We are going to go step by step over what is required to remove an old Aluminum sliding patio door before installing a new door.
The first step is to be safe both in the way you work and by wearing safety glasses and gloves when doing this job.
It is easiest to first remove the sliding panel from the door. The vast majority of doors out there have the sliding panel on the inside half of the track and the stationary panel is on the outside. Whatever the case in your particular door, the sliding panel has to come out first. This is done by lifting the panel up as far as it will go into the top channel and swinging the bottom away from the fixed panel. You will now have this panel removed.
Sometimes the bottom rollers will prevent the bottom from swinging out of the track. If that’s the case, you may be able to simply pry it up a little and get it off. If not you will need to find the roller adjustment hole in the bottom corners of the sliding panel. Put a screwdriver into this hole and turn the screw counterclockwise to bring the roller as far up into the bottom of the sliding panel as possible. This should allow the slider to come out.
To remove the fixed panel, you will have to do a little more work. There is usually a stop of some kind in the top and bottom tracks that are screwed in. By removing these stops you can sometimes get the door to move sideways away from the side jamb it is fitted into. You can start by simply grabbing the side rail of the fixed panel and pulling as hard as you can. If you’re lucky, the panel will pop free. Then you can lift the panel up as far as it will go into the top channel and swing the bottom away from the track, and remove the panel.
Now, I said “if you’re lucky”, because in most cases the panel is pretty stuck from the weather stripping and caulking and dirt and rust. Usually, you’re going to have to use a pry bar to loosen the fixed panel before it will slide out of the side jamb.
If you haven’t done so already you need to now remove whatever inside trim there might be around the door frame. Now you have to remove the jamb and sill. You will want to do this without damaging the exterior material that surrounds the door frame or you will have extra work.
So, remove all the screws from the side jambs, top header, and bottom track that you can find. Then, take a pry bar and get it under the bottom track about in the center and pry the track up until it is separated from the floor. If the frame was simply screwed in, then the frame should now be loose in the opening and easily come out. If your door frame was nailed as well to the house frame, you will have to do a bit more work. Use a hacksaw or reciprocating saw if you have one to cut the track in half. This will allow you to fold the cut piece up towards the side jamb and pry it and the jamb right out. Do the same thing to the other half.
Sometimes there is a nailer fin in behind the siding. Start at the bottom use a heavy chisel and pound it into the crack between the frame and exterior material, whether it’s stucco, siding, etc. and try to cut the nailer fin with the chisel. Once you get the bottom third loose, many times you can pry and pull the jamb free as you work up. After you do both side jambs, then do the top. Sometimes the top has no nails, or just one in the center, so it will come down pretty easily.
Now you are ready to install your new door.