The sliding door that leads out onto my deck has shifted a bit at the bottom. You can see the gap between the trim piece on the right and the door. This may be my fault for installing hardwood flush against it. Oops. Today I cut approx .25" off the floor in this area, and I am able to shift the door back over to its original location by hitting the facing board under the door on the outside with a deadblow hammer.
The problem is it doesn't stay there. It will float back out moving the door in and out. I removed the facing board which was warped anyway to see what is going on, but I can't tell how the sliding door is actually installed. Is there anything I can do to secure the bottom of the door in the right spot without opening pandora's box?
Mr_Asa
SuperDork
12/8/20 11:01 a.m.
All of 'em I've seen have screws on all four sides. Any little panels or anything you can try and remove on yours?
Sounds to me like the mounting flange for the door wasn't nailed in well at the bottom, or whatever wood it was nailed to has rotted away. What's the door sitting on? Concrete slab? Wood subfloor?
EDIT: Some of them are mounted with long screws though the side of the frame as mentioned above. If there aren't screws there that might get it done. You might be able to pull the install instructions from the manufacturer website to see if that would work.
ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:
Sounds to me like the mounting flange for the door wasn't nailed in well at the bottom, or whatever wood it was nailed to has rotted away. What's the door sitting on? Concrete slab? Wood subfloor?
Wood subfloor.
So the mounting flange at the bottom is what secures it? On the inside of the house? Or outside, or both? Might not be much I can do about that. There isn't any evidence of rot, but not being nailed in well would not surprise me in the least with this house. Or, me installing the floor to close, then it expanding damaged the flange.
All the ones I've dealt with had an exterior mounting flange like a vinyl window. The opening would be framed and the sheathing put up - either plywood, or foam or whatever -and the door would be set in from the outside leaving the flange sitting on top of the outer wall surface. It would then be nailed or screwed through the flange into the studs underneath. Some of them then have screws through the jamb area into the 2.5" dimension of the framing 2x4s.
Oh, so you mean the part right behind the facing board I removed in the second pic? That isn't going to do a good job securing in/out though, right? The jamb screws sound like they would secure it in that direction? (im guessing you mean 3.5"?)
Edit, if that is the case, and I replace the facing board with a good quality one that isn't warped and draw it in tight with some good screws it should be ok then. Recommendations for screws to go through the flashing (will any ext. screws do?). 3"?
Do I need to caulk/or seal anything in there in any special way? I saw some evidence of caulk behind the facing board, but I'm not exactly sure what it was sealing.
Log into This Old House online, find an episode where Tommy fixes a door.
Streetwiseguy said:
Log into This Old House online, find an episode where Tommy fixes a door.
I did this, but they installed one on a cement patio.
However, it did clear something up for me. There is a nailing flange to attach it, over top of the flashing. I didn't notice this on mine, but when I layed down on the deck to look, I saw it. It is indeed popping out. So I should be able to nail/screw that in, put on a new facing board and it should be all good. Thanks!
In reply to ProDarwin :
About 98.5% of carpentry knowledge I have has come from 40 years of This Old House and New Yankee Workshop. I built desks for my daughters, and made drawers that fit (properly) in a faceframe. All because of hours and hours wasted in front of a television.
Make sure you add in a washer or shim behind the screws when you screw in that bottom flange, to leave a small gap so potential water infiltration can drain out. No caulk on the bottom flange either.
