Door Screen in between the glass panels

This type of door screen can be the most difficult to remove. But the good thing is that screens in between glass panels and on the inside are protected from the weather. They can potentially last longer than those mounted on the outside.

The difficulty with screens in between patio door glass panels is that, over time, settling of the wooden house frame causes the aluminum or wood patio door frame to bend and warp. This can make removing the glass panels or the door screen repair very difficult.

If you have noticed that your glass or screen doors don’t slide back and forth easily, you might have a sagging door frame. Look up at the space between the top of the sliding glass door panel and the top track. Check the gap as you slide the door all the way open and all the way closed. There should be enough space for the door to open easily across the entire width of its travel without rubbing on the top track.

If you see any evidence of scrape marks, or can clearly see scratches where the door rubs on the top frame, you know you have settling problems with the frame of your house. Settling problems will wear out your sliding glass door rollers. It will also make the doors difficult to slide open and in the worst cases can shatter the door glass from the pressure of the sagging frame.

How to install a screen door if there is only a small amount of settling.

First remove all the clamps and screws securing the glass doors. Some screws may be hidden so don’t try to force anything until you sure all the fasteners are removed. It should be possible to slide each glass panel to the side, lift it up and swing the bottom of the glass door out over the bottom track. A small pry bar can be useful if the bottom of the door so long as only a small amount of force is used. Don’t break the glass!

Sometimes there is not enough room to lift the door up. You may need to use a jack to raise the door frame slightly. I use a small hydraulic jack with a 2 x 4 long enough to reach the top of the door. Jack up the door frame no more than ¼”. Any more and you risk damaging the door frame. You should gain enough extra height to allow you lift out the door panel. If you cant lift the door out with the aid of a jack it’s really time to replace your patio door.

Sometimes you can repair your sagging patio door by removing the wooden casing on the inside of the patio door and removing the wooden shims that usually space the patio door from the wooden framing. Sadly sometimes the wooden frame sags so much that even this wont help.

If you are able to remove the glass panels then you should be able to remove the screen door in the same manner. You just have to loosen all four screen door rollers as I described in the section about removing a screen door when its mounted on the outside.

When you have gone to all this trouble to get your door screen out, its definitely a good idea to check your screen door and patio rollers while you have everything out. Nothing worse than getting a center run screen door back in and finding it wont slide because of an old broken roller.

Return from door screen to Screen Door Installlation page