How to Replace Patio Sliding Screen Doors
Hiring someone to replace your patio’s sliding screen door can be costly. Learning to both remove and install a sliding screen door is a relatively simple process that only requires a couple of common household tools. You'll save both time and money by replacing the screen door by yourself.
Most sliding screen doors work by rolling on plastic wheels over a track, which is part of the doorframe. Be careful when working with the screen door that you don’t break the plastic wheels, as this can happen fairly easily.
You will need:
- A Phillips-head screwdriver
- A regular (flat-head) screwdriver
- Locate the Phillips-head screw at the bottom of the screen doorframe, on the thin side of the frame (where it connects with the jam). This tension screw helps keep the frame from coming off of the track. Use your Phillips-head screwdriver to loosen this screw, without removing the screw completely. Do the same on the other side of the screen doorframe, loosening the tension screw on that side.
- Insert the flat side of your regular screwdriver under the plastic wheel at the bottom of the frame and gently pry upward while pulling the frame back toward you. If you can’t get the plastic wheel over the track, then loosen the tension screw on that side some more and try again. Once you have cleared the wheel of the track, repeat the process on the other side.
- Tip: If both tension screws have been loosened, but the wheels still will not clear the track, loosen the tension screws at the top of the frame.
- Pull the bottom of the screen doorframe towards you to angle it out of the rest of the track once both wheels have cleared the track. When the top of the screen doorframe is free, you should be able to remove it easily.
Installing the screen doorframe is as simple as the removal:
- Insert the top of the sliding screen doorframe into the top track, lining the wheels up accordingly.
- Angle the bottoms of the frame back in toward the patio door, using the tip of a regular screwdriver to gently pry the wheels up and over the track.
- Check the wheel alignments on both the top and bottom tracks again to make sure they have not slipped free.
- Tighten the tension screws until the screen doorframe stops moving up and down.