rustsliding-glass-doorwater
My daughter shoot water gun at our balcony glass door, water got in between glasses, now it's rust and misty.
We got a handyman to paint walls last week. We let him take a look. He said it has to be replaced.
I want to double check whether it is fixable and worth repairing first. If so, is it something I can do myself and how? Thanks.
I'm guessing, but here's my suspicion based on the pics posted. I may delete this answer after you post an updated close up pic.
Where your red arrow points - the white and black strip - I suspect that's the stop strip. It goes all the way around the window panel and appears to lock it in place. I suspect there's one on the outside as well.
To remove the glass, you're probably going to need to carefully remove this strip from the outside of the door frame. Then the window pane itself should lift up and out from the bottom.
To re-secure your new pet door will include re-installing the stop strip.
We had this issue on the kitchen sliding glass door at work. A hand truck had been run fully loaded over the threshold several times in its life and the Channel Lock treatment given to attempt putting the track back in line.
Our local glass shop repaired it without removing the frame as the door was a custom piece with no readily available replacement and would have been prohibitively expensive to do so.
Basically, you take a rivet buster chisel and die grinder and remove the track. You then use a die grinder burr to smooth the surface. There are replacement tracks (has to match the old one) that will now lay in the slot. Finish out by fixing in place with self tapping screws, replace the rollers on the screen door and adjust the rollers to proper height.
It now rolls just like new.
Ok, here's one manufacturer (no affiliation with any). Prime-Line Products has a cap strip like Mike was considering and they also have an actual track replacement extrusion which is what I have experience with. You'll find both repair products listed under Exterior Door Hardware for Residential Sliding Patio Doors. They also carry rollers and assemblies.
Another manufacturer that makes both cap strips and track extrusions is Swisco
Best Answer
The seal would have had to have failed BEFORE your daughter squirted water on it. Her water getting in just alerted you to the problem. Give her a cookie and apologize for making her feel bad...
In general it would cost more to try to clean and reseal it than it would cost to buy new sealed units.