How To Repair A Pocket Sliding Door

Is your once trusty door no longer opening and endmost smoothly? A simple lubrication routine might be all that's needed to get it back in shape but if at that place's a problem with the hardware, you might accept to remove the door birthday and replace the broken parts. With the correct tools and bones DIY skills, yous should be able to fix a pocket door in an afternoon. Read on—we'll show you how.

Tools for repairing pocket door

Y'all will demand the following tools and materials to become the job washed:

Boom gun
Level
Putty knife
Pry bar
Screwdriver
Spotlight
Tape measure
Drywall saw
Cordless drill

Materials

Drywall mud
J-rail
Pocket door rollers
Tracks
ii×half-dozen wooden board
Shims

Step-past-Step Guide on how to repair a pocket door

When a pocket door won't work properly, two things could be the problem—the tracks might exist damaged or the rollers might exist worn out or fallen off the track. Fortunately, yous can easily prepare these common problems, eliminating the need to purchase a new door organization.

Follow these steps to repair a faulty sliding wooden door:

Step 1. Unhinge the door

To diagnose the problem, you first take to remove the door.

Using a utility knife, cut the caulk seal to release the casing flanking the door at the top. Pry off the casing using a putty knife.
You do non have to remove the entire casing on all four sides of the door. Removing the top part is plenty to betrayal the door frame and hardware. Be careful non to damage the drywall.
With the meridian casing off, apply the putty pocketknife to remove the upper part of the door frame. Accept intendance non to break the frame.

Pro tip: If a putty knife doesn't get the task done, use the tonged terminate of a hammer to pry off a door frame that has been tightly sealed into place.

Step ii. Lift the door out of its track

How you lot elevator out the door volition depend on your door's sliding mechanism.

For a door with a roller-skate system, remove the door by prying it up while tapping on the rollers.
For a j-track arrangement, angle the top of the door abroad from yous to release the rollers from the tracks.
If the door is trapped inside the pocket, pry the top and bottom edges alternately. Exist conscientious not to damage the surrounding molding as you lot elevator out the door.

Step 3. Check the system for harm

After taking the door out, place information technology on its side and inspect the rollers and their corresponding brackets located on the upper edge of the door slab. Bank check for broken rollers or twisted axles.
If the rollers seem to be in practiced shape, they are probably seized upwards and need some lubrication. Spray a expert quality silicone lubricant on the rollers and brackets to unjam them.
Utilise a spotlight to inspect the tracks in the recess of the door frame. With time, tracks can curve and buckle causing the door to be stuck. If this is the case, yous will need to supercede the old tracks.

Pace 4. Replace damaged rollers

If the rollers are visibly damaged, order a new replacement fix from your local home improvement store.
Unscrew both sets of rollers from the door. Install the new ones. Bank check that the wheels are in good status by rolling them with your fingers.

Footstep 5. Remove faulty tracks

Worn out tracks are a mutual trouble with pocket doors. To install a new rail, you will have to cutting a hole in the wall.

Using a spotlight, inspect the pocket where the door was, and take note of how the frame appears. When cutting the pigsty, you desire to steer clear of the studs in the door frame.
To avoid cutting the studs, utilize a stud finder to locate the studs hidden behind the wall. Identify the stud finder on the wall where you want to cut a hole.
Slid the stud finder horizontally while belongings down the buttons on either side. A low-cal will come on when the finder locates a stud. Draw a mark at this indicate.
Continue sliding the finder across the wall to locate other studs. Call up to mark each stud point.
Apply a ruler or leveler to draw out a foursquare or rectangular outline of the expanse you want to cut. This expanse should exist large plenty for the track to wiggle out and back in.
Employ a sharp drywall saw to cut the access hole. Unscrew the rail from the door frame and pull it out through the access hole.

Pro tip: Ideally, you should cut the hole closer to the upper door jamb for like shooting fish in a barrel removal of the track.

Footstep 6. Install a new track

Once you remove the one-time track, measure its length, width, and depth. Use these measurements to buy a new track that fits snugly into the track slot in the door frame.
Earlier installing the new runway, check that the door frame is level. But place a level on the track slot and cheque the position of the bubble. The door frame is level if the chimera is centered. In case the frame is non level, skid in a shim or more until the door frame is completely level.
Insert the runway through the access hole and apply a nail gun to fasten information technology to the overhead runway slot in the door frame. Over again check that the new track is level.

Step 7. Test the new rail

Before hanging the door back in place, check that the new track works properly.

Attach the two sets of rollers on a ii×6 lath to mimic the door. Hang the board onto the track the aforementioned way you would a door.
Slide the board along the track. Check that information technology moves smoothly inside the pocket, hangs safely on the track, and allows easy access to the adjusting fasteners on the rollers.
If all looks expert, unhung the board and transfer the rollers to the brackets at the peak of the door slab. Bank check out this informative video on the correct fashion to attach rollers to a pocket door.

Step viii. Install the door

To reinstall the door, angle the bottom toward you lot, elevator the top toward the door frame, and hang the rollers onto the runway.
Use your foot to push the bottom of the door inward and away from you until the door is in a vertical position and firmly attached to the track.
Follow the manufacturer's instructions on locking the rollers in identify.

Pro tip: Identify a lever underneath the door to help proceed the door in a lifted position as you hang the rollers on the tracks.

Footstep nine. Adjust the door for a perfect fit

First, slide the door in and out of the pocket to check that it is working properly. If the door leaves an awkward gap at the bottom or along the vertical edge, you will need to practise some adjustments.
The rollers attached to the door have fasteners that secure the wheels in identify. Use a small spanner to tighten or loosen these fasteners to adjust the superlative of the door to your satisfaction.
Complete the door installation processing by reinstalling the upper door jamb and the trim yous had removed earlier.

Step ten. Reinstall the drywall

With the door put back in place, the next step is to fill in the admission hole using the piece of drywall you had cut out earlier.
Nail in iv thin strips of wood effectually the access hole. Feel costless to use shimmers. These will human action every bit backers, giving you something on which to spiral the cutout piece of drywall.
After reinstalling the piece, apply drywall mud (articulation chemical compound) all around. Once the compound is dry, sand it to give the wall a seamless await.

There it is! With the track and rollers fixed, your door should now exist as good as new!

Extended Tips

Hither are additional tips to assist you brand the nearly of your pocket doors:

Lubricate the rollers periodically

About roller wheels are made of nylon so information technology is all-time to use a silicone-based lubricant that will not damage the rollers.

Arrange rollers accordingly

If the door parts awkwardly the bottom or on the sides, try adjusting the screws on the rollers to bring the door down and to motility it further toward the side jambs. Use a small wrench to reach the hidden roller screws.

A quick afternoon projection to become your door working equally good as new

Pocket doors are an inventive manner to save space and add a modernistic touch to interior spaces. But, like most sliding doors, they are jump to go unwieldy at some point. Equally our instructions evidence, tuning up the tracks and rollers usually solves the problem. After fixing the hardware, be sure to lubricate periodically to get the most from your door.

Do you have whatsoever questions or comments on fixing pocket doors? Leave them below—we'd love to hear from you.

Source: https://www.wcmanet.org/pocket-door-repair/

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