The sliding door is one of the most reliable types of doors for both residential and commercial spaces. They are quite expensive and complicated to install, but they will easily offset your expenses by providing you with a neat and convenient entranceway.  Some sliding doors are so subtle and inconspicuous, they can be put in the background of modern architectural design. Nevertheless, sliding doors require some care and maintenance to keep up with their efficiency and durability. You don’t want your investment to go to waste by overlooking the signs for repair and maintenance. No worries, sliding door services will not significantly hurt your budget.

Here are 4 signs that say it’s time for a repair:

1. There are cracks on the sliding tracks

For any sliding door system, the tracks are one of the most sensitive areas where various damages could happen. Cracks on the track due to rusting or even warping could seriously affect how well your sliding door functions. The sliding track is also prone to accumulating dirt from the floor and this can significantly affect its normal functions. Eventually, you’ll have to replace parts, which means more expenses for you. To avoid having too much sliding door problems in one go, make sure to give sliding door repair services a call before you see cracks on your sliding tracks.

2. The sliding doors do not open and shut smoothly

This sign is fairly easy to spot. Sometimes, all sliding doors need after years of use is some heavy-duty grease for lubrication. If the sliding doors look like they work but still feel rough, or if there’s an off-putting sound when you slide them back and forth, then it’s probably about time that you get sliding door repair before something gets seriously out of hand (i.e: broken track). Initially, you can grease your track by yourself and see whether this addresses the problem for a certain period. If you still experience issues with opening your sliding door smoothly, it’s time to call a professional for a possible repair.

3. There are uneven gaps between door panels and floor/wall/window frames

There’s nothing more frustrating than having to put up with the fact that the sliding door doesn’t close properly anymore. Even sliding doors that are less than a year old can suffer from these sliding door problems, especially if they are very heavy sliding doors or have glass panels on them. It’s best to call repair services before the problem gets worse and your sliding door won’t open or shut at all (which makes it even more difficult for sliding door professionals). This kind of problem will also have an impact on your energy consumption, especially when using air conditioner. Your aircon will work extra hard to cool your room because of the unaddressed cracks in your door.

4. You can’t lock or unlock sliding doors anymore

Sometimes, sliding doors may become defective due to sliding door professional errors when they were installed during initial construction. If you are quite certain that sliding doors were installed correctly and secured properly but still experience issues with locking and unlocking sliding doors during normal usage, then it’s probably about time that you call for door repair services to correct this problem before it gets worse (like when sliding doors do not always function properly which is very dangerous). It could also mean that there’s something wrong with the locks on your sliding doors. In either case, a quick from a professional should take care of this concern.

How to Choose Sliding Door Services

Before you hire sliding door services, check if they have a license. Make sure the services are certified by the BBB and licensed sliding door professionals in your area. Also, learn about their sliding door repair process. Find out whether they have a warranty on their sliding doors or not and whether the warranty covers all costs of repairs or just parts. This will give you an idea of what you can expect from the job that sliding doors professionals do for your sliding doors at home or in office buildings.

In case your sliding doors get damaged beyond repair, then it may be time to replace them with new ones. Ask repair services if they also provide installation and replacement services for new sliding doors.  Modern sliding doors are very different compared to sliding doors installed in older houses. Replacing sliding door can be done by sliding door professionals, but it is much better if you let sliding door installation companies do this for you because they know what type of sliding doors will work best with the ones already installed in your house.

In some cases, sliding door repair services may just have to replace a single component on your sliding doors instead of installing new ones from scratch. When that happens, make sure that the the repair company has all of these components on their truck before they leave so that you don’t have to incur more costs on parts and shipping.