Barn doors, generally made of wood, are another type of sliding door, but these slide alongside the wall rather than into it. These doors remain visible but still save a substantial amount of space compared to a standard hinged door. Barn doors have a rustic appearance and are fitted with traditional barn door hardware.
Like pocket doors, barn doors only have an upper track and they don’t control sound well. Barn doors are heavy and, if the track isn’t installed properly, they can come off the track easily and be challenging to get back in place.
Pocket doors save space because they slide into the wall rather than swing into a room. They’re unique because they fit inside the wall cavity when open and therefore can’t be seen. There’s no visible hardware, either, with no hinges or doorknobs. Instead, there’s usually a sunken slider grip with which you can move the door back and forth.
Pocket doors are generally hung with an upper track only, so there’s no standard visible threshold and no bottom track to trip over, improving safety. This lack of a bottom track, however, does negatively impact the sound-blocking properties of the door because there’s a tiny gap beneath that sound can travel through.
