We recently asked our social media community if they had any questions regarding our luxury horse stalls. We were pleased to receive many questions regarding our horse stalls – particularly our stall doors.
Whether it is an exterior Dutch Door or an interior horse stall door, stall doors are an important part of your barn. The right choice in these doors can improve the day-to-day ease of your barn. We have compiled a list of 4 questions that we received frequently along with our responses.
Question 1 – “I’m building a new barn and am wondering what is the best width and height for my doors. Should the Dutch Doors leading to the Paddocks be the same size as the interior Sliding Stall Doors?”
Our Response: In the vast majority of our barn projects, both Dutch Doors and the horse stall doors are the same width and height. Regardless of your horses’ breed(s), we recommend a minimum door width of 48″. This width is often safe and functional for most breeds. That being said, in an ideal world, we recommend clients to opt with what we consider “standard” which is 52″ wide.
In regards to height, most barns will have horse stall doors and partitions around 7′ tall to 8’6″ tall. We recommend our “standard” height of 8′ tall for both the Dutch Door and interior Sliding Horse Stall Door.
Question 2 – “I live in South Carolina and it gets incredibly hot in the Spring and Summer. I’m considering to add mesh or a grilled bottom to the bottom of our horse stall doors. Is there a better, recommended option between the two?
Our Response: In 2022, a “vented” bottom on horse stall doors is an increasingly popular upgrade. A vented bottom means that the bottom half of the door includes welded steel mesh or welded 1″ round bars. Between the two options, it is truly a personal preference. There is no better option between the two – mesh and grilled bottom. That being said, below are a few things to consider:
- Mesh makes for a more modern and contemporary look. In contrast, grilled bottoms tend to be a bit more traditional and vintage.
- Both options are equally safe. However, they must be manufactured with safety in mind. That means attention to details when it comes to design and materials.
- When using mesh, we recommend to use a heavy-duty gauge that has no more than 2″ of spacing. We also recommend that the horizontal mesh rod is positioned in the exterior of a stall door. This means that the vertical rod is in the stall interior – ensuring no hooves can climb up and get stuck. If you are considering 1″ round bars, we recommend to ensure the bars are a minimum 14-GA and spaced no more than 2.5″ apart (on center). .
Question 3 – “I’ve been in hundreds of barns. One thing that drives me crazy is shavings and bedding coming out of the stall. Is there anything I can do in my stall door design to keep the bedding inside the stall?”
Our Response: This is a common question we get from clients. It is an important point because bedding in the aisle means that bedding is going waste. This inefficiency of bedding leads to higher costs in shavings. This doesn’t factor in the fact that shavings in the aisle is an eyesore. The first thing that we recommend to our clients is to add a shavings guard to their horse stall door. This shavings guard comes in 2 main designs – one that features all steel and the second option is a piece of lumber framed by steel.
This shavings guard is often 4″ to 6″ tall – ensuring that bedding is contained within your horse stall when the door is closed. That solves the bedding issue when the stall door is closed, but what to do when the door is open? This is where we recommend our Bedding Blocker product to clients.
The Bedding Blocker is a shavings guard system that is exclusively designed for both interior and exterior horse stall doors. It is installed at the base of a door opening to keeping the shavings inside your horse stall. Our Bedding Blocker is guaranteed to save you valuable time cleaning and money on wasted shavings.
Do you have any additional questions? Please reach out to our sales and design team at (855) 957-8255 or email us at sales@americanstalls.com. Our team of expert consultants would love to sit down, understand your questions, and provide our 18+ years of experience.
