How to Repair a Bi-fold Door

Most homes are blessed with some form or another of a bi-fold door. Closets, pantries, and even laundry rooms are enclosed with bi-fold doors. If you have ever had a long time experience with a bi-fold door, than you know that they sometimes break. Whether they come off the track, the wheels don’t slide in the track properly or they literally fall off the hinges, you’ll find some great tips and advice in this article on how to fix bi-fold doors.

A bi-fold door consists of a few working parts that need to be recognized to diagnose its problems. At the bottom of a bi-fold door is a pivot or anchor. It consists of a metal peg that fits into a slotted track. The peg in the door screws up and down for adjustment. The top of a bi-fold door has a spring-loaded pivot and a wheel that slides in the track. The pivot is held in place by a hole in a sliding clip held in place by a screw. If the screw is loosened, the door can be adjusted at the top pivot. Both the top pivot and wheel are spring-loaded and can be pressed down to be removed from the track.

If a door has come off the track, it can be a simple matter of reinserting the wheel into the track. Press down on the wheel and position it into the groove of the track. If it comes out of the track easily, then you need to raise the door. To raise the door, simply wedge the door up a bit and screw the bottom pivot out. Be careful and don’t screw the pivot right out of the threading. Adjust it about three or four turns at a time, remove the wedge, and check the doors swing.

When you have two bi-fold doors that slide together (double bi-folds) and the doors don’t close all the way, you need to adjust the doors horizontally. This can be done by slide the bottom pivot back on the grooved track a notch or two at a time. You will also need to unscrew the sliding clip on the top of the track. Carefully loosen the screw while holding the door. Don’t totally remove the screw; just loosen it until the sliding clip moves freely in the track. Move the sliding clip back towards the wall an 1/8 of an inch at a time. Re-tighten the screw and check the doors swing. Adjust the slides until the doors close correctly and the reveal around the doors and the trim are even. It may take a few minutes to really get the hang of it, so be patient.

If a pivot wheel or pivot pin become loose in the door or fall out, you may need to buy a new bi-fold door. You can try to re-secure the pivot though and save a few dollars. Remove the bi-fold door from its track by grasping the door on each side and lifting it straight up in the track. Slide the bottom of the door out towards your feet as you lift up. Once the door is removed, remove the loose pivot wheel or pivot pin. Cut a piece of wood that will fit snugly down into the hole. Glue the wood down into the hole and cut off any excess flush with the top of the door. After the glue dries for 24-hours, drill out the hole with a bit the exact size of the pivot wheel or pins housing. Re-insert the pivot and replace the door.