Replacing The Glass In Your Sliding Patio Doors: From The Most Complicated Option To The Least Difficult
Repairing and replacing glass in a patio door could be very tricky. If you have a particularly ornate set of sliding glass patio doors, there may be several smaller panes of glass or one large pane compressed between decorative wood or plastic overlay. The most minimal glass doors are a straight, single sheet of glass. When either of these types of doors are cracked or broken, you may be wondering how to fix them. Here are your options, from least complicated to most difficult.
Replace a Door Entirely
While this may be the most obvious option, it can be trickier than it looks. You will have to find a store or a doors and windows contractor that is willing to sell you one replacement door. Usually sliding patio doors are sold in pairs, so finding one replacement door by itself is difficult. Then there is the matter of removing the damaged door from its sliding tracks and trying to get the other door into place. It has to be done such that you are not damaging the partner door in the process or further damaging any of the sliding track above and below the edges of the door. This particular option for glass door replacement is so complicated, you may just want to hire a contractor instead of make the attempt to replace the door yourself.
Replace a Pane of Glass
If you have patio doors that are comprised of several smaller panes of glass held together with picture framework made of wood or vinyl, you may be able to replace just the broken pane. This may entail taking the decorative framework off to remove the pane of glass or taking the door off its tracks, laying it down flat on your floor, unscrewing the framework just enough to remove the broken pane and insert the fresh pane and then screwing the framework back together.
Replace the Whole Sheet of Glass but Keep the Door's Framework
The complications that arise from taking apart a door to remove and replace just the glass rival that of your other two options. In this instance, you have to remove the door from its tracks, carefully pull the top or bottom portion of the vinyl, wood, metal and/or plastic framework of the door, then slide the single sheet of broken glass all the way out before you can insert the fresh sheet of glass in its place. Then you have to reinstall the door on its tracks. The one benefit to replacing the glass this way is that you do not have to find a single replacement door and the door frame you currently have you already know it will fit. For more information, visit http://www.windowstampa.com.
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