Sliding Patio Door question:

[kinggsxr]

Has anyone installed or removed one of these style sliding patio doors?

My wife bought some furniture for our newly finished basement and did not check the measurements of the door. The new sofa does not fit through and I am wondering if the fixed glass panel can be removed and reinstalled again. Is this possible with these vinyl doors?

 

[cliffcharb]

Those look similar to my aluminum sliders. Neither side is fixed and you simply pull the door upwards to remove from the track.
Maybe those screws pictured were added to “fix” the one side stationary.

 

[no704]

Looks like a screw holding it shut in the pic. Should slide and lift out. Although more difficult, no rollers.

 

[loganb]

If you can verify the manufacturer via glass etch or stickers it'll be easier to confirm, but looks like those Phillips head screw around the outer perimeter are what fixes the panel in place. Remove those and the door will likely operate and allow you to lift it up and pivot the bottom off the track

 

[kinggsxr]

I looked around the glass and in and around the tracks for any indication of manufacturer but the only thing I found is this label in pic attached:

 

[kinggsxr]

I am hoping its simple as removing those screws. There is a plastic strip along the front edge that I removed earlier to see but there were no screws on it.

 

[loganb]

I looked around the glass and in and around the tracks for any indication of manufacturer but the only thing I found is this label in pic attached:

Perfect

So that's saying that's an MGM 9000/9050/9080 series door. To my knowledge MGM is primarily manufacturing/selling under the brand Southern Rose now. They've got an old Youtube channel but not much useful information there

Their main website is here: https://www.mgmindustries.com/

The phone number is the same as on https://southern-rose.com/index.php?x=pages/AboutUs

So if you pull those screws and it won't roll/lift out and you can't find any other fasteners or L brackets at the head/sill stopping it, call or email them and include the picture of the label and see if you can get the instructions to remove the fixed panel. I'm going to bet it's actually got rollers on it and that the door was designed to be reversible in the field in terms of what panel was fixed and which was active...it's pretty common on that price point of product to be able to remove a SKU from the offering and make everything stock product vs special order.

 

[kinggsxr]

Wow thanks for this info!

Were going to give it try and remove both panels. I had read that on some doors the fixed panel is not designed to come off and was getting worried it might be a no-go but will give it a shot and also give them a call to see if we can get any more info.

 

[loganb]

From what I can see that one looks like it's built with (2) venting panels and then one of them gets fixed. For models/manufacturers that are more likely(or always) building made to order, in many cases the fixed panel is harder to remove, really depends on the manufacturer and their target market. In this case MGM and Southern Rose target market is generally what is generally called "cheap as possible" so when you're working with all stock sizes and taking whatever is on hand at the local vendor....stuff like this was/is done to make life simpler.

 

[kinggsxr]

The right panel in the pic is the fixed one I will try to remove. I am assuming the sliding panel is relatively simple to remove. I see a couple screws on the top and bottom and guessing those are to raise/lower the rollers to lift off track. Although I don't see any screws that indicate the top rail cover is removable so I hope it can lift enough to raise off the track.

Makes sense that this is a cheaper door since it's what we got with the build. I just wish it was a few inches wider to save the headache of removing it just to get the damn couch through!

 

[kinggsxr]

So I made an interesting discovery. We have the same door upstairs (a little wider but same sticker is present on it) and I was checking the top of the track and noticed it has screws that indicate the top section is removable. This seems to be missing from the door in the basement but I will go take a closer look. Would removing this top section help the sliding door swing out making it easier to remove

 

[loganb]

Yes, those holes at the lower corners are the access holes for the roller assy to adjust the panel position. Normally a #2 Phillips is the required tool, a healthy dose of WD-40 or other in each hole won't hurt. The sliding panel should be able to be lifted up, then the bottom rotated inward to remove it. Before you attempt to pull it out, open the door and look up at the top of the frame(the head) and see if there are any filler pieces or spacers etc above where the venting panel sits when it's closed. These are at times used as an "anti-lift" device to prevent nefarious souls from just lifting the panel up to remove it and gain access thru a locked door. Sometimes you remove those to pull the panel, other just slide the door over to the "open" position to clear them then rotate inward.

