Barn door

[stumpfield]

I finally got the foundation done for a 36' x 48' western style barn. I hired a GC to finish the rest keeping the barn door to myself as a project. I'm looking for sugguestions and comments on how to build the best operating barn door. I got a 10' opening on the plan. My initial thought is a sliding door. Any sugguestions? Here's a picture of the foundation pour in progress....

 

[socallly]

That's a very nice barn and great progress .

 

[CharlieTR]

That's going to be one nice looking barn!

On mine I went with swing open doors.
They are OK, 11x11 so each is 5.5' wide. I wish I made them out of steel rather than wood covered with steel siding, but no sagging so far. I think the best are roll up doors.
They do not look as good as the picture you posted but they are strongest and most functional. Sliding doors catch the wind real good, so you really need guides on bottom set in concrete.

 

[weedsportpete]

There has been a lot of discussion on barn / pole barn doors and if you don't count looks, then rollup doors seem to be the favorite type of door, for ease of use and small footprint (although it helps to have a powered lift of some type to mount it).

When looks count, and for the kind of barn in your picture (I'd call it 'traditional'), I'd strongly agree that sliding doors are a good fit. I've also seen (in the forums) large swing-out doors, but just my opinion that sliding doors look better.

Sliding door hardware is not too expensive...and not too hard to install (unless like me you have 13 foot tall by 8 foot wide doors two each - took three people and a tractor). Unless they might be blown around violently by the wind you might want to keep the weight down. I used galvanized metal siding on top of a 2 x 4 frame.. turned out to be very heavy they way I over-built it (too much 2 x 4).

Sliding doors have downsides, like being heavy and hard to seal out varmints.

 

[3RRL]

That's a great looking barn Tom,
I see you've started already. I haven't decided what doors would be best, so this thread will be of particular interest to me.
Please post more pictures as the construction continues.
How did your road hold up with all the rain you've had?

 

[Doc_Bob]

I have a friend here in WI who is building one that looks identical to yours. His is purchased plans for his. His name is Tom!
Bob

 

[3RRL]

I have a friend here in WI who is building one that looks identical to yours. His is purchased plans for his. His name is Tom!
Bob

You liar Bob ..... you don't have any friends!

 

[stumpfield]

That's a great looking barn Tom,
I see you've started already. I haven't decided what doors would be best, so this thread will be of particular interest to me.
Please post more pictures as the construction continues.
How did your road hold up with all the rain you've had?

My road is holding up very well. It survived last year's 70+" rainfall. Just the road getting to my property was not. Need 4WD during this time of the year.
We do get very strong wind at my building site since I'm building on top of a hill with no natural wind protection. I need an extra strong barn door! No fun if I just buy a rollup metal door. I'm looking for a design I can build.

 

[dtd24]

I would go with sliding doors myself, then they are never in the way. I have done them in the past with MDO plywood (exterior grade plywwod), and attach Trex decking to create the "X" look. Get good door hardware, not a spot to cheap out. Try searching the internet for outwater plastics, I used to buy alot from them.

 

[EddieWalker]

I might be in the minority here, but I think roll-up-doors are very attractive and in my opinion, but nicer looking than sliding doors.

The problem I have with sliding doors is making them weather proof. Due to there design and mounting methods, they tend to let allot of wind and rain through them.

Here's a picture of my rollup door. I have allot more if you're interested. Steph and I put in one afternoon. Not hard to do, but it does take more than one person.

Eddie

 

[BTDT]

What about doors that swing open from a pivot in the middle of the door? Then with 6' doors, you have 6' opening in the middle, but you don't have to worry about tracks, doors swinging from just edge of door, sagging, etc. You would have to adjust accordingly to fit your tractor width, but might be something you could use.

 

[1948berg]

I just resently bought folding doors, very satisfied with them. Insulated and air tight. As I wrote some time ago in this forum there is a "patent" that lifts the doors slightly when you open them, making it very easy to open them.
The doors open inwards, protected against wind and rain.

 

[dillo99]

I personally like the look of sliders - I have three on my barn. They definitely are not weather tight though.

I used to have a large swing out door but one problem here in the North is the snow. It can be a real pain to have to shovel in front of the door just to get it open. It was fine in light snow, but heavy stuff was usually a problem.

 

[ToddW]

I just resently bought folding doors, very satisfied with them. Insulated and air tight. As I wrote some time ago in this forum there is a "patent" that lifts the doors slightly when you open them, making it very easy to open them.
The doors open inwards, protected against wind and rain.

Those are nice doors Gunnar, can you tell me where you purchased them?

/Todd

 

[300UGUY]

I think the sliding doors would look the best on your barn, which I have heard called a "monitor style" around here. I would make the doors as tall as possible for convience. You need to have the doors come flush to the barn surface to seal them up. Nice looking barn too!

 

[Farwell]

A friend of mine has a slider on his pole barn, it is a 10x12. He has installed eye bolts on the door and eye hooks on the door frame on each side. The eye hooks have turn buckles on them so after he closes the slider he hooks in to the eye bolt on the door and tightens the turn buckle. The door is not completely air tight but it is much better than not having them. It also provides a bit more security.
This is for 3RRL, I have a few friends since I tied a pork chop around my neck. All the dogs in the neighborhood love me. Tee Hee
David B

 

[1948berg]

Those are nice doors Gunnar, can you tell me where you purchased them?

/Todd

I dont know if they are sold in US. They are made in Sweeden
RECO PORT AB

 

[kubotabilly]

Try Wayne Dalton wooden doors. They may be alittle pricey, but what's alittle more money on a great looking barn like that. Here's a link to their wooden doors, Welcome To Wayne-Dalton - 7400 DelMar. They have alot of different wooden styles to choose from.

Bill

 

[kubotabilly]

Here's another link for great looking doors, Clopay Garage Doors
I myself prefer the clopay doors.

Bill

 

[TwinWillows]

Our barn is very similar to yours except that it is 40x48 and 12ft to the low eaves. See our posts under WKY Horse Barn. I put double rolling doors on each end of the main hallway - 4 panels @ 8x12. They are built in place (hanging) and used extruded aluminum door stock for the sides & bottoms. They work nice. They do let some breeze over the top but it's a horse barn so the ventilation is not an issue. For a shop I'd do like Eddie & go with a roll down door. I used a round door track which most prefer over the square as it does not torque out of shape with use. Also, we needed a good center stop - my metal dealer had a nice one that I mounted to a concrete block set flush w/the gravel floor. That keeps the middle of the doors from bowing in under wind pressure (which gets pretty hign on 2 - 8x12 door panels).

PM me if you have any questions on building doors & I'll try & hlep.