11 Ways to Use Exterior Barn Door Hardware
- Outdoor Entryways
- Garages
- Barns
- She Sheds
- Work Sheds
- Window Shutters
- Child’s Playhouse
- Clubhouse
- Greenhouse
- Pool house
- Three-Season Porch
11 Ways to Use Exterior Barn Door Hardware
1. Outdoor Entryways
Exterior barn door hardware can be utilized in any outdoor space. Not only does it look impressive, but because exterior sliding barn door hardware is built to last, you’re sure to impress family and friends with the longevity of your sliding barn door and the hardware you choose.Outdoor entryways are a perfect place to install barn door exterior hardware with your sliding barn door. Since outdoor spaces are exposed to sun, rain, wind, dust, dirt, and weather, using hardware that is treated to withstand the elements is critical. But the durability of your exterior barn door is just one reason to use an exterior sliding barn door hardware kit.
While durability is important, aesthetics are just as important when it comes to your exterior barn door hardware. Sliding barn doors are installed to create an aesthetically pleasing area. While the door itself is a beautiful piece of functional decor, the hardware you choose helps complete the overall look you want.
The right hardware can give your barn door a rustic flair, a shabby chic look, or a modern vibe. No matter what look you want, however, you’ll want the sliding barn door itself and the exterior barn door hardware to work in tandem to achieve it.
2. Garages
While barns remain one of the most popular places to install a sliding door with barn door hardware, garages are gaining the attention of homeowners who want to enjoy the aesthetic and function of a sliding door, as well.A sliding door on the front, side, or back of a garage can instantly provide better access in and out. They also allow for more light and airflow during warm days spent working on pet projects. Garages can often get unbearably hot when they’re shut, and even with one door open, not enough airflow gets in.
Worried about keeping your tools and storage items safe? Not to fear with our barn door hardware kit. If you want locking hardware as part of your kit, we can definitely provide one. Just specify you need one when customizing the look of your barn door hardware!
3. Barns
When we think of sliding barn doors, the first image to pop into our heads, naturally, is a barn. Barns are where sliding barn doors were first used and popularized. These doors provided a wide opening for horses, cattle, animals, and farm implements to be loaded in and out. It’s also the opening where tractors might enter and dump a load of hay or feed. Regular doors simply don’t provide the level of access required by farmers and ranchers.With the right hardware kit, such as a door track and heavy-duty pull handles, your sliding barn door will serve you well for years to come. Depending on your needs, you might consider a single door with a box rail or a bifold door with a door handle on each door so you can open both or only one side, as needed.
When getting ready to order your door hardware kit, be sure to include all necessary pieces, such as locking hardware, barn door handles, the proper track for your type of sliding barn door, a floor guide, and extra nuts and bolts for future use in case you need to make repairs.
4. She Sheds
When it comes to a she shed, you have a lot of options for installing sliding barn doors and choosing the perfect exterior barn door hardware to go along with it.If you want to be able to flood your space with light, even while the door is closed, then a glass door will probably be your barn door of choice. Bifold doors with a barn door latch can provide the ability to create an opening of varying sizes, depending on your needs at any given time, very similar to a bifolding closet door.
Stainless steel track hardware will give an updated and modern feel to your wood door, while flat black hardware will promote a rustic or shabby chic feel. A pocket door works well for small openings, while French doors or a full-size barn door is ideal for larger openings. Finish off the look with a matching barn door handle, and you’ll have a completed she shed that’s the envy of all your friends.
5. Work Sheds
Work sheds might not be the first place you think of installing a sliding barn door, but you’ll be glad you did! Exterior sliding barn doors can provide your work shed with an entire sliding wall that opens to provide extra light for detail work, a breeze on warm days, and ease of access when working on projects that utilize large equipment or slabs of lumber.One of the primary concerns many people have when installing a single door system or double door set up for their work shed is security. Work sheds often contain thousands of dollars worth of tools and machinery that need to be protected from the elements and potential of theft. With exterior barn door hardware for shed spaces, however, you can install a professional door lock and keep your possessions safe and secure.
