Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Make Your Own Sliding Barn Door - For Cheap!

If you're on Pinterest as much as I am, then you know sliding barn doors are, like, design crack right now. They seem to work with just about every style, from ultra modern to shabby chic to vintage industrial, and they SLIDE OPEN. C'mon. That's just awesome.

So naturally, I wanted a barn door for our laundry room makeover, if only because I can't find anywhere else in the house to fit one. John and I looked for sliding barn door hardware online, and the cheapest price we could find was about four hundred dollars - and that's just for the hardware!

You guys already know what happened next: John thoughtfully examined the hardware and announced, "I can TOTALLY make that."

And so he did:


The total cost for this door - wood and hardware combined - was less than $100. LESS THAN $100, YOU GUYS.

Here's the breakdown:

Wood - $40
Wheels - $30
Metal rails & tubing - $25

If you already have the door, then that's only $55 for the hardware - $55 versus $400. It doesn't require nearly as many power tools as you might think, either: just a strong drill and an angle grinder with a steel cutting disk to cut the metal rails. (If you're making the door, you'll also need a circular saw - or a hand saw and a whole bunch of patience. :D)

So...you ready for this?! Then let's get to it.

There are several ways to make a simple plank door. We used exterior tongue-and-groove board normally used for house siding:

 (The opposite side is a classic bead board.)

Stick the boards together with plenty of wood glue, and then secure them with ratcheting straps for a tight fit while the glue dries. The three skinny boards you see on top there aren't attached; they're just there to act as a brace for the straps and to make sure the door doesn't bend:
 
Lock those straps down tight!

Once the glue has dried the next day, attach cross-boards to the door, if you like. (You don't have to, but they do add extra support & visual interest.) Here I've also distressed my door by banging it up with a hammer and screw:


Now stain or paint the door to your preference:

I stained mine to match the cabinet doors we just made.

Now, on to the hardware!

You'll need two 2.5 inch pulleys that look like this:

Lowe's and Home Depot didn't have them, but John finally tracked some down at Ace Hardware.  (I also found some here on Amazon for about $13 each.) The only part of the pulley you need is the center wheel, though, so pull the center pin and pop that out:


Now take a bar of 1.5 inch solid steel (available at any hardware store), and stick one end of it in a table vise:


Bend it down as you see John doing here. (This really doesn't require a lot of strength; the leverage of the bar does all the work for you.) The hook you've just made is what's going to hold your wheel.

You need to clean up the hook shape, though, so next remove it from the vise and bang the bend flat with a hammer:

You want to get a nice, sharp bend, so go ahead and hammer the point all the way down if you have to.

Odds are you'll have to flatten it a bit too far, so now pry the hook back up a bit:


...and then slip the pulley casing in to get the distance right:

Go ahead and hammer on the steel with the casing inside; you won't be needing the case for anything, so it doesn't matter if it gets banged up.

Now test the fit with your wheel; it should fit perfectly, with just the right amount of wiggle room on either side of the wheel:

 John is holding the wheel in place with his thumb; it should *not* be a tight fit.

That's one bracket done! Now cut your bar to whatever length your door requires:

 Spaaaarky.

And repeat the whole process for bracket number two.  (You can see here that John bent both hooks on either side of the bar and then just cut it in half.) You may also want to grind down your cut edges, in case they're too sharp.

When you have both brackets ready, it's time to attach the wheels. Drill a hole straight through each hook, piercing both layers of steel:

Your wheel will be supported by a pin placed through these holes. The original pulley pin will probably be just a hair too short, so you may need to get a slightly longer bolt with a nut to hold it in place.

Also drill holes lower down on your bar where you want the screws to go - the ones that will attach the bracket to your door.

Right. If you plan to paint your hardware, now's the time to do it!

We used a flat black metal primer. (I plan to age it with a little sanding later.)

Attach your bar brackets to your door. I didn't grab a photo before we hung the door, but here's a close-up of the hardware:


Now all that's left is the rolly bar!

This bar is the same 1.5 inch solid steel as the door brackets, so just cut it to the length you'll need for over your doorway, and then drill holes spaced roughly 2 feet apart down the length of it. Make sure you drill these holes in the lower third of your bar, not directly in the middle.

Now my lovely hand model will demonstrate how this bar will attach to your wall:


Ok, so here you've got a honkin' (technical term) concrete anchor in John's right hand. That goes in the wall. That long screw sticking out goes in the anchor. Between the steel bar and the anchor is a half-inch steel tube, cut to about two inches in length. The tube acts as your spacer - very important. Each of the holes you drilled in your bar will have this same set up.

