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There is a lot of terminology associated with barn doors, and it can be confusing to understand what every term means. In this article, we will break down the most common terms so you can be better versed on barn door and barn door hardware vocabulary.

 

Anti-Jump discs – A small piece of hard plastic that gets installed onto the top of the barn door to prevent the door from “jumping” off the rail.

 

Bypass – A bypass installation uses two sliding door tracks instead of one. The second door track is cantilevered in front of the first track. The doors roll in front and behind each other.

 

Barnwood Knotty Alder – A distinctive weather worn Knotty Alder texture with enhanced distressed marks for an authentic barn door look. This high-definition texture is showcased with heavily textured knots, occasional holes and distress and machine marks.

 

Birch – A type of wood that is a creamy white sap wood with some golden-brown flame patterns. Birch wood has a warm and pleasing appearance with a uniform texture with closed pores. Birch wood is a strong and stable wood with beautiful grain patterns that highlight any stain color.

 

Cross Rail – Cross Rail Braces and pieces of wood used to make the different Classic Barn Door designs. Door cross rails are constructed from 1" thick x 8" wide or 1" thick x 4" wide.

 

Diagonal Brace – The Diagonal Brace is the diagonal pieces of wood used to make the Z, Double Z Two Panel, Double X, and X Two Panel designs.

 

Door Height – The actual height of the barn door.

 

Door Stoppers - This is the piece of metal that prevents your door from opening too far and damaging the wall.

 

Door Thickness - This is the thickness of your door, and it determines what type of hardware you need to hang it.

 

Door Width – The actual width of the door.

 

Finish - This is a type of paint or stain you have on your barn door.

 

Floor Guide - This is the metal or wood piece that keeps your hardware in one place.

 

Header Board- This is a piece of wood that is best installed for added structural support for your barn door.

 

Handle - This is the hardware that you use to open and close your barn door.

 

MDF – Medium-density fibreboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product made by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibres, often in a defibrator, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming it into panels by applying high temperature and pressure. MDF is generally denser than plywood. This is used to make our MDF door collection

 

Offset - This is the distance that your hardware sticks out from your door.

 

Panel - This is the term used to refer to the piece of wood that has the door cut into it.

 

Paneled Door - This is a type of door that has panels.

 

Rail – This the track that your door moves across to open and close.

 

Rail Connector – a metal piece that seamlessly joins 2 rails together end-to-end.

 

Roller - This is a type of cylinder shaped hardware that you use to attach your door to your track.

 

Rough Opening - The opening in the wall where a door unit is to be installed. Openings are larger than the size of the unit to allow room for insulation and to shim the unit square.

 

Routed hole - This is the hole that your vista handle goes into.

 

Rustic Knotty Alder – A wood that features the natural rustic patterns and textures of Knotty Alder wood. Rustic Knotty Alder has the occasional mill mark and knot hole.

 

Soft Close – This is a piece of hardware that ensures for a quieter and safer operation of your sliding door by automatically slowing the opening of closing action.

 

Standoff Bracket - This is the metal piece that the top rolling system is attached to, and it attaches to your wall. Brackets can be attached to the underside of a lintel or ceiling, or they may be fastened to the side of a lintel or wall. Brackets may be used to hold multiple or single tracks of rail.

 

Tempered Safety glass - Tempered glass is also referred to as “toughened” or “fully tempered” glass. It is heat-treated safety glass with a minimum surface compression of 10,000 psi or a minimum edge compression of 9,700 psi. The surface of tempered glass is approximately four times stronger than the surface of regular annealed (non-safety) glass of the same thickness.When broken, tempered glass shatters into small, relatively harmless pieces. This characteristic “dice” break pattern minimizes the risk of serious injury.

 

Tongue and Groove plank - wooden planking in which adjacent boards are joined by means of interlocking ridges and grooves down their sides.

 

Vinyl Laminate- Vinyl laminate is a thin layer of paper and vinyl that is used on the MDF door collection. Vinyl laminate is very durable and is resistant to scratching and tearing. It is also very easy to clean. Vinyl laminate comes in several varieties, and some types are manufactured to look like wood.

 

White Primer Paint – This is a preparatory coating put on materials before painting. Priming ensures better adhesion of paint to the surface, increases paint durability, and provides additional protection for the material being painted.

 

There are many barn door terms that you may not understand. We hope the definitions in the glossary above help. You may also want to read our Frequently Asked Questions.

 

Also, be sure to check out the many different types of barn doors and barn door hardware available for purchase on bardoorz.com.