Patio Door Not Shutting!
Having a tilt and slide patio door can cause quite a few problems. Yes, it has happened to me quite a few times. I was trying once to shut the door after a party. I decided to have a party for my family and friends on one summer afternoon. I kept the patio door open for the nice breeze to come to the house. It also makes it easier for the guests to get in and out of the house when there are 2 entrances. The party was great. Everyone really enjoyed it and they loved my food and drinks. I was very happy because not only the party was a great success but also the next day I was going for a long awaited holidays. All I had to do was to clean up the house which was not really difficult as some of my friends stayed to help me. It was however getting dark and cooler outside so I decided to close the patio door. And this is when the problem came. The door wouldn’t close! It came off it rails and I could not move it. It was jammed, and I was unable to do anything.
I had to decide what to do. I had three choices and had to decide on one of them.
1) I could call a company and have them fix the door for me. It would be expensive given such a short notice.
2) Try to close the door myself no matter what it would take and go on holiday. However, I would worry all the time, as I would know the house is not properly locked.
3) Call my father who lives not far from my and ask him to help me out.
I had to make a decision fast and finally I decide to call my dad. He is a professional and I knew he would be able to help me.
I watched him when he was fixing the door and this is what I have learned. A siding patio door has a locating pin which collapses on the hinges and the bottom of the door which is closest to the frame. You then push the top of the frame and the handle down to close the door. In my situation, the locating pin was hitting the top of the stopper and therefore not being able to get in. Are you still following me? There is a tiny collar located around the pivot that pushes the pin closer to the locator. It was broken and therefore the locator pin was not in line. I didn’t have much choice but to go to the hardware store and get the whole new locator for the bottom of my door. In most cases this is what you need to do. Just visit your local hardware store and get a new locator. After it is fitted your problems should be solved and you should be able to lock the door. I was so happy the problems was fixed and had great holiday – thank you Dad.