sliding door sticking

[skybie]

hi girls, i have a little issue with one of my sliding doors.
its always been a little stiff to close but its gotten heaps worse, to the point where i have to put serious effort in when i close it!
i suggested using WD40 to DF but he said no...tld me the reason cant remember now and he said he asked his dad and he said there was not much we could do about it.
im pretty sure one of u lovelies will have a clever trick that will work!
TIA

[Nelle]

Did you get it fixed Skybie? When we moved in we were given a little can of lubricant we were supposed to spray on the seals (we still haven't and they're a bit stiff). Maybe you can pick up a spray lubricant from your local hardware store?

[CrazyLady]

I use vaseline. here the dirt is so fine it just gets into everything.

is it an exterior aluminium door? At old house we had one that was so awful on the track it'd derail and jam constantly. i put a load of vaseline on and it fixed it

[Olive]

we had the same and replaced a part of it, which part i couldnt tell you soooooo im not much help at all

[miamunchkin]

Dishwashing liquid along the runners is a great quick-fix too!

[skybie]

hi girls!
it is semi fixed lol
turns out the tracks are out of level..how we fix that, i dont know!
anyway because its not straight the snip lock we put on it was catching and thats why it was sticking, we've moved the lock down a bit so it doesnt catch anymore, and we sprayed some silicon spray along the tracks to lubricate it a bit, its made a huge difference!
i went to close the door after it was done and closed it with as much force as i was used to and slammed it big time! hehehe thanks for the replies girls

[onthefly]

If you pull the door off you may be able to see if parts are broken or need replacing. Sometimes the rollers just need replacing.
Ours was recently stuffed, turned out the bits where the rollers attach to the door had snapped so it wasn't running on the tracks properly. Cost us $300 to fix! So, best to check these things and keep the tracks clean with vacuum.

[danita]

not sure about the uneven tracks, but a candle rubbed along the tracks works a treat to stop them sticking

[somewoman]

a lot of doors have adjustment-y bits at the top. It is usually in the form of a screw that will raise or lower the door from the track for fine tuning. Some doors have it on the side of the door, and some you have to look up a little further into the track (or lift the door out of the track to get to it).

if you can work out what side of the door the sticking is coming from, you can concentrate your efforts to that side. By raising the door you should be able to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the frame. If you feel handy with a screwdriver, a half turn in any direction should be enough to tell you if it's getting better (yay) or worse (try the other direction).

Good luck!