If the bottom of the panel hits something, it's probably the rollers. If so, stick it back on the track and adjust the rollers so that the panel moves down(which ***** up the rollers) and you should be able to get it clear then, but you'll need to adjust those rollers again once you stick it back in, otherwise your operation force will ****.

 

[kinggsxr]

Thanks for the tips. Not sure if you saw my post above yours but would removing that top piece (if possible) help with raising and swinging the sliding door off the track?

 

[loganb]

Thanks for the tips. Not sure if you saw my post above yours but would removing that top piece (if possible) help with raising and swinging the sliding door off the track?

Not entirely sure.....but those look to be drywall screws and don't think they're holding anything removable in

 

[kinggsxr]

I think you are right. I just took another look downstairs and those screws are absent on the top track. i'm guessing they just drilled those up top for extra support maybe?

I will try the steps you listed and when I get to the fixed door will keep fingers crossed that it is as simple as just undoing those screws and lifting or sliding out.

 

[loganb]

I think you are right. I just took another look downstairs and those screws are absent on the top track. i'm guessing they just drilled those up top for extra support maybe?

They could be there for a variety of reasons...

-Mfg required them at the larger size....unlikely for this product in this application and if so they're the wrong fastener anyway if those are drywall screws
-Installer screwed up somehow and decided needed "thru frame" fasteners....again wrong fastener if this was the logic
-Holes were there from the manufacturer, installer decided they needed a screw in them vs leaving them open

My thought is the last one is most likely....if their center to center distance is consistent and they run the entire width of the opening that's more evidence to me they were installed in the factory. Normally those holes would be an "all or nothing" scenario...aka they're at the jambs and head or none of them....see any holes in the jambs with similar screws into wall?

 

[CraigStu]

Every moveable slider I have had out, I could pick it up slightly, maybe 1/8-1/4 inch as is. But that wasn't enough for the rollers to clear the lower channel. So you raise the rollers, the door drops, and then when you pick it up and the rollers will clear. Some of them had rollers at the top too, so they had to be adjusted for clearance. But I have never had to remove any pieces of the door 'frame'. I am eager to see how your stationay panel comes out as I have never done that.

 

[kinggsxr]

So I took some more measurements and I think I may be able to get away with taking just the sliding door out. The couch is about 27.5" at its narrowest without the legs attached and I measured 28" with the sliding doors off. Going to give it a try and hope I can squeeze it through.

 

[Zeke]

Worst placement of screws I have ever seen. The installers must have lost the pieces that hold the fixed door from sliding out from the jamb. Every door I installed came with a frame assembled or KD and 2 separate panels. Many are reversible.

They just lift out. running the screws up so the rollers retract does make it easier to remove but more than that, to put back. 99% lift out to the outside.

 

[kinggsxr]

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

We were able to get the door off with some effort. Some lessons learned:

- the interior sliding door does not clear the track even with the rollers fully lifted
- the fixed panel really is held on just with those 6 screws pictured and needs to be released first before the sliding door can be raised and tilted out

I was expecting the sliding door to come off easier than the fixed panel. I was surprised how easily the fixed panel came off. Almost too easy to where I am considering adding some extra screws or adhesive to reinforce it lol. After undoing those screws my brother lifted and pulled it from the bottom and I did from the top and it easily slid right on the track where we could lift and tilt outward from the bottom.

Funny enough even with that gaping hole we still struggled to get the couch in. The basement stairwell is pretty narrow and we had to angle it an odd way but managed to squeeze it through without scratching the leather too badly.

The overall lesson here is don't let the wife get trigger happy on black Friday furniture sales!

Thanks all for the tips!

 

[nadogail]

I use a pair of Putty Knives to remove sliding glass doors; slide the door until both the lower rollers are on the blades are on the knives and then slide the door across the knives until you can remove it from the opening.

 

[firebirdparts]

That’s a really odd placement for a sliding glass door. Glad you got it figured out.

 

[i4ni]

A lot of Sliding doors are easily removed by would be burglars. That Danny Rowling who killed all those students in Jacksonville Florida gained access to several of those murders via the sliding door.

 

[CraigStu]

Great job!

 

[esben57]

Mrs kinggsxr. 'Not sure I like it. Take it back'

Would like one of those Chesterfield's but access through the front door could be a big problem.