Balcony door repair - returning comfort and beauty

After the end of the warranty period, free repair of plastic balcony doors is not the responsibility of the firm that established them. But you can handle many problems yourself.

We will share with you the secrets of repair and adjustment of such doors and show you how to repair old wooden doors to the balcony.

According to their purpose, the balcony doors are very similar to the entrance doors - they must maintain a warm and comfortable microclimate in the house and allow them to freely exit through the balcony.

The only difference is that not so high anti-burglary requirements are imposed on these doors, so they are not massive and are not supplied with complex locks.

Problems with these doors are similar, because both the entrance and the balcony doors are under increased stress and are exposed to adverse weather conditions.

Repair of plastic doors

The main reasons that may require repair of a plastic balcony door are:

• Slack or skewed door.
• Wear seal.
• Damage to the plastic profile.
• Damage of a double-glazed window.
• Breakage of locks and handles.

Some of these problems can be fixed by yourself. For example, simply adjusting the door if it slipped.

How to do this, you can learn in detail from the article on the adjustment of plastic doors, posted on our website (see Adjusting the balcony door). And here we will tell about other problems.

Seal Replacement

Before you start repairing, make sure that the cause of drafts (see What to do if it blows from the entrance door) was precisely the wear of the seal, and not the skew of the door or broken fittings. After that, go to the store for a new sealant and good glue for its installation.

Important. The best quality seal are German production - they can serve for 15 years. If you purchase a cheaper compactor, it may be necessary to replace it in 4–5 years. But in any case, when buying a rubber cord, make sure that there are no deformed or cracked sections along its entire length.

So:

1. Carefully remove the worn gasket from the grooves of the plastic profile.
2. Clean the grooves with a wet soft cloth from residues of glue, dirt and dust, let them dry.
3. Lubricate the grooves with glue and, starting from the corner, insert a new rubber cord into them. Try not to stretch or squeeze it.

4. The joint of the seal in the corner of the window profile is also glued.
5. To make the seal last longer, retaining its functionality and elasticity, apply a special lubricant to it.

Repair of door handles

Balcony door handles are constantly under high load, and as a result, they may be in trouble. If the matter is only in loose screws, you just need to remove the decorative overlay from the handle or turn it and tighten the screws.

If the handle is broken, it is replaced with a new one - it cannot be repaired.

Plastic profile recovery

Речь идет, конечно, не о деформации двери в результате взлома или вандальных действий, а о царапинах, потертостях и других косметических проблемах. Большинство людей не знают, how to repair a balcony door или окно в этом случае и вернуть им былой вид.

To do this, manufacturers of plastic constructions use a special glue, which covers up chips and cracks. After this treatment, the surface is smoothed with fine sandpaper, rubbed with a special solvent for plastic and painted. If the door is laminated, the resulting stain is tinted with a special marker.

All these specialized tools can not always be found on sale, so for a cosmetic plastic balcony door is better to contact the relevant company.

Double glazing replacement

This is perhaps one of the few problems that must be solved by experts. Even if you only broke one glass, in order to preserve the heat and waterproofing properties of the balcony door, you should replace the entire glass unit.

Independent action will inevitably lead to the formation of condensate between the panes, which will adversely affect both the appearance and the performance of the door.

Repair of wooden doors

If you prefer wooden doors to metal-plastic ones or you do not have the opportunity to replace them, you need to keep such doors in good condition all the time. Problems with seals and handles at wooden doors are eliminated in the same way as plastic.

But to repair a wooden canvas is more difficult, since it is easily deformed, it can start to rot from constant exposure to moisture, etc. In order to repair wooden balcony doors to be of high quality, we recommend to do it in the warm season, as the doors need to be removed from the hinges.

So:

1. Remove knobs and latches from the door, unscrew the locking clamping bolts.
2. Carefully disassemble beadings. and remove the glass from the door.
3. Remove the wooden planks from the outside of the door at the bottom, and from the inside - a sheet of hardboard or chipboard. If there was insulation between them, discard it and replace it with a new one after repair.
4. Clean the remaining door frame from the old paint in any convenient way, and then grind and apply putty on damaged areas.
5. Dry the door after puttying and sand it again, prime and paint it (see Painting the old door: how it is done). Before painting, if necessary, tighten the structure with screws.
6. Insert the cut-to-size pieces of laminated chipboard or MDF into the lower part of the door., laying between them a layer of isolon or foam.
7. In the grooves in the upper part, apply a transparent silicone with a pistol, put the glass in them and fix it with new, pre-painted beadings.