# how to retrieve a lock that fell inside sliding glass door?



## Doc

There isn't a name for the sliding door manufacturer to call (door is 11 yrs old from either HD or Lowes). My young handyman didn't know how to take off the door (he tried). We've looked at youtubes but they didn't really help (they were showing how to adjust s.g.d.).

I want to know how to get the lock out so I can take it and get another one. 

Help please!


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## Harry Chickpea

Picture? Sliding glass doors have a soft sweep to keep bugs out. You can often get in between with a coathanger or stick.


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## carasel

Not clear if it's in between the doors or fell down in the alum. frame. 
To take the door out of the frame. Lift it up and swing the bottom out. 
If there is not enough room to lift the door up. Some brands have a height adjustment screw. Look at the edges of the door for the adjustment screw. Located near the bottom. Screw this in or out to give you room to adjust the door. Watch the door while turning the screw. It should go up or down.


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## Doc

fell into the frame. the young man unscrewed the only thing he saw at the bottom of the door, but he couldn't get the door out.


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## ||Downhome||

You slide the Door to the middle and lift up then tip the bottom out. May need to raise the wheels it slides on, normally a Phillips head screw driver.


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## Clod Kicker

After the door is out of the frame, lay it flat on 2 sawhorses. 
About 2-4" from the bottom you'll see 1 or 2 screws going into the sides.
These hold the bottom horizontal frame piece in. Remove those screws and using a block of 2x4 and a hammer, drive the piece off. You may want to lay a sheet of plywood on the glass in case of error.
You'll then be able to tip the door and slide the lock piece out. Then reassemble.
eep:​


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## Fire-Man

I would get a good magnet on a string and drop it down in the hole-----Go Fishing. If that did not work I would take the door down wedge a rag in the upper part of the door lock hole----where the lock fell in-----then turn the door over and let the lock fall out.


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## Doc

someone else suggested a magnet -- where do you get a magnet these days?


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## Harry Chickpea

Dead hard drive, dead CD player - both have strong magnets. Harbor Freight has magnets.


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## Doc

Here are photos of the gizmo at the bottom of the door. 

View attachment 22140


View attachment 22141


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## ||Downhome||

is that on the sliding part?


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## Doc

yes it is on the sliding door


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## Harry Chickpea

So that looks like a foot bolt. Are you sure that it isn't just a problem with the release mechanism? If so, it should pinch or push or lift to release a gripper or something that goes into an indent on the rod. Spraying the area under the top plastic part with lock release or silicone spray and then tapping around might loosen things up.


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## Doc

A bit of trouble understanding your terminology. The unscrewing the foot bolt supposedly loosens the door enough to take it out? 

What is the "indent on the rod"? 

Thanks.


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## ||Downhome||

It maybe hanging on the pin. Did you take my advice the sliding door needs to be centered in the frame, there's a bow there which lets you lift it high enough to pull out the bottom. 

If the wheels are raised you also wont get enough clearance.


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## Harry Chickpea

The foot bolt is the lock you referenced in your first post. It appears to be an add-on to the door. The bolt pushes down into a hole in the track to secure the door, and that bolt is spring loaded so that it normally is in an "up" position out of the hole in the track. The rod will often have one or two places where it is partly cut (the indents). A bit of metal or plastic enters the indents to keep the rod in either the up or down position. The squeezing or pushing I mentioned allows the rod to spring upward as the plastic or metal go out of the indent.

Removing the glass door itself would be a different subject and a bit of a challenge depending on the unit and how it was installed.

(I am assuming that the door with the device at the bottom is also intended to slide. Some sliding doors only have one panel that slides.)


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## ||Downhome||

maybe this will help

http://www.swisco.com/guides/view34


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## Doc

I'm confused. I thought the whole point was to remove the door to retrieve the lock. The foot bolt is on one side of the door and the lock is on the other side at the bottom.

Only one door slides -- the one with the foot bolt. The other is permanent.

Thanks for the link, Downhome.


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## ||Downhome||

Harry and You are not on the same page... He's a good guy but a bit of a thinker ...

He thought the Lock in question was the Foot Bolt. 

Did the Link help Doc?


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## Harry Chickpea

I guess I'm confused as well. If the foot bolt works freely and the "lock" is somewhere else, I'm just not visualizing it or don't have enough photos of the various things to understand.


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## Doc

What other photos do you need? It's a sliding glass door with that foot bolt on one side and the handle on the other. I'll be glad to post it, just tell me what else is there to take a picture of? 

I had no idea retrieving a lock would be this complicated from a sgd.


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## Harry Chickpea

I apologize for being dense on this. If you could take a picture of the part that has fallen between the doors, and the lock you are talking about on the other side of the door that might help. I thought that your pictures so far were of the lock you had a problem with.


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## Doc

Harry Chickpea, I cannot take a picture of the part that has fallen -- the lock itself. The original post is:* how to retrieve a lock that fell inside sliding glass door?*

Here is the lock space (lock itself is down at the bottom of that door)
View attachment 22157


Hope this helps.


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## Harry Chickpea

I see curtains (very nice) and I see what I think is a wall and the outside frame of the slider. Again, I apologize for being dense here. Is the part that fell within the wall?