When it's installed, your bar should look something like this:

Note again that the bolts are located on the lower third of the bar, not the middle. This is important because you want your door's wheels to be able to roll over the bolts without hitting them.

Ok, so get this: YOU'RE DONE! All you have to do is lift your door into place on the track, and get to sliding!

WHEEEE!!


I can't even tell you how much cleaner-looking this is, guys, so I'll just show you:


That's all the stuff it's covering up: pretty much our entire pantry. The door does overlap the edge by about four inches when it's open (the wall wasn't quite big enough for it to slide back further), but that's not an issue for us. Finally - no more clutter, and no more dusty cereal boxes!

Oh, nearly forgot: you'll also want to install some kind of a door stop, so your door doesn't go banging into the corner wall or flying off the track. Our stop is a simple L bracket padded with black rubber on the lower part of the wall by those two pipes. You can also install a stop on the rolly bar itself, though. Totally up to you.

I've outlined the basics here, but if you want a much more detailed barn door tutorial (complete with diagrams and precise measurements), head over to this post by Jill of Baby Rabies. There may be some slight differences, but overall it's the same techniques we used. (And I found it - where else? - on Pinterest. Ha!)

Well, hope you guys liked seeing the next stage of our laundry room makeover! We're still not done, of course; next I'll show you our plumber's pipe shelving and the super fun and steampunky way we've devised to hide our water heater. That bit's not quite finished yet, though, so believe me when I say I'm probably WAY more excited to see this than you guys are. ;)


*****

Come see ALL of my craft projects on one page, right here!

139 comments:

  1. Simply GORGEOUS! I am completely and totally jealous of this door, and the first thing I did was make a mental picture of my house to see if I could fit this in anywhere. Sadly, it seems I will have to go barn door-less for now

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  2. Wow, this looks so fantastic! It is beautiful! I have wanted one of these in my laundry room for ages.

    For those of us without a handy guy (sob), there is a cheaper alternative to the majority of wall-mounted door hardware. It is not pretty out of the box, but with a little iron-look spray paint, you can make it look pretty good. It is rated for much lighter doors than the majority of barn hardware, so I'm guessing that's part of the cost savings. Who needs a 400lb door in their laundry room, though?

    http://www.jhusa.net/2610F.aspx

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    1. Thanks for this link! We don't have a John at our house, but we can assemble a kit! Need a double door to close my living room off from the rest of my house, but the room opens into the front hall, so no space for regular swing doors.

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    2. Thank you both for this excellent tutorial. Here's what I'm planning... I too want a "barn door" effect on my laundry door. Unfortunately my door space isn't that big.. I have a stackable w/d at my beach house. I want to use a vintage victorian screen door as the cover. I work better w/photos when getting the hubby to see what I want....thanks to you I have it. Thank you so much!!!

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  3. I love this so much! Thank you...I really want to put a sliding door in the apartment I'm creating in a loft, but didn't think it would fit in my budget. Totally will, now! I'm going for more of an industrial vibe so will hopefully be able to attach scrap metal (cut from old car doors??) to plywood vs using nice wood. *happy dance*

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  4. The tutorial is awesome! I would so love to have a barn door somewhere in my house. Not sure where I would put it though. :/

    And... completely random... but I have that Cake or Death shirt too! Cake or Death? I'll take cake! (As long as the cake isn't a lie!)

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  5. I have loved being able to watch you redo your laundry room. you two are awesome. I wish I had half the talent you did. Thanks for the great ideas.

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  6. Great Job Jen & John! It looks fabulous! I am making pipe shelving in my house right now too, can't wait to see your tutorial on it. Thanks for sharing, I am always glad to see what you have been up to.

    Jen, just remember that cooking is just DIY with food. You can do it! Be-friend your body and make it tasty, good stuff. (I try to treat my body like it was one of my good friends, really is a great piece of advice.) It really is fun and food that turns out wonky is just another adventure. Good luck!

    Hugs,
    ~yet another Jenn
    (although in Forest Grove)

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  7. Finally an affordable tutorial for the barn door that we can do. LOVE IT!!! We are definitely using this for our bedroom.

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  8. You and John are nifty.

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  9. John is my hero! A Handy Hero! Love that door, I cannot wait to see the whole room.

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  10. Do you need to worry about the door falling off the rail? Or the bottom half swinging away from the wall? I've had terrible luck with pocket doors, and this seems like the same pitfalls could occur.

