# Pole barn garage doors > Sectional doors for pole barns, post-frame shops and metal buildings, fitted and tracked for Delaware farm country. Page: https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/pole-barn-garage-doors ## The short version Pole barn garage doors are sectional doors fitted to post-frame and metal buildings, which usually means solid wood or steel jambs and a spring header, track chosen to suit the roof framing, and a wind rating for open, exposed sites. Blue Hen Garage Doors installs doors in pole barns, metal buildings and detached shops across Kent, Sussex and New Castle counties and the Eastern Shore. ## When a pole barn door project needs a pro - A new opening is being framed in a post-frame or metal building - You're swapping a sliding barn door for an overhead door - The building is tall and you want the door to go up, not back - The shop is or will be heated and needs an insulated door - The site is open field with nothing to block the wind - Roof runoff is pouring onto the door and into the building ## Why are pole barns and metal buildings different? Kent and Sussex are farm country: the 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 1,823 farms between the two counties on about 449,000 acres. A post-frame building isn't framed like a house garage, though, and a sectional door has to mount to something solid. DASMA lists the jobs the framing around a garage door has to do: carry the weight of the door, track and springs, resist the torque of the counterbalance, stand up to wind load, and absorb vibration. In a pole barn, that usually means solid vertical jambs at each side of the opening and a header or spring pad above it, tied back to the posts. DASMA's wood jamb guidelines call for structurally sound lumber, recommend at least a 2x6 where a separate jamb or spring pad is installed, and note that large doors may need more than one spring pad. Jambs often have to run above the opening to carry high-lift track and springs, which DASMA calls jamb extensions. In steel-framed metal buildings, Haas track can be continuous reverse-mounted to steel jambs instead of bracket-mounted to wood. ## What track and headroom options work in a tall building? Tall buildings open up track choices a house garage can't use. Standard-lift track needs headroom above the opening and turns the door back under the ceiling. High-lift track runs the door up the wall first, so it rides above equipment and keeps the overhead space clear. Vertical-lift track takes the door straight up the wall with no horizontal track at all, for buildings with plenty of height. Track that follows the roof pitch, which DASMA calls contour track, can tuck the door up under the rafters or trusses. We measure headroom, side room at each jamb, and backroom to the first obstruction, the three clearances DASMA defines for every installation, and look at where trusses, purlins, lights and heaters sit. On big doors, Haas offers 3-inch track as well as 2-inch, plus options like chain hoists for manual operation and high-cycle springs for doors that run all day. ## How big can a pole barn door be? Big. Haas builds some of its commercial steel models up to 38 feet 2 inches wide and 32 feet tall, some ribbed steel models up to 30 feet 2 inches wide and 20 feet tall, and its American Tradition carriage house doors up to 20 feet 2 inches wide and 16 feet tall. Haas notes that weight and application can limit the size on a given job, so the opening and the door get sized together. Style is wide open too. Smooth ribbed steel suits a metal-sided building, and carriage house overlays dress up a barn that faces the road. Blue Hen's own installs include a white pole barn with brown carriage doors, a white board-and-batten barn with black carriage doors, and a gray metal building with two tall black doors. ## How do wind and weather on open land affect the door? Open farmland catches more wind, and the codes account for it. DASMA explains that ASCE 7 exposure categories drive design wind pressure: Exposure B covers built-up and wooded areas, Exposure C covers open terrain with scattered obstructions such as flat open country and grasslands, and the difference in pressure can be 30 percent or more. A shop standing alone in an open field is the kind of site the Exposure C definition describes, though the building official or design professional makes the call. On DASMA's guide for the 2021 IRC, door pressures for a building with a 15-foot mean roof height come out about 1.48 times higher in Exposure C than in Exposure B. Haas's wind-load page lists agricultural and storage buildings in Risk Category I, the low-hazard group, while your building department still sets the final requirement. Either way, DASMA stresses that how the track and jambs attach to the structure is just as critical as the strength of the door itself. Water is the other weather problem. DASMA singles out rural farm and utility buildings with large doors under sloped roofs and no gutters, where roof runoff onto the door causes severe leaks, and recommends overhangs, rain ledges, and a sloped or notched slab at the threshold. With about 45 inches of precipitation a year in Delaware, that's worth solving while the building is still going up. ## Should a pole barn door be insulated? If you heat the shop, yes. An uninsulated steel door is a big cold panel in a heated building. Haas's Insulated Steel 800 Series has a 3-inch polyurethane core with a 0.089 tested U-factor, and its 2000 Series is 2 inches at 0.094. For an unheated