Take the sliding panel off first. Remove any anti-lift blocks at the head, turn the handle to lift the leaf clear of its seals, slide it to the middle of the opening, then tilt the bottom towards you and lift it off the track. It needs two people.
Three things make this job different, and all three are about the sliding leaf rather than the frame.
The first is weight. A glazed sliding panel is large and it is glass, and it is almost certainly the heaviest single component you will ever take out of your own house. It does not become lighter because you are careful with it.
The second is the mechanism. On a sliding patio door, turning the handle raises the leaf slightly off its seals before it moves, and sets it back down when you close it. That lift is what lets a large panel glide, and it is also what lets you get the panel out at all. A door left in the closed position is sitting on its seals and will not lift.
The third is what holds it in. Most sliding doors have anti-lift blocks or security stops fitted at the head of the frame, precisely so the panel cannot be lifted out from outside. They are doing their job when they stop you, and they come out first.
The regulations. Replacing an external door is notifiable work under the Building Regulations. Either a FENSA or CERTASS registered installer self-certifies it, or you submit a building notice yourself. We supply doors rather than fit them, so if you are doing this yourself the notification is yours. Our guide to removing a window sets out both routes.
The replacement. Measure and order before you remove anything, because the opening cannot be measured properly until the old frame is out. Plan the removal and the new installation for the same day, and have a board cut to fit in case it runs over.
The people. Two, and both of them for the moment the panel comes off the track. This is not a job where one person manages and the second helps.
The route. Work out where the panel is going before you lift it. Clear the floor, open the doors it has to pass through, and have somewhere outside to lean it where it cannot be knocked over.
Talk to us before you start. If anything on this page leaves you unsure, whether it is which fixings your frame has, how your panels are held, or what the opening needs to look like for the replacement, get in touch before the first screw comes out. Our customer service team can answer it in a few minutes, and it is a great deal easier to plan a job than to stop halfway through one. Email info@sparwindows.co.uk or use the chat during opening hours.
Steps three to six are the whole job. If the panel will not lift at step six, do not force it: something at the head is still holding it, and forcing a panel that is caught is how the glass gets loaded in a direction it was not made for.
The handle position matters at step four. The leaf has to be in the raised position, which on most sliding doors means the handle turned as if to open. A panel that is down on its seals will not clear the track however hard you lift.
Tilt the bottom towards you at step six rather than lifting straight up. The panel comes out of the bottom track first and then drops out of the head channel, and that only works if the top stays where it is until the bottom is clear.
Once the glazed panels are out of the house, the rest is the same job as taking out any frame. Cut the perimeter sealant inside and out, cut or unscrew the fixings, then saw the frame in two or three places so each piece releases without levering against the brickwork.
This is the part worth rehearsing before you do it. Both people should know which way the panel is going to move before anyone takes weight.
Stand on the room side with one person at each end of the panel. Take the weight at the stiles, not at the glass, and keep your hands away from the meeting edge where the two panels overlap.
Tilt the bottom of the panel in towards the room while the top stays in the head channel. When the bottom is clear of the track, lower the whole panel slightly and the top comes free.
Carry it flat rather than upright if the route allows, and rest it on something soft. A glazed panel stood on a hard floor and knocked sideways is how a straightforward job turns into a glass clearance job.
If the panel refuses to lift, stop and look at the head channel again. Anti-lift blocks are the usual answer, but some doors also have adjustable rollers that need winding down before the leaf drops enough to clear.
The fixed panel is not hung, it is held. Depending on the system it will be screwed through the frame, clipped behind a bead, or retained by a filler strip along one jamb.
Look for fixings at the head and the cill first. Once they are out, the fixed panel usually slides along to the opening and comes out the same way the sliding leaf did, which is why it is worth doing it second rather than trying to work around it.
With both panels out, you are left with a frame screwed or anchored into the opening. Cut the perimeter sealant on both faces before anything moves, then deal with the fixings.
Cut the frame in two or three places rather than levering it out whole. Each section then comes away without pressing against the reveal, and you avoid the cracked plaster inside and chipped brick outside that levering produces.
On a uPVC frame, expect a reinforcement section inside the profile on many systems, so use a blade that handles metal. Check what your frame actually contains before you assume it.
A hinged pair comes out differently, and more easily. Open both leaves, support the weight, and unscrew or drift out the hinge pins. The leaves come off one at a time and each one is lighter than a sliding panel.
On a pair of French doors the secondary sash is held by latches at the top and bottom rather than by a handle. Release those before you try to move it, or you will be pulling against two bolts still in their keeps.
With the leaves off, the frame is the same job as on a sliding door: cut the sealant, cut the fixings, cut the frame.
The one thing to watch on hinged doors is the threshold. It often extends past the frame into the brickwork at both ends, and sawing the frame without freeing those ends first will split the reveal.
With the frame out you can see what has been hidden. Probe any remaining timber with a bradawl, look for damp staining on the inner reveal, and check the underside of the lintel.
Pay particular attention to the floor across the opening. A patio door threshold sits on it and carries the weight of the leaves, and any softness or settlement there has to be dealt with before the new door goes in. Our guide to fitting patio doors explains why the threshold decides the rest of the installation.
Brush the opening out and remove old sealant and mortar from both faces, then measure again in three places each way and work to the smallest.
Toughened and laminated glass are not accepted in ordinary household glass recycling. They are made differently from bottle glass and contaminate the stream. Take the panels to a household waste recycling centre and tell the site staff what you are bringing.
A glazed sliding panel is also awkward to transport. It will not fit in most cars upright, and laying it flat across folded seats needs padding and a second person at the other end.
uPVC frames are recyclable but not through kerbside collection. Many recycling centres take them as rigid plastic. Ring ahead rather than turning up with a car full of frame sections.
Good luck with it. If the panel will not lift at the point where it should, the answer is at the head of the frame, not in your grip. And if you are not sure what you are looking at, stop and email us for help.
