What happens when you’re the person who enjoys having a home with the added dose of privacy, yet at the same time would love to have an open and airy interior too? Count on the help of sliding barn doors, of course!
They aren’t only useful for the outdoors, you know. Thanks to décor trends, like the classic farmhouse which is still very much on trend, doors such as these are very popular, and their popularity only keeps growing with the years passing by.
In addition to being very handy by allowing you to keeping them closed or open, for a private or airy interior as you see fit, they bring about more benefits too. For instance, even if you don’t want to fully adopt the farmhouse rustic charm in your abode, with a door like this, you’re sure to get a focal point unlike any other in whichever room you choose.
Functional and flexible as this design is, it also makes for a great investment because of being very space-savvy , as opposed to other doors, considering it eliminate the need for bulky door swings. Besides being eco-friendly, and adding plenty of interest to any area, sliding doors are great insulators as well, thanks to the incredible wood they’re made of.
The Importance of Sliding Door Hardware
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Now, when deciding to invite the charms of such door in your home, you need to pay more attention when choosing, so instead of only focusing on its style, colour, and material, you ought to be careful with the essential sliding barn door hardware too.
Why is hardware important, you ask? Because without it you wouldn’t be able to install the door properly, let alone use it. In order to purchase something that works for your type of door, you’d have to consider its thickness, weight, width as well as height to guarantee compatibility.
The Types of Sliding Door Hardware
From mounting components, like rollers, hangers, guides, rails, spacers, connectors, and jump blocks, to security and safety elements, such as locks and stops, and decorative pieces in the form of door handles, pulls, and clavos, you’ve got lots to plan and shop for. If you don’t know how to even begin searching for these, or what’s important to know about them, here’s a word or two to help you out.
The Mounting Bits
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As mentioned, before moving on to the aesthetic sliding barn door hardware, you’d have to start with the crucial mounting components to be able to consider the door functional. For instance, to ensure the door runs smoothly when being closed or opened, you’d require handy rollers. At least two of them per door. Now, to be able to add the door to the rollers, you’d need the help of hangers.
The best thing about these two components is they come in a wide range of designs, finishes, and materials, to suit your aesthetic needs. Moving on, to avoid having a door that swings, and risk damaging your walls, you’re going to use the guides. What you need the rails, or so-called tracks for, is to hang and slide the door on them. Also known as standoffs, the spacers, are created for adding much-needed space between the walls and rails, i.e. tracks.
In case you have a more spacious home, or you plan on adding two rails, or more, then you can’t forget to purchase a connector. And lastly, as you might guess, the jump blocks are necessary attachments installed on top of the door to prevent it from jumping off rail.
The Security and Safety Bits
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When installing the door inside, you probably plan on having some privacy with it from time to time, as in the examples of bedroom and bathroom doors, in which case you’d require the use of sliding door hardware like locks.
From pocket door locks, and hook latches, to teardrop locks, you have plenty to shop from. There are ways to lock a sliding door without a lock, but let’s agree they’re elements that come in handy with aesthetics too.
Depending on your door design, as well as the kind of privacy you want, certain of these locks give you the chance to lock them both from the outside and inside, with a specific key, and thumb turn respectively. Some designs of locks, like the cavity, are easy to install, and have red indicators to show when a room is occupied. These double as emergency release mechanisms.
In terms of safety, you have the stops. These are hardware that ensure the door won’t come too far, or off the rails. That’s why they’re called stops. You can add them where you see fit, the rails, or the floor.
The Decorative Bits
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So, we’ve come to the aesthetic part of the sliding barn door hardware. Just because I categorised them here doesn’t mean their functionality role is diminished – on the contrary, besides the functionality, they even add to the beauty of the door.
For utmost practicality, you might want to choose a handle on the outside, and a pocket pull on the inside to easily open and close the door on both sides. Available in classic and modern designs, you’re sure to find something suitable for your taste. And, if you want to further increase the aesthetics, you can add the charms of decorative nails, i.e. clavos, by positioning them in a unique pattern.
