one after measuring.

Most often the door has dropped on worn rollers, so the hook on the mortise lock no longer reaches the keeper on the jamb. New rollers or an adjustment plus a keeper reset fix that. If the handle turns but the hook does not move, the mortise lock itself is worn and gets replaced, usually inside the existing handle.

A handle set with a new mortise lock and keeper starts at $149, parts and labor. If the only problem is a dropped door that no longer reaches the keeper, a $129 adjustment visit may be all it needs. We tell you which before anything is replaced.

Often, yes. The mortise lock is a separate cartridge that slides into the edge of the panel behind the handle, so a worn lock can be swapped while the handle stays. Some older handle sets have the lock built in, and on those the whole set is replaced. We check the faceplate size and hole spacing before ordering.

Non-keyed handles with an inside thumb turn suit most patio doors. A keyed handle has an outside cylinder so you can lock and unlock from the patio side, which is useful when the slider is a working entry: a side yard, an ADU or a rental unit. Either way, add a secondary lock for security, because both are latches, not deadbolts.

A foot lock or a pin lock that engages the frame, plus an anti-lift block in the head channel so the panel cannot be lifted off its track. A hinged security bar or a cut dowel in the bottom track is a good no-drill option for renters. The handle latch alone is not a security lock.

Roller, track, adjustment, screen and weatherstrip work is minor repair: jobs under $1,000 in labor and materials do not require a California contractor license (Business and Professions Code section 7048). We stay inside that line and tell you when a job, such as a sagging header, needs a licensed contractor instead.

The seal on the insulated glass unit has failed and moisture is getting between the two panes. Cleaning will not reach it. The fix is a new sealed glass unit made to the same size and installed in your existing panel; the frame, rollers and handle stay. Glass is measured and quoted on site because every unit is ordered to size.

Glass is a measured quote: the insulated glass unit is ordered to the exact size, thickness and tint after we measure, so we do not publish a flat price for it. Glass in doors must be tempered safety glass. If the frame is sound, replacing the glass unit costs far less than replacing the door.

Yes. Door glass must be tempered, so it breaks into small pieces rather than shards, but a cracked or shattered unit still needs replacing. Keep people away from the panel, do not try to remove the glass yourself, and send us a photo. We measure, order a tempered unit and install it in your existing panel.

Usually one of three things: the weep holes in the sill are clogged so water backs up over the track, the pile weatherstrip on the panel edges has worn flat, or the panel has dropped on worn rollers and no longer seals against the jamb. We clear the weeps, replace the weatherstrip and set the door level. Water reaching the subfloor is a bigger job, and we say so.

Most drafts come from flattened pile weatherstrip and a panel that sits unevenly in the frame. New pile weatherstrip and a bottom sweep start at $129 per door, and an adjustment squares the panel so the seal meets the jamb. A single-pane aluminum door will still feel colder than dual pane: weatherstrip stops the draft, not the cold coming through the glass.

Screen doors ride on small spring-loaded rollers with tension screws at the corners. When the wheels wear or the springs sag, the door drops and drags on the sill, or pops out at the top. We replace the rollers, re-track the door and set the tension. If the frame is bent or the mesh is torn, a new screen door is often the better buy.

Screen door rollers and re-tracking start at $89. A new screen door in a standard size, installed and adjusted, starts at $179. If the old frame is bent or the mesh is torn in more than one place, replacement usually makes more sense than repair.

Yes. Bypass closet doors and mirror doors hang from top rollers or ride on bottom rollers in a track, and they wear the same way a patio door does. We replace the rollers, guides and track and re-hang the doors so they clear each other, starting at $149 per opening. Heavy mirror doors are lifted with two people.

Usually, if the frame has the outer screen track, which most two-panel patio doors do. We measure the opening, fit a standard size or order one to size, and set the rollers and latch to your frame. If the track was cut off or filled in at some point, we say so after looking at a photo.

Usually either the top roller carriage has worn or the bottom guide is missing or broken, which lets the panel swing and jump the track. Worn rollers, a bent track and a missing floor guide are all inexpensive to fix. We re-hang the doors and set them so they slide past each other without rubbing.

Roller replacement starts at $249 per door, stainless rollers at $349, a stainless track cap at $199, a handle set with lock at $149, and an adjustment visit at $129. Prices are parts and labor for a standard two-panel patio door and are agreed before we come out. Oversized, multi-slide and pocket doors are quoted after a photo. The full list is on our pricing page.

The service call is $79 and covers the visit and diagnosis anywhere in San Diego County. It is waived when we do the repair on the same visit, so most customers never pay it. If we find the door needs something we cannot fix, such as a sagging header, you pay the service call and nothing else.

We book same-week appointments across San Diego County, Mon to Sat 7am to 6pm. Sliding door work is scheduled rather than same-day, which is part of what keeps the price flat. Send a photo of the door and the bottom track with your area and we will offer the earliest window and confirm the price before the visit.

Yes. A photo of the bottom track, one of the handle and one of the whole door, with the brand label if there is one, is enough to price most roller, track, lock and screen jobs. Multi-slide, lift-slide, pocket and oversized doors are quoted after a visit because the panels and rollers vary.

Someone over 18 needs to let us in and roll and lock the door with us at the end. For landlords and property managers we can coordinate with a tenant or a lockbox, send photos of the finished door and the old parts, and invoice the owner.

Payment is due on completion, after you have rolled and locked the door yourself. If you need a specific payment method, say so when you book and we confirm it along with the price. Owners and property managers can set up invoicing before the visit.

All of San Diego County: the city neighborhoods from Point Loma and Pacific Beach to Clairemont, Tierrasanta and North Park, South Bay including Chula Vista, Coronado and Imperial Beach, East County including La Mesa, El Cajon and Santee, and North County from Poway and Escondido to Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas and Del Mar.

Yes. Turnover work on balcony and patio sliders is most of what property managers call us for: rollers, track caps, handle sets, screens and adjustment, done in one visit per unit and invoiced per property. Send the unit count and a photo of each door and we will price the batch before the visit.

As general information and not legal advice: California Civil Code section 1941.3 requires landlords to install and maintain a deadbolt on main swinging entry doors and working window locks, and its own text says it does not apply to horizontal sliding doors. A patio door that will not lock is still a repair request worth putting in writing. Check current rules for your situation.

A cut dowel or an adjustable security bar in the bottom track needs no drilling and comes out at move-out. Foot locks and pin locks screw into the panel or frame, so get the landlord to agree in writing first. Many landlords say yes, because the lock stays with the unit and improves it.

Guests lift, slam and force sliders more than owners do, so rollers and keepers wear faster. For short-term rentals near the coast we recommend stainless rollers, a keyed handle so cleaners can lock the patio side, a foot lock, and a roller and keeper check whenever the unit gets a deep clean. We can schedule around turnover days.

Repairs that keep the same door, such as rollers, track caps, locks, weatherstrip and glass units, do not change the exterior and rarely need HOA approval. Replacing the whole door, changing its color or frame material, or altering the opening usually does. Check your CC&Rs and tell the manager before a full replacement.

Yes, within reason. Standard two-panel balcony doors take roughly 45 minutes each, so a day covers a good number of units. We bring the common roller sizes for Milgard, JELD-WEN and older aluminum doors, cap worn tracks on the spot, and list anything that needs glass or a heavier part for a follow-up visit.