How To Keep Water Out Of Sliding Glass Door Track

Avoid having to repair or replace floors or walls by taking steps to make sure your door is able to keep the rain outside where it belongs.

How to keep water out of sliding glass door track. If the tracks are dirty the doors can become misaligned and water can easily seep into the home. Small slots in the exterior section of track provide drainage when water comes in contact with the glass door. For tips on keeping your sliding glass doors clean read our last blog post for easy cleaning and maintenance tips. The lower track of a window frame normally is supposed to have small holes at its lower edge toward the outside that allows water in the track to drain out.

It is a common problem that over years dirt can collect on the bottom of the track and clog up these holes so the track will no longer drain. Use an aerosol lubricant to lubricate all the door rollers. A sliding glass patio door correctly installed and maintained will mitigate most of these issues but annual preventative maintenance with an elastomeric sealant around the perimeter is a must. Water intrusion in some sliding glass doors can occur with wind driven rains at speeds as low as 22 miles per hour.

To clean and lubricate the hardware of a sliding closet door use a stiff brush a toothbrush or a hand vacuum to clean dust from the tracks. They can be lifted right off the track if you don t take measures to prevent it. Sliding doors come in a variety of types. Water collects on both sides of the track where the sliding part of the door sits and where it slides.

Some are pocket doors which are interior sliding doors that are concealed in a wall pocket when open. Even though well maintained sliding glass doors usually don t have water intrusion problems consider. Other sliding doors are made of aluminum and glass and are usually designed for entry in and out of a home. There are several reasons why water seeps indoors through sliding glass doors.

Blocking the track with a dowel stick is an effective measure when the track is inside the building but the problem of securing the door is not so easily solved when the track is on the outside. Last night we had heavy winds with the rain which blew it against the door and the tracks filled to overflowing quickly even though the rain wasn t all that heavy. Sliding glass doors generally are far less secure than traditional doors.