Do I need a permit in Jacksonville for this?

In Florida, like-for-like repairs such as weatherstrip, roller, track, handle or lock replacement normally require no permit. Replacing the whole sliding door unit or altering the opening typically does require one, plus a product with current Florida Product Approval. Your local city or county building department can confirm what applies at your address.

Why does water come over the track only in heavy rain?

Light rain drains out of the weep holes without trouble. In a Jacksonville thunderstorm, wind-driven rain pushes far more water into the sill than blocked weep holes can release, so it pools and spills over the inside edge. Clearing the drainage and resealing the panel is what stops it.

My door is impact-rated. Can it still be serviced?

Much of coastal Florida is in a wind-borne debris region where exterior openings must be impact-rated or protected, so an impact door is not something to take apart yourself. Tell the scheduler it is impact-rated when you call so the technician knows before arriving, and check any replacement requirements with your building department.

Can I just run a bead of caulk around the frame myself?

Caulk at the frame perimeter is part of the job, but it will not fix a flattened interlock seal or a sill that cannot drain. Sealing the wrong spot, especially the weep holes, usually pushes water further into the floor and framing.

Do you do the work yourselves, and what does it cost?

One Call Sliding Door Repair is a referral and scheduling service that arranges sliding door service with independent local technicians across all fifty states; we are not the contractor and we do not perform the work. We publish no prices. The estimate is free, and the technician looks at the door and gives you the price before anything starts.

Drafts and leaks in Jacksonville, FL

You feel air along the edge of the panel, and when a hard rain comes in sideways, water shows up on the floor inside the track. In most cases the fuzzy pile weatherstrip on the stiles and at the interlock has flattened, shrunk or fallen out, so the panel no longer touches anything when it closes. Add a sill whose weep holes are packed with grit, and the water that gets into the track has nowhere to drain, so it backs up and comes over the edge into the room.

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Hands pressing new pile weatherstrip into the interlock groove of a sliding door that is open a few inches, the sill clean and dry.

Jacksonville is hard on these seals. The climate here is humid subtropical with long hot summers and near-daily afternoon thunderstorms, so wind-driven rain hits the sill again and again and finds every gap. Sun and heat degrade weatherstripping and vinyl parts and can bow or distort frames. Salt air off the Atlantic and the tidal St. Johns River pits aluminum tracks and sills well inland, and blown sand and heavy spring pollen pack the track where the water is supposed to drain out.

While you wait — please don't

Do not lift the panel out to inspect the seal. A sliding glass panel weighs about as much as a person and shatters into the room if it slips, so leave it in the frame for the technician.
Do not caulk the weep holes shut. Those small slots in the sill are the drain path, and sealing them traps water inside the frame where it soaks into the floor and framing.
Stop using the door if the glass is cracked or chipped. A damaged pane in a door that is being flexed and wetted can let go without warning, and that is not a repair to attempt yourself.
Do not leave towels packed in the track as the fix. They hold water against the sill and hide the leak, and water under a sill rots the subfloor and the framing where you cannot see it.

What the technician does

Finding where the water actually gets inThe technician looks at the sill, the stiles, the interlock where the two panels meet and the frame perimeter to see which gap is leaking. A draft and a leak often come from two different places.
Pile weatherstrip replacedWorn pile is replaced on the stiles and at the interlock so the panel has something to seal against along its whole height.
Interlock checked for alignmentThe interlock between the panels is checked so the two halves meet squarely. If they are out of line, new weatherstrip alone will not close the gap.
Sill and weep holes clearedThe sill is cleaned out and the weep holes are opened and checked so water that enters the track drains back outside instead of pooling and coming over the edge.
Panel adjusted to seal evenlyThe panel is adjusted so it sits plumb and presses evenly against the jamb and the interlock, top to bottom.
Caulk, flashing and a wet testCaulking and flashing at the frame are inspected, then the seal is tested with water and wind pressure. Ask the technician to show you the old weatherstrip and the blocked weep holes, and to put the reasoning for any further work in writing.

Why this happens in Jacksonville, FL

Jacksonville housing runs from early-1900s wood-frame and brick homes in Riverside, Avondale, Ortega and Springfield to mid-century concrete-block ranches and a large share of 1990s-and-newer stucco and block subdivisions in Mandarin, Baymeadows, Southside and Bartram Park. Florida homes often have two or more sliding doors onto patios, screened lanais and pool decks, and condos at the beaches and along the river add balcony sliders. Aluminum-framed units are very common in older and coastal construction, and that is the frame that pits and chalks fastest in salt air, which is why the sill and weep holes are the first thing to look at here.

Timing matters too. Leak complaints in Florida peak in the summer rainy season and through Atlantic hurricane season from June to November, with another round in spring when blown sand and pollen fill the tracks. A door that drips in an ordinary Jacksonville afternoon storm will leak badly in a tropical storm, so it is worth sorting out before the season. Northeast Florida also sees several freezes a year, and cold snaps are hard on lubricant-starved door hardware and brittle old weatherstrip.

Questions people ask

Do I need a permit in Jacksonville for this?: In Florida, like-for-like repairs such as weatherstrip, roller, track, handle or lock replacement normally require no permit. Replacing the whole sliding door unit or altering the opening typically does require one, plus a product with current Florida Product Approval. Your local city or county building department can confirm what applies at your address.
Why does water come over the track only in heavy rain?: Light rain drains out of the weep holes without trouble. In a Jacksonville thunderstorm, wind-driven rain pushes far more water into the sill than blocked weep holes can release, so it pools and spills over the inside edge. Clearing the drainage and resealing the panel is what stops it.
My door is impact-rated. Can it still be serviced?: Much of coastal Florida is in a wind-borne debris region where exterior openings must be impact-rated or protected, so an impact door is not something to take apart yourself. Tell the scheduler it is impact-rated when you call so the technician knows before arriving, and check any replacement requirements with your building department.
Can I just run a bead of caulk around the frame myself?: Caulk at the frame perimeter is part of the job, but it will not fix a flattened interlock seal or a sill that cannot drain. Sealing the wrong spot, especially the weep holes, usually pushes water further into the floor and framing.
Do you do the work yourselves, and what does it cost?: One Call Sliding Door Repair is a referral and scheduling service that arranges sliding door service with independent local technicians across all fifty states; we are not the contractor and we do not perform the work. We publish no prices. The estimate is free, and the technician looks at the door and gives you the price before anything starts.

One call

One call to (888) 851-3682, or a request through the form on this site, gets your Jacksonville sliding door put on a technician's schedule. The estimate is free, the price comes before the work, and nothing begins until you approve it.

Call now · (888) 851-3682

Something else in this area

One Call Sliding Door Repair arranges the visit; the technician does the work and gives you the price.