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How to Lock a Sliding Barn Door (3 Effective Methods)

How to Lock a Sliding Barn Door (3 Effective Methods)

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You might not really think about it all that often, but the truth is that there are many different kinds of doors that you can install in your house. Of course, there are the traditional interior doors that many, many people have, but there are other options such as half doors, bi-folding doors, and even sliding barn doors.

With as many different doors as there are, it is quite easy to make sure that your home looks as good as possible.

With certain types of special doors, however, there are specific problems that you might run into.

How to Lock a Sliding Barn Door (3 Effective Methods)

For example, if you have a sliding barn door in your home, it might improve the aesthetic appearance of your home’s interior significantly. At the same time, it might be somewhat difficult to get the privacy that you need, considering the fact that sliding barn doors are designed to slide.

With this being said, you might want to think about the idea of locking a sliding barn door.

Because these doors do not come with locks of their own, you are going to need to do some thinking about how you can go about locking your sliding barn door. There are a few different ways that you can go about getting the job done.

Fitting the Lock to the Situation

Modern living room interior with green house plants and a green sliding Barn Door

One thing that a lot of people do not realize is important, is the fact that there are different types of door locks for different situations and placements.

For example, many people want to make sure that a bathroom door can close completely and cannot be opened unless the lock is disengaged. You usually do not need this type of security for other rooms of the house, such as a closet.

Because of all of this, you will want to make sure that you choose a lock that suits the room that the sliding barn door has been fitted to.

Doing so can not only increase the appearance of the home, but it can also add even more functionality to the barn door, turning it into something that is less of a hassle and more of an asset to your home.

Similarly, you are going to want to make sure that you choose a lock that works with your door setup. Double and single sliding barn doors function differently from each other when it comes to making sure that the door remains locked.

Chances are that you are going to have to end up spending more money on a double sliding barn door setup than a single sliding door one.

Likewise, if you want to make sure that things look as aesthetically pleasing as possible, you are also going to need to spend a little bit more money than you otherwise would.

Now that you know a little bit more about choosing a lock for your door, you are going to want to learn a few things about some of the different types of locks that you can choose from.

Some locks can be applied to all sliding barn doors, while others are better-suited to specific rooms. This is something that you will want to keep in mind while you are searching for the perfect lock.

1 – The Teardrop Sliding Door Lock

This specific type of lock, aptly named for its teardrop-shaped design, is usually meant to be used for bedrooms and bathrooms, although it can be used just about anywhere.

Its unique shape and method of locking offer far more security and privacy than most other locks can offer, making them perfect for areas of the house where people tend to value their privacy, such as in the bedroom and the bathroom.

For added versatility, this lock can be installed either on the wall or on the door jamb.

For people who care about the appearance of their room and their sliding barn door, this is incredibly important. After all, you will want to make sure that you can keep your home looking exactly the way you want it, while also being able to keep your privacy.

For just about any room that locks from the inside, typically bathrooms and bedrooms, you can rest assured knowing that a teardrop sliding door lock (like this one on amazon.com) is going to be the most efficient and the most effective way to get the job done.

There are, however, other lock types that you will want to keep in mind while you are searching for the perfect way to secure your sliding barn door.

As for how this lock is generally installed, you will always want to make sure that you refer to any instruction packets that come with the lock. With that being said, you usually just screw all of the parts together, as directed, and then you will want to attach the lock to either the wall or the door jamb, depending on your preferences.

2 – The Latch Lock

One of the simplest solutions to this kind of problem is going to be the latch lock.

The latch lock, as you might be able to imagine, is a very straightforward way of keeping your sliding barn door closed when you do not want anyone to be inside.

The best part about this lock is that it is often inexpensive to purchase and it is always very easy to install.

As the name might suggest, the latch lock is a door lock that keeps the door closed by latching onto a hook.

These latches and hooks can come in many different styles, colors, and materials, giving you some degree of freedom in choosing how your lock is going to look. For people who tend to care about appearances and style, this is an aspect that is quite important.

Take a look at a couple of different types of latch locks here and here.

For the installation of these types of locks, you should follow any guides or instructions that are offered when you purchase the lock. However, because of how easy it is to install, many places do not include detailed instructions, leaving the bulk of the task up to you.

Usually what happens is that you will attach the hook to the sliding door and you will measure out where the hook will go from there.

Depending on your measurements, you may have to adjust things a few times before you get the spacing right. However, once this step is done, you will have a fully functioning latch lock that can keep both double and single sliding barn doors closed when you do not want anyone to come into your room.

3 – The Latch Hardware System

If you want an aesthetically fitting, versatile, and efficient way of locking your sliding barn doors, you will absolutely want to think about purchasing sliding door latch hardware systems like this one.

These systems, while considerably more expensive than the other two options combined, is one of the most secure ways of locking your sliding barn door.

As the name might suggest, this system is a little bit more complex than the other ones.

While there won’t be any drilling into the wall or the door itself, there will be more steps involved in the attachment and installation of the latch hardware system.

This should be something that you are aware of when you are searching for ways that you can make your home as comfortable and as secure as can be.

With one of these locks installed onto your sliding barn doors, you can rest assured knowing that your home will not only be more secure than it was before, but your sliding barn doors will become one of the favorite aspects of the house, as they can add a lot of aesthetic value to any home.

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Tom Brian

Tuesday 7th of September 2021

Drill the required holes and screw the lock's backplate to the door frame. Connect the front plate. Install the rectangular plate and fasten it with screws after that.

Ashley

Thursday 4th of February 2021

This is a fine article, but pics of the locks would have been really helpful.

Lisa

Monday 15th of February 2021

Thanks Ashley! I definitely agree, but I'm having a hard time finding usable pictures of these types of locks. I went back and added some links (in blue) to each type of lock on amazon.com for examples. I hope this helps!