Single and double door panel shed doors can both have barn door locks installed to keep the contents of the shed securely inside. Then, when you’re hard at work inside, the doors can be fully opened and pushed to the side on their box track to give you an extra-wide opening in the front or back of your work shed.
6. Window Shutters
Window shutters are often ignored as a place to utilize exterior barn door hardware, but this area is prime real estate if you want to improve the curb appeal of your home. Why install stationary false shutters on the sides of your windows when you could install real wood shutters on a flat track that will open or close?Exterior window shutters function just like a bi parting door, and are rated for the exterior of your home. They’re made of wood and, with the right mounting bracket and barn door kit, they’ll open, close, and even lock.
Working shutters can add a curb appeal to your home unlike anything else. Like an exterior door, however, they will be exposed to all the elements that nature throws at them. This is why exterior barn door hardware is important to install, even for smaller scale items like shutters.
7. Child’s Playhouse
A child’s playhouse is the perfect place to add some functional decor, whimsey, and a litle adult flare in the shape of a sliding barn door. What child wouldn’t love a real working sliding barn door, fit to the size of their playhouse, with real exterior barn door hardware, handles, and a latch to provide a sense of secrecy and privacy while inside with their friends?Playhouses create the setting for a child’s imagination to take off, whether play-acting grown-up life or creating and executing a child-size business of their very own. A barn door provides a sense of fun to a play area and lends an air of credibility to a playhouse turned farm produce stand, lemonade stand, or baked goods shop. No matter who comes over to play with your child or purchase some of their goods, everyone is sure to love the look of a sliding barn door on the playhouse.
When your child gets a bit older and wants something more grown-up looking, a sliding barn door with the appropriate exterior barn door hardware can provide the look and feel of a big-kid playhouse or clubhouse. Even teens need a place to get away and escape. Take a child’s playhouse and renovate it. Add a few updates, such as windows, a fresh coat of paint, a loft, and a sliding barn door with exterior barn door hardware, to turn a playhouse into a teen get-away.
8. Clubhouse
Whether you run a public or private clubhouse, it’s likely a place that draws people throughout the week and on the weekends for special activities, kids' games, community gatherings, and events of all kinds. Clubhouses are utilized for nearly any type of activity, from bingo nights to silent auctions and charity fundraisers, movie nights in the summer, and pot luck gatherings in the winter.Most clubhouses contain standard single or double doors, allowing for the entry and exit of families, and a wide variety of decor, supplies, equipment, and food. However, if you want to provide maximum convenience (and even allow the building to reach greater capacity come summertime), a sliding barn door with heavy duty flat track hardware could be just what you’re looking for.
When paired with galvanized steel barn door tracks, rollers, brackets, and locks, you have an exterior door that is fully functional, safe, and provides plenty of security for any items inside. While a standard exterior or interior door could be used, a sliding barn door can provide extra room for large gatherings, open a wall for overflow seating, and facilitate the movement of furniture, decor, party implements, and food for gatherings.
9. Greenhouse
Though smaller greenhouses may not require a sliding barn door, larger setups can greatly benefit from one. A large sliding glass door will provide easier access into and out of the greenhouse, and will facilitate the convenient movement of plants and produce back and forth. As idyllic as it is to carry ripe produce in a handbasket, you’ll sometimes need a wheelbarrow, pull cart, or even a 4x4 with a flatbed to collect all the produce if your greenhouse is large enough. It’s for these settings that an exterior barn door can come in especially handy.As with the other settings in this article, a barn door entryway to a greenhouse is naturally going to be exposed to a continual barrage of sun, wind, rain, and snow. Exterior barn door hardware is built to withstand these elements, and is the hardware kit you should purchase to go with your barn door. While an interior barn door hardware could do the trick for a while, green houses really need the long-lasting durability of exterior barn door hardware.
10. Pool house
A pool house is another outdoor building that can benefit from installing a sliding barn door with exterior barn door hardware. Not only can a sliding barn door provide complete ease of access for kids and adults who want to wander inside to get a cold drink, then quickly get back out for more time in the sun.Are you hosting a party and want to keep the door to your pool house open to promote crowd flow to and from the food and drink table inside? With a sliding barn door, you can open it and utilize the barn door latch to hold it open and keep it in place. Guests won’t have to struggle to open a regular door while holding a plate of food in one hand and a drink cup in the other.
