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Can you make an existing sliding door automatic?
Yes, in most houses. Here's how to tell in two minutes.
Short answer: most aluminium and timber sliding doors can be made automatic by adding a drive unit to the frame. You keep the door. In Melbourne this costs from $1,890 installed. It doesn't work well on doors that stick, panels over about 120 kg, or frames with no room above or beside the moving panel.
The two-minute check
- Slide it with one finger. If you have to lean on it, the rollers are worn or the track is dirty or bent. Fix that first. A motor on a bad track burns out.
- Look at the frame above the moving panel. You need roughly 60 mm of flat surface. Most stackers have it.
- Find the nearest power point. Within about 1.5 m of the top corner is ideal. Otherwise an electrician adds one.
- Guess the weight. A single-glazed 2.1 m panel is around 40–60 kg. A double-glazed 2.4 m panel can be over 100 kg.
Add-on opener or new door?
| Add-on opener | New automatic door | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | from $1,890 | from $4,990 (inside) |
| Time on site | Half a day | One day, after glass is made |
| Keeps your door | Yes | No |
| Best for | Patio, deck and stacker doors that work fine by hand | New openings between rooms |
What about the DIY kits?
There are plug-in kits sold online for a few hundred dollars up to about a thousand. Some are fine on a light, smooth door. The hard parts are fixing the drive square to the frame, setting the belt tension and getting the obstruction sensing right, so it stops when it touches a person. If you're handy and the door is light, try a kit. If someone in the house relies on the door, get it fitted and set up properly.