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    1. The wheels on the door are riding inside the groove between the wall-mounted iron bar and the wall, so there's really no way *that's* jumping out. (You'd have to lift the door up and over the rail to get it off.) Now, the door *can* swing out a bit on the bottom as you slide it, so you can add bottom guide rails to keep it rolling snug against the wall. If you check the Baby Rabies tutorial, you can see the ones they added. (They have young kids, and didn't want the kids pulling on the door. For us, though, I don't think the bottom guides are necessary.)

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    2. Idea #1...you can use "L" brackets on the floor if you have a hiding spot to keep the door from swinging out and some rubber or other covering to keep them from marring the wood.
      On my acutal horse barn, there is a small rubber wheel that turns to keep the doors up close from catching in the wind. It is "U" shaped and mounted around the bottom and bolted to the barn sill plate.
      Idea #2..."U" shape could be bolted to the wall just like the above track so that it is hidden and then becomes another design element.

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    3. If the door is heavy enough, it won't swing away from the wall. That is one of my concerns, too, as I want one for my upcoming bath remodel (which I am planning but will let someone else implement!) You just don't want the door too heavy to move easily. Another thought: a heavier door between rooms will decrease noise.

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  11. Wow! Seriously you two need your own DIY tv show. You're amazingly talented.

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  12. This is so great! I've been wanting to do this on an actual barn I converted my garage into, but the hardware was prohibitively expensive! Now I can start planning and my goats will be so much cozier! Thanks!

    As to the question about the door swinging away from the wall, you could either use the things made for closet doors, or another L-bracket on the floor.

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  13. If you cloned your hubby and sold the copies, you'd make billions.

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  14. Love how you break it down so simply, I'm roaming my house to find an excuse to make one for us!!

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  15. Your pantry is in your laundry room?

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    1. I think lots of people (myself included) have, or have had at some point, combination pantries/laundry rooms. Space-wise, there is sometimes no other option.

      KW

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    2. Yep, we have a very small house! The room is located at the end of our galley kitchen. It's been quite the challenge redoing it, what with the washer & dryer, pantry, water heater, and cat box in there. 0.o We have a TON more storage space now, though. You'll see!

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  16. Best laundry room ever! And there is more you say? Can't wait.

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  17. Wow, that door is beautiful and inspirational. I want to make everything now.

    No one has yet mentioned how much fun it is to see what's in your pantries? (I kept checking to make sure I didn't forget the "r" in that last word.)

    I'm really looking forward to seeing the final results of your laundry room project. Maybe you'll motivate my lazy butt to finish up the kitchen renovations I started last summer.

    You guys are awesome, and I'd like John to know that he is especially sexy in welder's mask and operating a spark-spewing grinder. Meeee-YOW! Can you give us an update on his recovery from Mountain Dew addiction? Has he managed to stay clean?

    Thanks for CakeWrecks and Epbot and for all your hard work. I strive to become as ambitious and hardworking as you one day.

    KW

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    1. I wrote "panties" at least once in one of these posts - thankfully I caught it before publishing. Ha! And I just read your comment to John, who got all flustered and cute. :D

      Thanks for the reminder to do a 'Dew update; I've been meaning to write one for ages! It's going on the list right now. (And yes, John's still clean! He tells me he now has a better understanding of what true addiction must be like, though; it's been a real struggle, and he STILL fights the craving.)

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  18. You and John both need to come to my house. YOU'D HAVE SO MUCH FUN.

    I think I'm going to put a slidey door for my half bath. It opens up (get this) INTO THE DINING ROOM. Who needs THAT? But if I put a slidey door it would be much less invasive. Hmm...

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  19. While I love the door, and the whole room make over, really, I must confess I sort of sped through this post because I have absolutely no chance of making this with my current skill set. I did, however, slow down and back up when I read "...now cut your bra to whatever length your door requires...". WHAT? Oh. BAR. Cut your bar.

    Andrea

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  20. P.S. I also love John(thoJ)'s T-shirt.

    Andrea

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  21. How I love this! The best part is, you can build the door to fit the size of your space. I have a couple of oddly-sized spaces in my house that I'd love to cover up with sliding doors. The only problem is, I wouldn't be able to run a bar along a wall and slide the door to cover a recessed space like your pantry. For example, my laundry area is along one wall in my kitchen (small houses are weird). I'd love to just hang a track from the ceiling somehow (complicated because we have a sunken ceiling) and hang two sliding doors. I'm not sure how to do it, but now that I've seen this, I must find a way.

