Use the blade of an old screwdriver to pry stubborn dirt loose.
Tilt and slide door problems.
Built up dirt or loose debris can cause a door to stop sliding and ride off the track.
This door was also a tilt.
So with the above in mind here are three of the most common tilt and slide patio door problems.
Use a wire brush to clean off the dirt or debris.
In 2009 the telegraphreported that2 year old ruby jonesof great britain died when a sliding glass door came loose from its hinges and fell on top of her crushing her.
How to clean or fix a door track.
A common issue with tilt and slide doors is the alignment issue.
If a malfunctioning sliding door is a chronic problem see if the track is dirty.
This is when trying to close the door it slides along fine but when going into the closing position one edge of the door will not sit in the frame thus making it impossible to turn the handle and lock.
Most sliding doors have a mechanism called an adjusting screw located at the bottom of the door ends.
In these cases the problem is usually that the rollers at the bottom of the door have started to rub against the track.
The rollers at the top can also wear down lowering the bottom of the door so that it rubs on the track.
Turning this screw raises or lowers the roller.
The biggest problem happens when the spigot on the door isn t lined up with the bit it goes into properly and the door falls off when you test it.
When the drive gear fails you ll notice that there is a lot of resistance when you try to use the door.