Sliding Security Screen Doors and Maintenance: Getting Back On Track

Sliding security screen doors offer your home a wealth of advantages. They are easily opened from the inside, but strongly securable from outside. They fill your home with natural light and cooling breezes. But they can require some maintenance from time to time. When a sliding security screen is unlocked and receives an impact, it can come off its track. This leaves them immobilised.

How to put a security screen door back on track

A sliding door uses a top and a bottom track to facilitate its rolling. Two sets of rollers are affixed to both the top and the bottom, and these roll, or ‘ride’, along the track. These must be properly placed back on their tracks to return the door to its functional self. Luckily, returning it to its proper place is not difficult.

First, make sure the tracks are clean. Give them a solid vacuum and cleaning. The second step is trickier: with top end of the door angled towards the door frame, insert the top rollers in to the frame, making sure they fit securely.

Now, swing the bottom of the door towards the frame, while maintaining upward pressure – these rollers are often spring-loaded. Once the lower rollers have cleared the frame, you can slowly release the upward pressure, lowering the door on to the lower rollers.

In some cases, the door may not clear the bottom track of the doorframe when you swing it in, no matter how much upward pressure you put on the door. If this is the case, you have some options. Using a flathead screwdriver, lift each of the spring-loaded rollers on the bottom of the door – having some help makes this step considerably easier.

Alternatively, you can use the adjustment screw on the top wheel to raise the top wheel (these screws are sometimes hidden behind plugs). After you have lowered the door successfully, secure the door by turning the adjustment screw clockwise – otherwise, the door may fall out of the track when you go to close it. Just be sure to only adjust the top rollers – if you adjust the bottom rollers, it may throw the lock height off, leaving you unable to lock the door.

Finally, give the door a test slide. If it isn’t sliding smoothly, you may need to adjust the rollers or the door, to ensure that is sitting securely on the track. And you, and your sliding security screen doors, are back on track!