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  22. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/video/0,,20559587,00.html

    Another similar take on the sliding barn door by contractor Tom Silva. you will want to skip to scene 6 for just the door. Great doors, love the website, been following you for a year.

    Cheers!
    msw

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  23. Gosh Darn It ! Where were you when I spent the $400 ??? Well, one thing's for sure - I won't spend another $400. Thank you !!!!

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  24. What a fabulous tutorial! I'll have to keep this in mind for when *I* get a house.

    On another note, I'm surprised you haven't tried your hand at bookbinding yet -- it seems like something that would be right up your alley. I hear coptic stitching works great, but it's not like I have any experience (yet,) so I can't judge for myself.

    Lookin' forward to tomorrow's "Cake Wrecks" post!

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  25. Wow, I'm so impressed with this tutorial. I'm a handy woman and build everything myself and I've been trying to figure out how to do this myself, as barn door hardware is absurdly expensive! I'm building a small barn for goats and wanted a sliding door. Thank you so much for this well-thought-out tutorial!

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  26. Love this. Thanks so much for the clarity and the photos. Wonder if I can actually bend and cut that steel, though! Actually, I don't even have a vise, hmmm...

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  27. thank you, thank you, have been trying to figure out where to buy the pulley wheels from, some are wood, some metal, have old turn of the century doors that I wanted to mount. thanks again

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  28. amazing... you are genius!

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  29. I love this, but I want to add a door that leans a bit more mid century modern. Do you (/does John) think the wood could be covered with an acrylic sheet or something for a sleeker look?

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    1. Sure, or you could also use thin Masonite and paint it for a solid panel. Ooh, or how about sheet metal? That'd be uber modern!

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    2. They sell sheets of copper at some hardware stores. If you take the copper sheets and lay them on sheets of styrofoam, bang'em up good with a ball peen hammer for a modern yet rustic look. Then attach the sheets of copper to door. This looks awesome and is easy. The sheets i've seen are usually 1'1/2 ft. By 1' 1/2 ft. You can also darken the copper with liver of sulfur. Just a thought

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  30. Or could this be done with a thicker acrylic sheet instead of wood?

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  31. Do you know what the Stainless Steel Type was?
    And/or the thickness?

    Trying to find a 72" piece and they're askin all these questions I can't answer!!
    3/16?
    Awesome DIY stuff thanks!!

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  32. Do you know what size of drill bit for holes and bolts were used for this project? Thanks!

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  33. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have wanted a barn door in my house for such a long time but the cost... Now I may just get my door. Thank you for sharing.

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  34. Thank you so much for this post! To have truly DIY instruction is so helpful. Thank you again for hacking this for the rest of us! Beautiful job on the door!

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  35. This has been so much fun to keep reviewing. I've found numerous DIY approaches online, and this one is by far the best. Thank you so much for documenting, and your very wonderful blog that's a gift to DIYers everywhere!

    That said, I'm trying to do this in Brooklyn, New York City without a proper workspace...going to a plumbing supply shop to cut the steel bars (from Home Depot), then a locksmith to grind the steel edges. If I can't find a vice/workspace where I can drill the holes (I counted around 28...I have 2 doors and 8 feet of track), I will need to go to a metalsmith/designer to do it.

    I'm wondering, though, if one really needs to bend the steel bar over the wheel??? Does it really give anymore support when gravity is holding the door down as it is (and the wheel's groove hugs the steel bar track)??? I've seen trolley/bracket combos that don't bend around the wheel, plus, my doors are only 48 lbs each...

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  36. You are so kick ass! Thank you for such a detailed and helpful tutorial!

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  37. Thank you so much for posting! What an absolute beautiful door. I want to do something like this to separate the open vanity from the bedroom! Now I know what to do!!!

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  38. Thanks so much for this!! We're doing some major reconstruction on our home and I had to get rid of a pocket door that keeps sticking so.... barn door to the rescue. We're beefing up the rail attachment a bit because our door is very heavy (stock french door so the glass weighs it down) but your instructions are great.

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  39. I have a solid core door roughly 150lbs. and I won't be anchoring into concrete block but wood studs. do you think the method you installed your bar will be sufficient to hold my door up without the bar sagging or pulling out of the wall?

