Should You Repair or Replace a Sliding Screen Door?

• Rollers: the small wheels at the top and bottom wear flat, crack or seize up with sand
• Track: the rail the door rides on gets dented, bent or packed with grit
• Mesh: tears, sags or fades, often at the height a dog or cat pushes on it
• Frame: bends when the door is forced, dropped or knocked off its track, and corrodes near salt water

The first three are repairs. The frame is the part that decides.

Repair it when the frame is straight and square. Signs the door is worth repairing:

• It drags, grinds or takes two hands to move, but looks straight when it is closed
• It jumps the track because the rollers are worn or sitting too low
• The mesh is torn or sagging, but the door still slides
• The track has a dent or two, but is not bent along its length
• It closes flush against the sliding glass door frame

These often come together, and new rollers, track work and new mesh can all be done on the same door in one visit. Our post on why a sliding screen door won't slide covers the roller and track problems in more detail, and our sliding screen door repair page covers the work.

No amount of new parts will fix a frame that is out of shape. Replace the door when:

• The frame is bent along one side or kinked at a corner
• It still will not close flush with new rollers
• The aluminum is pitted, powdery or corroded through, which is common near salt water
• It never fit the opening, so it rubs, gaps or comes off however it is set
• There is no screen door at all, only an empty track

A new door is built to your opening and installed on your track. See our sliding screen door replacement service.

Repairing is nearly always cheaper, as long as the frame is good. New rollers and new mesh cost far less than a new door. But rollers and mesh in a bent frame are money spent on a door that still will not close properly. When the frame is the problem, a new door is the better value, even though it costs more on the day.

A lot of sliding screen doors that keep failing were never the right size. Store-bought doors come in a few standard sizes, but sliding glass door openings vary, especially in older homes and where the glass door has been replaced. A door that is too small gaps and jumps the track, and one that is too big rubs and drags. New rollers fix neither. Our guide to standard sliding glass door sizes explains why a standard door may not fit yours.

If a dog or cat uses the door, the mesh is usually the first thing to go, at nose or paw height. That is a repair, not a new door: pet-resistant mesh can go into the frame you already have, and it lasts far longer against claws. If a pet has pushed through hard enough to bend the frame, that is the time to replace the door and have the new one made with pet-resistant mesh. Our window screen mesh options page covers each mesh type.

Sometimes the sliding screen door gets the blame for the glass door. If the sliding glass door is the one that sticks or grinds, its own rollers and track are worn, and a new sliding screen door will not help. We repair sliding glass door rollers and tracks too, so both doors can be looked at on the same visit.

Call us if:

• The door drags, jumps the track or will not close flush
• The mesh is torn and you want to know if the frame is worth keeping
• The frame is bent or corroded
• The door never fit, or there is no door at all
• The sliding glass door is sticking as well