what to do when a pocket door comes out of the bottom guide

Is your once trusty door no longer opening and closing smoothly? A simple lubrication routine might be all that'south needed to become it dorsum in shape just if there'southward a trouble with the hardware, yous might have to remove the door altogether and supplant the broken parts. With the right tools and basic DIY skills, yous should exist able to fix a pocket door in an afternoon. Read on—nosotros'll show you lot how.

Tools for repairing pocket door

Yous will need the following tools and materials to get the task done:

Nail gun
Level
Putty knife
Pry bar
Screwdriver
Spotlight
Tape measure
Drywall saw
Cordless drill

Materials

Drywall mud
J-track
Pocket door rollers
Tracks
2×6 wooden board
Shims

Stride-by-Step Guide on how to repair a pocket door

When a pocket door won't work properly, two things could be the problem—the tracks might exist damaged or the rollers might exist worn out or fallen off the track. Fortunately, you tin easily gear up these common problems, eliminating the demand to buy a new door system.

Follow these steps to repair a faulty sliding wooden door:

Step 1. Unhinge the door

To diagnose the problem, you first have to remove the door.

Using a utility pocketknife, cut the caulk seal to release the casing flanking the door at the top. Pry off the casing using a putty knife.
You practice not take to remove the entire casing on all 4 sides of the door. Removing the acme office is enough to betrayal the door frame and hardware. Exist careful not to damage the drywall.
With the top casing off, apply the putty knife to remove the upper function of the door frame. Take care not to break the frame.

Pro tip: If a putty knife doesn't get the job done, use the tonged cease of a hammer to pry off a door frame that has been tightly sealed into place.

Step 2. Lift the door out of its track

How you lot lift out the door volition depend on your door'due south sliding mechanism.

For a door with a roller-skate system, remove the door by prying it up while borer on the rollers.
For a j-track system, bending the top of the door abroad from you to release the rollers from the tracks.
If the door is trapped inside the pocket, pry the top and bottom edges alternately. Be careful not to damage the surrounding molding as you lot lift out the door.

Stride 3. Check the system for damage

After taking the door out, place information technology on its side and inspect the rollers and their respective brackets located on the upper edge of the door slab. Cheque for cleaved rollers or twisted axles.
If the rollers seem to be in proficient shape, they are probably seized up and demand some lubrication. Spray a proficient quality silicone lubricant on the rollers and brackets to unjam them.
Use a spotlight to inspect the tracks in the recess of the door frame. With time, tracks tin can bend and buckle causing the door to be stuck. If this is the example, you will demand to supercede the old tracks.

Step 4. Supersede damaged rollers

If the rollers are visibly damaged, order a new replacement fix from your local home improvement store.
Unscrew both sets of rollers from the door. Install the new ones. Cheque that the wheels are in good condition by rolling them with your fingers.

Footstep 5. Remove faulty tracks

Worn out tracks are a mutual problem with pocket doors. To install a new track, you will have to cut a hole in the wall.

Using a spotlight, audit the pocket where the door was, and take notation of how the frame appears. When cutting the hole, you desire to steer articulate of the studs in the door frame.
To avoid cutting the studs, use a stud finder to locate the studs hidden backside the wall. Place the stud finder on the wall where you want to cut a hole.
Slid the stud finder horizontally while property down the buttons on either side. A light will come on when the finder locates a stud. Draw a mark at this signal.
Go on sliding the finder across the wall to locate other studs. Remember to mark each stud point.
Use a ruler or leveler to draw out a square or rectangular outline of the surface area yous want to cutting. This area should be large enough for the runway to wiggle out and dorsum in.
Use a precipitous drywall saw to cutting the access hole. Unscrew the track from the door frame and pull it out through the access hole.

Pro tip: Ideally, y'all should cut the hole closer to the upper door jamb for easy removal of the track.

Step 6. Install a new track

Once you lot remove the erstwhile runway, mensurate its length, width, and depth. Use these measurements to buy a new track that fits snugly into the track slot in the door frame.
Earlier installing the new track, bank check that the door frame is level. Just place a level on the rails slot and bank check the position of the bubble. The door frame is level if the bubble is centered. In case the frame is not level, sideslip in a shim or more than until the door frame is completely level.
Insert the runway through the access hole and utilise a blast gun to fasten it to the overhead track slot in the door frame. Once more check that the new runway is level.

Step 7. Test the new track

Before hanging the door back in identify, check that the new runway works properly.

Attach the two sets of rollers on a 2×6 board to mimic the door. Hang the board onto the rail the same way y'all would a door.
Slide the lath along the track. Check that it moves smoothly inside the pocket, hangs safely on the track, and allows like shooting fish in a barrel access to the adjusting fasteners on the rollers.
If all looks adept, unhung the board and transfer the rollers to the brackets at the top of the door slab. Check out this informative video on the correct manner to attach rollers to a pocket door.

Step 8. Install the door

To reinstall the door, angle the lesser toward yous, lift the acme toward the door frame, and hang the rollers onto the track.
Use your foot to button the bottom of the door inward and away from you until the door is in a vertical position and firmly attached to the track.
Follow the manufacturer'southward instructions on locking the rollers in place.

Pro tip: Place a lever underneath the door to help keep the door in a lifted position equally you hang the rollers on the tracks.

Step 9. Adjust the door for a perfect fit

First, slide the door in and out of the pocket to check that information technology is working properly. If the door leaves an bad-mannered gap at the bottom or along the vertical edge, you will need to practise some adjustments.
The rollers attached to the door have fasteners that secure the wheels in place. Use a pocket-sized spanner to tighten or loosen these fasteners to adjust the height of the door to your satisfaction.
Consummate the door installation processing by reinstalling the upper door jamb and the trim yous had removed earlier.

Stride 10. Reinstall the drywall

With the door put back in place, the next step is to make full in the access hole using the piece of drywall yous had cut out earlier.
Nail in four thin strips of wood effectually the access hole. Experience gratis to utilize shimmers. These will act equally backers, giving you something on which to screw the cutout slice of drywall.
After reinstalling the piece, employ drywall mud (joint compound) all around. Once the compound is dry, sand it to give the wall a seamless look.

There it is! With the track and rollers fixed, your door should now exist equally proficient as new!

Extended Tips

Here are additional tips to help you make the most of your pocket doors:

Lubricate the rollers periodically

Virtually roller wheels are made of nylon so information technology is best to apply a silicone-based lubricant that will not impairment the rollers.

Adjust rollers appropriately

If the door parts awkwardly the lesser or on the sides, try adjusting the screws on the rollers to bring the door down and to movement it further toward the side jambs. Utilise a small wrench to reach the subconscious roller screws.

A quick afternoon projection to become your door working equally practiced as new

Pocket doors are an inventive mode to save space and add together a mod bear on to interior spaces. But, like most sliding doors, they are jump to become unwieldy at some point. As our instructions show, tuning upwards the tracks and rollers usually solves the problem. Afterwards fixing the hardware, be certain to lubricate periodically to get the most from your door.

Exercise you have any questions or comments on fixing pocket doors? Get out them below—nosotros'd love to hear from y'all.

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Source: https://www.wcmanet.org/pocket-door-repair/