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  40. I too want barn doors for a spot in our home, and I about croaked when looking at hardware pricing. Our doors will slide in different planes (separate tracks) with two doors sliding in each direction, so I *really* need to keep the costs down because the project will have four doors (so four times the cost). Well, I found a few sources offering pulley wheels without the casing - at about half the cost. Though the wheels are smaller than the ones you found, my doors will not be as heavy as yours so the smaller wheels (hopefully) will work fine:

    http://www.reidsupply.com/sku/CBL-990/

    http://www.amazon.com/Sava-CBL-920-Steel-Pulley-Diameter/product-reviews/B002HZVOHY/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

    Thank you (and John) for a great tutorial!

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  41. Can I steal your husband to make mine..haha. LOVE the idea. I remodeled my own bathroom once. Tore all the walls down to the studs and put up the walls and laid my own tile. I bet I could do this. I am going to try.

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  42. Question. How thick is the wood for the doors? And what type of screws/size are you using to screw in the cross boards. Thanks.

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    1. The wood for the doors is 5/8" and is tongue and groove. As to the screws, I used 1-1/4" since the cross boards were 3/4". Hope that helps.

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  43. I have some doors in Victoria BC like these. They're great for when you don't have a hand free!

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  44. Can I get the steel at Home Depot, what gauge or thickness is required?

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  45. I love this!!!!!going to do this look to my front door. Just using this idea to cover the door I already have....giving it a facelift. Thanks for the idea. Serena from oklahoma

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  46. Thank you so much for posting this! We are gonna try doing this! You made it look easy and cheap! Our two favorite things!

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  47. As a retired carpenter, I can tell you on conventional walls (Not Concrete) there is a 2"x10" wooden header over most doors. You can use lag screws (5/16 or 3/8) to secure the rail firmly, then just find a couple of studs in the wall behind where the open door will hang and secure the trolley bar as well. A good tutorial. A picture is worth a thousand words---but takes way more than a thousand bytes. As for spelling mistakes, did you here the joke about the dyslexic man who walked into a bra?

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  48. I've been looking for barn door hardware that will work in our house for ages, and they're all too tall from the rail to ceiling (we have a super low ceiling!). With this DIY process, I'm confident we can create our own solution. Thanks for sharing & providing great photos!

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  49. Wow so glad to find this post, I have been looking into the hardware on line also, could not believe the prices for the hardware! My brother in law can make this for me easily, thanks so much for the info, glad you love your pantry now. Mine is for a real barn/tack room we built.

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  50. If only I had the tools!! You guys make this look so easy! I'd probably lose a few fingers in the process!! Lol. If I can ever find a friend with tools and skills, I will definitely try. Thanks for posting!

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  51. You are a life saver. We're in the process of finishing an addition to our house, and my room is the loft. There's about 3 feet of storage space each on the two sides of the room where the knee wall and the roof meet, and Dad designed the knee walls to have 2 square access doors each. As it's a small enough room as it is, a sliding door is the best way to go, and I too was horrified at how much the hardware costs. I was stressing out on how I'm going to make my own doors and was upset about probably having to have them swinging instead of sliding. Now, I'm definitely going to tackle making my own hardware, in a smaller size to fit 3'x3' doors! :)

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  52. Awesome post thanks for sharing it totally has made my night. First thing tom I'm headed to the hard ware store. Thanks and keep it up!

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  53. This is totally awesome. I am going to use this method to close off the kids bedrooms and the hall bath from the living room....like a room divider. You just saved me $1000. I have been looking over different posts for weeks and this is by far the best post on this job.
    Thanks
    Travis

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  54. thank you for the inspiration - my husband just salvaged two doors and created a barn door for our bathroom renovation. We knew we wanted a barn door but couldn't justify the expense of the hardware. When i saw your post I knew he could do this - and he did! it looks awesome!

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  55. i have so wanted to do this in my house. i need a room divider...and know what i want. we went to look at wood today and they can do our door, hardware and install for $2300. out of my price range :( so we can totally afford this and it actually looks easy enough for us to do! i am not sure about doing the hardware...and rusticahardware.com has some decent prices. but thanks for your great tutorial to put the door together. i am soooooo excited!

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  56. John and Jen, thanks for showing an interesting and 'doable' sliding door design. Given that steel bar available thicknesses in England seem to show 3mm as too thin and 5mm as too thick, when compared to your photos, are you able to confirm the actual thickness of the metal you used please? Thanks and kind regards.

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    1. So long as you can bend it, a thicker size metal should still work just fine - and it'll be that much stronger. I just had John measure ours, though, and we used 3mm. Hope that helps!

