Stuck Open Sliding Screen Door

The door should be securely in place.

Stuck open sliding screen door.

Most sliding patio screen doors can be unstuck with a little maintenance. If it fits too loosely in the tracks any vertical movement of the door will cause it to come unseated and it will fall. Dirty tracks are one of the most common causes for a sliding door sticking. If the track is bent or squashed straighten it with smooth pliers and file.

First vacuum loose debris so you can see what you re working with. Luckily this is a very easy fix. Next take a dry stiff scrub brush and work through corner to corner. When the tracks aren t clean it can cause your sliding door to stick.

Almost all sliding patio doors are adjustable when it comes to height. Sliding door tracks are magnets for dirt dust pet hair bugs grass food crumbs you name it. In this video i attempt to open a patio door that has got stuck locked. If the edge of the door is hitting the frame try tightening the screws on the top middle or bottom hinge on both the door frame and the door being careful not to over tighten and strip the screws.

Over time it s very likely that your sliding door has gotten dirty and the tracks become clogged and blocked. The tracks are notoriously difficult to clean so you ll have to pull out all the stops. In some instances the sliding screen door will fall out repeatedly because it is too small. Clean it with detergent and water or even a little solvent on a rag.

Find the rollers at the bottom of the door. Push up on the door and allow the bottom two wheels to rest on the bottom track tab. Again this is a fairly simple problem to fix. First look at the lower track.

Determine exactly where the door is sticking before deciding on a remedy. The mechanics of the lock have broken leaving the top section of the door completely.