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Sunday 20 May 2018

Fix greenhouse sliding door

The design of aluminium greenhouses is very efficient. Someone has thought cleverly about how to hold the glass in and be able to assemble and disassemble quickly. However, the door on most of those that I have come across feels like an afterthought. The doors rarely slide well.


We reused a greenhouse from a friend and the door barely ran at all. I managed to sort that out. It's not perfect but as long as it is moved from the middle it slides open and closed easily.

The main problem, as I see it, was the runner at the bottom. On our's the door hung too low and the bottom rail of the door dragged in the runner. The trouble is there was insufficient height adjustment for the door.

Most people, myself included, don't find out that the door sticks until after having assembled the greenhouse. The most obvious thought was to slacken off some of the bolts and attempt to raise the height a fraction. This would require a lot of the glass to be removed for a minimal chance of success.



My solution was to file the holes, in the bottom rail of the door, in to slots.




There is no obvious way to easily remove the door. The two bolts holding the top runner to the door frame can easily be undone but that does not release it enough to remove the door! I found that if I slackened off two screws on the top rail, the runner for the door can be released and slid in-front of the door. This allows the two to be removed separately. Reassembly was the reverse.



I'm not sure if they were necessary but I fitted new rollers which came in the kit of door repair parts along with the lower plastic guides. It was the two guides I mainly needed from the kit as both of those were broken on my door.


There is a tiny bit of adjustment at the top of the door but that also needs some clearance or it sticks under the top runner. My modified screw slots in the bottom rail was what enabled me to get a good, perhaps 2mm, gap between the guide runner under the door and the lower rail. Luckily the glass still fitted in the now smaller aperture.


That fixed it.


7 comments :

Unknown said...

John, I liked your post. Where did you find the door rollers and bottom guides?
Curtis

John C Brown said...

They are "Greenhouse Door Wheels" which I bought on ebay.

Regards
John

Unknown said...

Where do I find a top door track for old eden qualcast 8x6

John C Brown said...

Sorry, no idea.

Unknown said...

My greenhouse door runners are gritty and need cleaning. With what do I use please. Will 50% vinegar and water work. Obviously it's better to degrease before adding lub.

John C Brown said...

I'm no expert on cleaning but I doubt any chemical combination would remove grit.
The grit needs to be mechanically removed.
Perhaps a jetwash, with warm soapy water.

ChrisD said...

Our Vitavia suffers the same. Almost £2k, great looking but really rubbish doors that keep sticking or worst still falling off. I’ll try to heath Robinson something using your tips.