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  57. I used a garage door 3" wheel for the top, worked perfectly. I also didn't bend the top piece of metal that goes over the wheel. I just cut it shot of the wheel to see more of it, made a hole 1 inch short of the end to put the bolt in to attach the wheel. But be warned, if you do what I did you need to make sure your wheel has a bearing inside of it, or it will not slide haha!!

    Thanks alot for this posting,I built my sliding door and it looks fantastic! This was a great tutorial, we really appreciate things like this.

    Mitch Strachan

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  58. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to find this! We are DIYers and I couldn't bear the thought of putting out big bucks to buy the hardware. Now I just have to decide on the style of door we will do. In addition, I love that you share your talent and ideas. Thank you!

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  59. JnJ
    Great!!!!!! An answer to my project. I am building a lean-to shed against the house. I wanted doors in front to give total access to the space. I'd love to send you pictures of the project.
    Roscoe

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  60. This looks great but just curious how safe it is to cut into/through the cinder blocks in the pantry space? Is there any risk to the wall strength, etc?

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    1. There can be, depending on where and how much you're cutting. To just drill into the block is fine, but if you're removing large sections you always want to check for structural integrity first. In our case, the pantry used to be an exterior door, so the wall already had a header & the necessary supports.

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  61. Thank you for posting this. I need to build two big barn doors. And was sticker shocked at the prices of the, not so robust, hardware. And I just cant see paying high prices for anything. I am going to use your design. Thanks again.

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  62. Hi - can you tell me the width of your barn door please? I'm in the process of building one based on your design of using tongue and groove plank boards. I added 3" wide crossboards along the top, middle, and bottom. And I also added some trim around the entire perimeter of the door. All trim is in place with wood glue and 1" finish nails. But I'm still worried that when I'm ready to pick this door up off the floor (where it's currently laying flat), that the planks will come apart. My door is 38" in width and 8' in height. With all the trim I added to the front, and with all the nails I used securing the trim to the plank boards, I imagine that should be sufficient to keep the individual planks from ever separating. Just curious, did you add any crossboards to the back of your door? Thanks so much!

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    1. Hi! You should be totally fine. I mean, you've got glue in the tongue and groove and glue and nails on the trim. You really can't make it a whole lot stronger. Our door is only about 7 feet high and 3 feet wide so yours isn't much bigger. The only reason to add crossboards would be if you see any significant warping of the door when you pick it up but really, that shouldn't happen since you glued it on the floor. Oh and send us pictures when you're done!

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  63. John, what thickness of steel bar? 1/4 inch?

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  64. So, here's an even poorer man's idea. This will give you a sliding door in the same idea, although without the attractive hanging hardware. Buy a sliding closet door hanging kit (includes the hanging rails, door rollers, and even floor glides/guides if you need them). At a local big box I can get a 72" kit for $18, which would give me a 36" door width, or two 48" kits for $15 which could be mounted as one continuous 96" length to give you a 48" door width. The tracks need to be mounted hanging down, so securely mount a hanging strip (2x2, maybe?), mount the track to the bottom of that strip, mount the rollers to the top of your single door, paint everything the way you want it, and voila! A sliding door for around $20-$30 worth of hardware and no metal bending involved! :-)

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  65. Can a regular closet door be used for this? For instance, the doors sold at Home Depot or Lowes? Wondering if the hanging hardware can be drilled into these doors.

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  66. I'm curious. Now that your door has been hanging about a year, do you have any issues with the T&G planks warping?

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    1. No, I haven't noticed any warping at all. The door still hangs straight & slides easily, and it gets a LOT of use: we open & close it at least half a dozen times a day.

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  67. Just what i needed thank you guys ��

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  68. Thank you for taking the time to journal a tutorial...we followed for the hardware portion...came out beautiful, and saved us a ton of cash!

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  69. I have made the barn door! I also braved Home Depot and spent an hour finding all the rail supplies. Now, how do I get the pin out of the pulley?

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    1. Uhh.... I *think* it was just brute force on John's part, but to be honest, I don't remember! Fortunately you're only harvesting that wheel, so don't be afraid to bang it around a bit. :)

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    2. I got it out with a grinder! Of course, then I went to Ace and found the ones with the nice pulley pin. sigh. I finished the door and got it hung. Very very thankful to you both for the great tutorial. I am going to put my own on my website, inorder2sell.com with credit back to you! How can I send you pictures?

