What if you just put on some nice hinges so you have the appearance, and instead of screws, bolt them on with stove bolts and and lock nuts. Noone can get that loose from outside. If someone is dishonest enough to break in to your building, it won't matter if they see the hinges or not.

Just a thought.

Dave

You might try a Tractor Supply Store. They carry a lot of hardware for barn doors and such. Good luck.

Google barn door hinges & take a look at some of the heavy duty hinges availabele. You might also consider a continuous hinge on each door.

Here is a link that might be useful: hinges

Dave,

Thanks for the idea of using stove bolts and lock nuts. I got similar idea from co-worker as well and that is probably what I am going to do.

Thanks again!

Personally, I'd mount the hinges on the exterior with long screws. Just make sure the hinge pins aren't removable.

Hidden hinges won't stop a thief. A cordless recip saw would go through your wood wall or door much faster than removing hinge screws. A quick whack with a hammer to your lock mechanism would probably be fastest though.

I opted for 1 barn door on an overhead roller track rather than 2 swing doors.

machiem,

Your idea of a roller track door is a good one. I would need 2 of them as the width of my opening is about 5 feet and I don't have 5 feet of wall space available on the left or right to side of my opening slide the door to. How are these roller track doors assembled and installed? Anything I go with has to be custom built.

Thanks for the idea!

You attach the roller track to the outside wall above the doorway with track brackets. Then you attach roller trolleys to the doors. You slide the trolleys (attached to the doors) into the ends of the track and then put on an end cap so it doesn't fall out when you open the door too much.

Install some keeper rollers and a handle and you're done.

I've linked a website to a hardware store that shows the parts. I found mine at the local hardware store.

I like it because the door can't swing closed in the wind. It doesn't fit as tight as other doors, so if you want to keep out mice, bugs, etc. and keep heat in then this isn't the door for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: barn door hardware