Dripping wet kids can shuffle in and out of the pool house without getting water everywhere, especially when you place a rug that runs the length of the door and in the room. Even if the sliding door is closed, you could slip a thin rug underneath the door so you don’t have to worry about replacing it before the eager and hungry swimmers start swarming.
The uses for a sliding barn door in a pool house are limitless and, as you see, the functionality they provide will make you wonder why you didn’t install one sooner.
11. Three-Season Porch
A three-season porch is enjoyed by many for hosting guests, spending time with family members, or enjoying some quiet time during spring, summer, and fall. Though typically this porch area is closed in with screens or, for some areas, with glass windows and doors.If your three or four-season porch is enclosed with glass, what better way to increase the total appeal of the door than to install a sliding glass door in place of a regular single or double swinging door. Utilizing exterior barn door hardware will keep your sliding single panel or bi fold barn door working all year long, even under rainy or snowy conditions. And, thanks to the durability of the hardware, you’ll never have to wonder if the door will give out or stop working just when you need it most.
Utilize your porch even more during the summer for pool parties, during the winter for cozy gatherings, during fall for apple cider and pie eating with the neighbors, and during the spring for a garden club while providing ease of access in and out of the room to your back or front yard for every guest.
How to Maintain Exterior Barn Door Hardware
When you first install your barn door and the accompanying hardware, the look it adds to your space is second to none. To keep it looking good, however, regular maintenance is a must. This is true for sliding barn doors that are used in the interior of your house, but especially so where your barn doors are exposed to outside elements. A regular cleaning and maintenance schedule for your barn door hardware and the door itself will keep it looking its best year-round. Cleaning and maintenance will also contribute to the door’s longevity.Cleaning and Maintaining Hardware
There are two parts to maintain on your sliding barn door: the hardware and the barn door itself. Let’s talk about the hardware first.For this step, you’ll want to have several clean, soft rags on hand. Never use coarse rags or old ones that have seen better days. Old rags have the potential to scratch the hardware and damage the finish if the rag contains traces of bleach or mineral acid from past projects.
Next, what type of hardware do you have? Stainless steel hardware will require one cleaning method, while flat track hardware will require another.
For cleaning stainless steel hardware, take a soft, clean cloth and any common glass cleaning solution. Put the solution directly on the cloth and wipe down your hardware, one area at a time. If your rag becomes overly dirty, use a new rag to continue the process until all your hardware has been given a thorough cleaning with a glass cleaner.
If you’re cleaning flat track hardware, use a clean, soft cloth moistened with white or apple cider vinegar to clean and polish the hardware. If you don’t have vinegar, an all-purpose cleaner can be used, as well.
Finally, once your stainless steel or flat track hardware is clean and dry, take one more clean cloth and a small amount of olive oil. Apply the oil onto any areas where you notice squeaking and give the metal a streak-free protective barrier.
Cleaning and Maintaining the Barn Door
Keeping your door slab clean is also important to prolong the life of the door. To do this, you’ll want to use a soft, clean cloth to wipe away all dust and dirt from the top of the door frame, in addition to any other areas where you notice buildup. Every few months, as needed, use a soft cloth and oil soap (for wood doors) to wipe down the entire door in the direction of the grain. For glass or stainless steel doors, use a glass cleaner, instead.If your exterior sliding barn door is painted or stained, you may need to repaint or re-stain the door, as needed, depending on its exposure to the elements.
Barn Door Hardware for Outside Spaces
Sliding barn doors can add to the functional decor of any part of your home or outbuilding. From community settings like a clubhouse, to private areas like a pool house, an exterior sliding barn door will expand the uses of building entryways while providing convenience, comfort, and safety.Whether you choose rustic barn door hardware, modern barn door hardware, or something in between, the exterior barn door hardware you install will add to the overall look and feel you want to create. What’s even better is that your exterior hardware will provide you with long-lasting durability for years and years to come.