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  70. NEATO ! THEY CALL ME BARBARA VILLA. WAIT TIL I HANG MY DOOR TO MY HALF BATH. THE DOOR BANGS THE TOILET AND MAKES ME CRAZY.. A POCKET DOOR WAS A THOUGHT BUT, REQUIRED TOO MUCH WORK. I STALLED ON THIS IDEA BECAUSE OF THE EXPENSIVE HARDWARE. THEY'LL LOWER THEIR PRICES NOW. THANKS GUYS.

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  71. I did it! Thanks Jen and John! You can view my project on my home page at inorder2sell.com. I never thought it would actually work, but it came out amazing. Thanks again.

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  72. You can also buy a pocket door kit for around $75 from Home Depot Johnson's is the best. You could then buy a hollow core door for around $40 of course you could buy a solid door and spend more anyway it's another option.

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  73. Great post...Thanks...Just wondering the width of the roller assembly...assuming 3mm steel (6mm + roller + spacing)? the reason for the request is i am working on a bypass bracket and wanted to use 3"(depth) x 1.625"(width) channel strut cut in a 2" section should work assuming the roller assembly is less than 1.25" thick.

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  74. maybe this is a dumb question but the screw and nut that is placed through the centre of the pulley wheel and also through the curve of the bar, why doesn't get loose over time? is it a special type of screw and nut you used? thank you

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  75. Mapp Caster and Supply , inc. 2.5" wheel axel & nut cast iron $ 4.98 each

    $ 7.33 if you go through amazon

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  76. Finished the barn door. Followed your directions to a T. The door it self turn out to be a piece of art, the hardware part was interesting, but with a little patience all turned out great. Costs $123.00 and it looks like a $500.00 door. When I figure out how to put pictures on the computer and send them, I send you some. Have two more doors to design and complete. Couldn't have started or afforded it with out you. thanks. Joe in Montana

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  77. It'd suggest getting a short piece of black water pipe (probably half inch, based on the pulley thickness) while in the hardware store to bend the flat stock over and make a more evenly rounded bend. Put the pipe in the vise and clamp the bar to the pipe with a sturdy C clamp or vice grips. And, if this is being used where there's high humidity, note that primer isn't always waterproof - so using an enamel paint (Rust-o-leum has a neat hammer-finish black) will prevent rust better in the long term.

    Neat project that came out really nicely, though. :D

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  78. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I am working on an office build out in my basement. Since I want to make the area secure, normal foam-core interior doors won't do. The hardware I looked at for the two doors needed could have cost me over $600, your idea will work great...and at a much better cost for sure. The openings are 50", and I want to make the doors 56"-60" so they completely cover the openings. Once I get started, I will take pix as I go along and post the finished project for review. Thanks for all the detailed info, especially where to get the pulleys. I will watch your website for more great projects...Spring is on the way and time to get busy.

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  79. Did you put a groove on the underside of the door so the guide would slide into it

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    1. Hmm, not sure which guide you mean, but no, no groove. The door is just hanging free from the top wheels. (If that doesn't answer your question, let me know!)

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  80. just a strong drill and an angle grinder with a steel cutting disk to cut the metal rails. (If you're making the door, you'll also need a circular saw - or a hand saw and a whole bunch of patience. :D) barn door hardware kits

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  81. It is to guide the door. But I found another option which was a u shape floor guide

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  82. I absolutely love the ceiling tiles in your laundry room!! Do you have a tutorial for those as well?

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    1. I do! I show the process in our laundry room here.

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  83. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS AMAZING AND INSPIRING TUTORIAL!!!

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  84. Wowwww....well I know what my next project is going to be! Thanks for sharing how cheap and doable this project can be!

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  85. I can not Thank You enough for this post. I'm wanting a "shack in the back"(what I'm calling my own work shop in my back yard) and wanted the sliding doors and just about fainted at the price of the hardware. This will save me hundreds. I was so upset thinking this had put a screeching halt to my project. Thank you again.....(smile).

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  86. If you're putting this up on drywall wall, do you use a different anchor and what kind? Thanks!! LOVE IT!

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    1. Yes, if you're installing on a drywall wall, first find the studs (VERY important, since this is heavy stuff) and then use wood anchors to attach the rolly bar. Use as many anchors as there are studs along the wall; don't skip any, since you want as much support as you can get. Good luck!

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  87. That bit's not quite finished yet, though, so believe me when I say I'm probably WAY more excited to see this than you guys are. http://www.slidingdoorcc.com/

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  88. Now to put a hand crafted pair of 16 panel mahogany swinging doors on the barn....

