Choosing The Right Door For Your New Pole Barn

If you are considering building a new pole barn on your property, it’s important to install the right door. Since pole buildings serve many different purposes, such as machine storage, livestock housing, cold storage, etc., the type of door you choose could render your pole building useless or increase your energy costs exponentially.

You can choose from various doors for your new pole building; sliding, overhead, rolling, and hydraulic as the most common. Each door serves a different purpose and supports different building uses. When choosing a door for your new pole barn, consider the following:

• What is the purpose of the new pole building?
• Will you need access to the building frequently?
• Does the weather in your area get very hot, cold, or windy?

Sliding Doors 

Traditional sliding doors are perfect for cold storage and are big enough to accommodate large machinery. They’re also cost effective, so if you need to stay within a certain price point, sliding doors could be the right choice for you.

On the other hand, sliding doors have a few downsides. First, while the doors can be insulated, they are difficult to seal and weather strip. This makes temperature control difficult. If you live in a place with very cold winters or sweltering summers, or you’re using the pole barn to house livestock, sliding doors are not the right choice. Also keep in mind that these doors need to be opened and closed manually. If temperature control isn’t essential and your pole barn won’t be seeing a lot of traffic (or you don’t mind physically opening and closing the doors each time you need to enter the building), however, these could be the right choice for you.

Overhead Doors 

Unlike sliding doors, overhead doors are perfect for those who need to access their new pole barn frequently because they can be operated remotely. Similar to typical residential garage doors, pole barn overhead doors can be used for a variety of purposes. With an overhead door, you have the option to add windows or upgrade hardware to match your house as well as add insulation and weather stripping for climate control. An overhead door also opens up completely out of your way, which gives you plenty of space to work or play.

An overhead door for your pole barn can cost considerably more than a sliding door, so it may not be the best choice if you’re on a tight budget. Also, it requires at least a two-foot clearance when storing large machinery. However, if you see yourself utilizing the building each day, the functionality of an overhead door could make it worth the extra expense.

Roll-Up Doors 

Rolling doors are a cost-effective and practical option. They are easy to use, low maintenance, very durable, and appropriate for frequent use. You can insulate roll-up doors to protect the interior of your building and its contents all year round. Roll-up doors are not customizable, however, so you can’t add windows or upgrade hardware like with sliding or overhead options. They can also become noisy after a lot of use.

Hydraulic Doors 

If you are looking for really big, heavy-duty doors, this type of door is your best bet. Hydraulic doors have hinges at the top and use hydraulic rams to open. Originally used in airplane hangars, these doors are a popular choice for extremely large equipment like farm vehicles, RVs, or campers. They are designed to open outward to provide even more storage space inside, and they are easy to insulate.

Due to the nature and the size of hydraulic doors, they can get pretty expensive. And, since they often replace an end wall in your pole barn, there may be additional wind or snow loads to consider.

Choosing an appropriate door for your pole barn can be difficult but not impossible, especially when you have the right construction partner supporting you! For more information on the best door for your pole barn, subscribe to the Pro-Line Building blog.