I'm sure that you are even more frustrated than I am. If I am off base and not understanding, please let me know.


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## Fire-Man

Harry Chickpea said:


> I see curtains (very nice) and I see what I think is a wall and the outside frame of the slider. Again, I apologize for being dense here. Is the part that fell within the wall?
> 
> I'm sure that you are even more frustrated than I am. If I am off base and not understanding, please let me know.


 
Harry read post #1 Right under Doc----The young Guy took the lock off the sliding glass door-----you see the lock opening picture in Post #23----The lock piece fell inside the door frame when he was taking it out-----Doc wants to take the door off the track and turn it over to get the lock to fall out----hopefully so he can get a new lock----but he needs the old lock------its dropped in the bottom of the door frame.


Hope this helps


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## Fire-Man

Doc all the sliding doors I have ever removed-----you would just open it about half way its track-----pick it up----easier with 2 people-----while you got it up----swing the bottom out then ease the door out the top track------put it back in the same way-----should "N O T" have to adjust the bottom rollers or loosed them to remove it. Pack some rags it the upper part of the hole where the lock was(to keep the lock from going to the top of the door when its upside down)----turn the door over slowly and have some to watch the hole-----and get a hold on the lock when it slides to the hole. Good Luck


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## TnAndy

The foot bolt is a separate lock that has nothing to do with the issue of the main door lock that fell down inside the extrusion. I take it that fallen lock set part is the problem.

Two ways to get it out:

1. A magnet on a flex rod, as suggested above, might be able to fish it back up enough to grab.

2. Other wise, you'll have to remove the sliding panel, turn on edge, and bump it to get the lock to slide back up to the point you can grab it.

*To remove the sliding panel:
*
Various doors go together various ways. 

MOST of them, you can move the sliding panel open a few inches, grasp the panel with a hand on both sides, and lift up into the head track. Swing the bottom IN, and free the panel. As noted above, you may have to retract the rollers at the bottom to get the panel to clear the track it rides on.

SOME doors will have a high inside bottom sill....the rolling panel will NOT swing in on this type door, you have to remove the fixed panel first, then remove the rolling panel to the OUTSIDE instead of the inside. 

IF you have this kind of door....and I think you do....most of the vinyl, welded corner doors are made this way.... ( look at the sill.....it will step up about 1/2 to 1" on the inside above the rolling door track ), then figure out how the fixed panel is held in place.....could be clips, could be a long, vinyl extrusion, whatever.....but what EVER it is has to come out first. LOOK CLOSE....these extrusions are often almost seamless and hard to see. There may also be a pc in the head track that holds the fixed panel in place. They 'pop' into place, and are often a REAL pain to get back out. 

Remove what you need to to get the fixed panel to slide over enough to grasp, pick up, and swing out.

Then remove the rolling panel...again, it will swing to the OUTSIDE on this kind of door....and work on the lock.

FINALLY, some rolling panels do NOT swing out from the bottom. Andersen, for example, uses a screwed in strip at the top, inside, to hold the rolling panel. Remove the screws and strip, and the rolling panel will tilt inward from the TOP, allowing removal. You do NOT appear to have this kind of door....although, frankly, you pics leave a lot to be desired.


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## Doc

Thanks!-- once my handyman returns we'll give it a try. 

The magnet suggestion sounds easier, but it would have to be a small but strong magnet to fish out the lock. 

I'm about ready to cut a small hole in the bottom of the door and be done with it.......


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## TnAndy

Go to an auto parts store and look for something like this: (Autozone on this one)

Magnetic and grips.


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## Doc

just may do it -- thanks.


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## Harry Chickpea

Great catches. Thanks guys, for stepping in. I can tell that I was confused and the goal was not to confuse but help.


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## Clod Kicker

That appears to be a carriage roller, wheel. It looks like the vertical phillips head bolt is what you use to set the height off the track. The 2 horizontal screws appear to hold it on the door frame. I doubt there is a hole behind it. It appears to ride on that raised track in the center.
A magnet on a string sounds like the best option, rather than removing the door. You could tape a string to a skinny rectangular magnet.


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## ||Downhome||

I'd try a magnet on the outside first, go to the depot and get a sweep magnet.


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## Tahoe55

||Downhome|| said:


> I'd try a magnet on the outside first, go to the depot and get a sweep magnet.


This entire thread helped me with this frustrating problem. i know it is probably old and forgotten but since it helped me I wanted to contribute. Key learning here is to avoid this problem. Now I know to hold the lock mechanism as well as plug the bottom hole using a narrow pen or screwdriver. Good to know now but I had a lock at the bottom of the door and needed to get it. I used an automotive magnet with an extending handle. This is used for getting bolts and sockets out of the engine compartment. Fortunately, the magnet head was just small enough to fit in the latch opening but since the frame of the door was steel, it needed to be "pushed" down. I used an old shielded audio cable with a stiff jacket and taped the magnet head (after removing it from the handle) to the end of the cable and was able to push it down and retrieve the lock mechanism. Took more than one try but once it was high enough I was able to catch it with other tools and avoided having to remove the door.


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