equipment barn, a non-insulated door is often enough. Heated buildings bring two side effects worth planning for. DASMA notes that condensation forms when warm, humid air meets a cold door surface, and recommends good ventilation. And big insulated doors bow when one side is much warmer than the other: DASMA says that without reinforcement, the thermal bow on a 20-foot-wide door could exceed several inches, and that darker doors facing the sun bow more. Horizontal struts across the back of the door are the usual cure. ## From the call to a working door 1. Call (302) 735-0046 or email Dalton@bluehengaragedoors.com with the building type, the opening size and how you'll use the door. 2. We look at the posts, header, jambs and clearances, and how exposed the site is to wind. 3. We recommend a Haas door, track type and insulation, and flag any framing the opening needs. 4. We install the door, track and springs once the framing is ready, along with any opener. 5. We balance and test the door, including the opener's safety features if one is installed. ## Questions ### Can you replace a sliding barn door with an overhead door? Usually, but it's a framing job before it's a door job. The opening needs solid jambs, a header or spring pad that can hold the counterbalance torque, and enough headroom for the track you choose. DASMA's framing guidelines recommend at least 2x6 lumber for added jambs and spring pads. We look at the posts, header and clearances first and tell you what the building needs. ### Which track works for a tall pole barn? It depends on what's overhead. If the walls are tall and the space above the opening is clear, high-lift or vertical-lift track keeps the open door up and out of the way of equipment. If trusses or a sloped ceiling are in the way, track that follows the roof pitch can work. Low-headroom hardware covers the tight cases. Haas offers all four, so the measurements decide. ### Will a big shop door leak in a wind-driven rain? Some water is normal; DASMA is clear that sectional doors aren't watertight, especially in wind-driven rain. You can cut it way down. DASMA suggests sections that overlap the jambs by an inch per side where the framing allows, good perimeter seals, an enhanced bottom seal with an aluminum or rubber threshold, and a gutter or overhang so roof runoff doesn't pour onto the door. ### Do farm buildings need wind-rated doors? It depends on the building and where it sits, and your building department decides. Haas's wind-load page lists agricultural and storage buildings in Risk Category I, the low-hazard group, but an open field can push the exposure category up. Ask before you order, because the door's psf rating, the track and the jamb attachment all have to match the requirement. ## Related - [Commercial garage doors](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/commercial-garage-doors) - [New garage door installation](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/garage-door-installation) - [Haas garage doors](https://www.bluehengaragedoors.com/haas-garage-doors) ## Sources - [USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture: Kent County, Delaware profile (PDF)](https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/Delaware/cp10001.pdf) - [USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture: Sussex County, Delaware profile (PDF)](https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/Delaware/cp10005.pdf) - [DASMA Technical Data Sheet 156 (PDF)](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/TDS156.pdf) - [DASMA Technical Data Sheet 160: sectional garage door terminology (PDF)](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/TDS160-Sectional-Garage-Door-Terminology.pdf) - [DASMA Technical Data Sheet 161 (PDF)](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/TDS-161.pdf) - [DASMA TDS-152: garage doors and high wind events](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/TDS152.pdf) - [DASMA TDS-193: wind exposure categories](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/TDS193.pdf) - [DASMA TDS-155aa: garage door wind load guide, 2021 and 2024 IRC](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/TDS-155aa-.pdf) - [DASMA Technical Data Sheet 1503 (PDF)](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/TDS-1503.pdf) - [DASMA Technical Data Sheet 197 (PDF)](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/TDS197.pdf) - [DASMA Technical Data Sheet 195 (PDF)](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/TDS195.pdf) - [DASMA TDS-185: thermal bowing](https://www.dasma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/TDS185.pdf) - [Haas Door: commercial full-line brochure (PDF)](https://connect.haasdoor.com/Portals/0/Literature/HaasDoor%20Commercial%20FullLine.pdf) - [Haas Door: Commercial 800 insulated steel doors](https://www.haasdoor.com/commercial/800/index.html) - [Haas Door: Commercial 2000 insulated steel doors](https://www.haasdoor.com/commercial/2000/index.html) - [Haas Door: commercial ribbed steel doors](https://www.haasdoor.com/commercial/ribbedsteel/index.html) - [Haas Door: American Tradition Series](https://www.haasdoor.com/residential/AmericanTradition/index.html) - [Haas Door: wind load](https://www.haasdoor.com/windload) - [Delaware Climate Office: Delaware's climate](https://climate.udel.edu/delawares-climate/) ## Contact Blue Hen Garage Doors, 110 Lafferty Ln, Suite F, Dover, DE 19901. Phone (302) 735-0046. Email Dalton@bluehengaragedoors.com. Office hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 4:30pm.