garage doors instead of sliding barn doors?

[CatOnLap]

True, tracks need to be kept clean and lubricated- on both types of doors. Sliding, overhead hung doors that have the tracks cleaned and lubricated annually are no more difficult to open now than they were when we installed them 15 years ago. And they are heavy, solid wood doors- we hung them with the help of the tractor bucket.

however, the new tall RV doors with windows are bright and cheery, open by remote control, and if I were building again I would put them in. My barn does have very tall ceilings, so, the tracks that come inside the building would not be a head room issue except if a horse really reared up- the tracks hang about 6 inches down from the ceiling. In our old car garage this was a problem, since the tracks were at 6 1/2 feet in a 7 foot garage and our taller friends were forever walking into them, so we got rid of them and put in swinging doors instead.

[ReSomething]

Gee, there’s Pros and Cons to both is the thing. My old lesson barn had four overhead doors, easily 15’ tall and maybe 10 or 12 wide - they were great but . . . They’d gotten clocked a bunch of times and were a little hard to open, and the temptation was way too strong to just lead the horses through the man door rather than spend the time rolling the doors up when they were shut in the winter. In the summer they were open all the time. Also if you opened them for a little breeze it was a floor level breeze.
The arena we show at most has huge sliders, and God only knows how little kids can open the things because I barely can. Sliders also take up wall space, we have them on our shop and there has to be enough building for the slider to slide over, if you know what I mean, plus if the track gets snow or the grade is disturbed (for some reason our rocks always migrate under it and make horrible noises) it ain’t opening.

But at work we use powered overheads and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

[SimpleSimon]

We went with overhead doors in my barn and have never regretted it. Our doors are 12’x12’.

We requested the tracks that go up higher than the door before rounding the corner and running parallel to the floor. Sorry - I can’t remember what that was called. You can sort of see the tracks in this picture: http://gregh.smugmug.com/Animals/the-Barn/5029490_T7yDt#387479207_4kL3E-A-LB
And again in this one: http://gregh.smugmug.com/Animals/the-Barn/5029490_T7yDt#418575128_maFMF-A-LB

The doors are insulated and are quiet in the wind - and we are in a windy area. For us, one of the huge advantages is not having to dig the doors out to be able to open them when we get snow - as in this picture: http://gregh.smugmug.com/Animals/the-Barn/5029490_T7yDt#449771843_UouNS-A-LB

We also went with automatic openers and these openers have been great for us: http://gregh.smugmug.com/Animals/the-Barn/5029490_T7yDt#430351365_HDjmb-A-LB They are quiet and take up very little space.

As you can see our barn is quite tall and there is no issue with headroom.

If I were building my barn again the overhead doors do make the list of things I’d do again.

[ReSomething]

http://www.overheaddoor.com/ProductCommercial.aspx?pid=1194

When I say Overhead door, I mean the kind that rolls up into a case, no tracks at all, like these. And no they are not cheap.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=ReSomething;5003637]
http://www.overheaddoor.com/ProductCommercial.aspx?pid=1194

When I say Overhead door, I mean the kind that rolls up into a case, no tracks at all, like these. And no they are not cheap.[/QUOTE]

That model I have not seen used in horse barns, just in smaller doors that need extra security, like store fronts.

To keep them at any one height, we wrap the chain on a chain holder, a little piece of metal bolted to the side with a slat to keep the chain there, not let it slide.

Here is our current horse barn, the overhead doors on both ends are 12’ high, 14’ wide, you can see the other side not quite all the way up, to keep the afternoon sun out:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a298/Robintoo/Horses2-20-071303.jpg?t=1280341170

[kaluha2]

Wasn’t it Blue Ribbon Complex in Illinois that had the overhead garage doors for their barns and in the entrance to the show facility. That was many moons ago so my memory could be failing. Nobody complained about them except being locked out in the freezing cold was a beeotch.

[MunchkinsMom]

@ReSomething;5003637

http://www.overheaddoor.com/ProductCommercial.aspx?pid=1194

When I say Overhead door, I mean the kind that rolls up into a case, no tracks at all, like these. And no they are not cheap.

My neighbor had doors like that put on her barn (or something similar, the doors roll up into a “case” that is inside, not outside). They are easy to open, and seem to hold up well.

[lorilu]

The barn where I board has the roll up type of overhead door. It does not have a case, but does have tracks on the side. I understand it was not cheap.
The barn at my parents’ house has a garage door and a human entry door beside it. It never caused any trouble, and is still in use today, more than 40 years after it was built. A tractor, and the occasional car, goes into the aisle regularly. If the aisle is wide enough, it think most drivers could avoid it. Here in FL we can use “hurricane rated” doors; perhaps they are more sturdy than others?

L

[Nipntuck]

I’m a bit late to the show here, but I have roll up garage doors on both ends of the barn. Love them, very easy to use, and no problems. They stay up during the summer and go down at night in cold weather. They have tracks and no case, but roll up at the top. We’ve had them on the barn since it was built 21 years ago. The opening is 12’ and the height is also 12’, I think. No maintenance, but no abuse either.

[clanter]

@jawa

I am currently building my barn. We put in roll up doors instead of sliding doors. The roll up doors are really easy to open and close and the chain has a cleat you can hook it in to keep the doors at any degree of open or closed. You can get the roll up doors insulated as well, if that is what your area needs. They also have a wide range of colors to choose from to match the exterior of your barn.

check to make sure the door has storm clips in the guides… if not do not open one end of the barn leaving the other end closed as the wind will blow the door out of the guides if the door does not have the storm clips… there should be a manufacturer’s ID plate usually on the lower right-side inside looking out… it should have the door model number, just run that number at the manufacturers web site to see how it built … or the info maybe written on the end of drum again normally on the right-side inside looking out