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  89. What color was the stain?

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  90. I used extension springs pulleys you can get at box stores for $5.00 or less and comes with bolt .

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  91. Replies
    1. Did you ever get the stain color?

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    2. I'm sorry, I really don't remember the name of the color! It was an old can we had left over in the garage.

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  92. He seems to have made this so easy to follow . I want to build a set to block the heat coming in from my sliding glass doors and have 2 sliders that slide next to each other so I can keep my 130 lb. St Bernard black lab mix from jumping on my glass doors when she see's people at the race car barn gathering for street cruises . If I can block her from seeing them and have the beauty of the doors that would be so awesome . And buying these rails are very expensive as I have checked . This is just so great I can't wait to give it a try . Thak you so very much

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  93. Thanks for the tutorial, I have two large barn doors for my new shed, and this saved me like $300 in hardware by doing it your way. A strong lesson I learned - make sure you use 1.5 inch (or 2 inch in my case) STEEL as opposed to aluminum, which I initially used. The aluminum upper rail is fine, since there is no bending force on it, but the two hangers actually flex outward when there is a downward force on them (the weight of the door), which causes them to rub the bolt heads and also causes the door to flare out on the bottom (door keep hardware is on the way from amazon). Bottom line, had I followed the directions and used steel, it would have worked like a charm. Thanks again for the nice blog.

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    1. Where did you get the steel. I have only been able to find short pieces at the hardware stores. Also is the steel you used have rounded edges or sharp edges?

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  94. I've been wanting to add this type of doors to my front room for sound limiting purposes but the cost is so high to buy them readymade. I saw a pin on pinterest for using scooter wheels so I picked some new ones up at the thrift store (score). I didn't know how to do the rest, but now I do thanks to your tutorial. It is actually a do-able project now--thanks so much for sharing this!

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  95. wow great idea.. can i repost this on my blog with a link to your blog. my readers would love to do this.

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  96. Thank you for posting pictures of every step other wise i wouldnt have known what you guys are talking about . I cant wait to do one . Thanks a million.

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  97. I surely appreciate the barn door bracket demonstration, I was wondering how I was going to buy the kit, when I'm still paying for the storage shed to be built. I really wanted the sliding doors because I have the rough cut lumber for the job, thk you so much, God bless you 🤗

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  98. Nice Work on this. These barn door kits are close to $200 and thats for a run of the mill one. They go up from there. This was so easy to make after following your pics. The entire door and hardware for the one I am making is under $100. Thanks a bunch!

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  99. I need to build some DIY bypasss barn door hardware. I have two very large areas that will need 4 doors, 2 doors each and they need to be bypass. Would you be so kind as to give me any idea you may have on how to modify what you created? Thank you in advance.

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  100. Worked great! I made a 5' door. For the rail I used an old garage door guide I had and for the wheels I used some garage door wheels I found at Home Depot. I didn't have to bust open a pulley and they were cheap. Wish I could post a picture.

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  101. I'd love to build a sliding barn door for my front hall closet. One of the issues I am having with the design is that there is a thermostat on the wall that the door would need to slid over. The thermostat stick out about 1 1/2" from the wall, so the door would ideally need to hang/ slide 2" out from the wall. The one thing laking in most DIY tutorials I have found is anything saying how much wall clearance the final product has. I obviously don't want a door that sticks 6" out into my hallway, but I'd like to know how much space this design leaves between the back of the door and the wall. Is there a way to (safely and sturdily) make the track further from the wall to give me the clearance I need?

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    1. IS it possible to just move the thermostat? I don't think it's much of a big deal to relocate it.

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  102. I have been unable to find the steel needed for the rail above the door. Lowe's and Home Depot only have short, very flimsy pieces. Any other ideas where to find it?

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  103. can you use the flat iron strap, that are used for welding, as your cross rail and the strap hangers for the doors. the ones that make your hands black when you handle them

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  104. Definitely pinning this!!! I love it!
    Muller Designs

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  105. Ladies, it makes me sad to see the "wishing for a handy guy" comments! You can do this! So what if you mess up something? Do what we do, try again! I believe you can do it!

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  106. This is totally spectacular and economical. I adore making things that are pretty and practical!

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  107. You can also heat the metal brackets up with ideally a forge or a torch to make it more malleable, just make sure to wear some leather gloves. Some tool stores have setups to bend metal tubing and can bend the brackets for you. You can also buy the roller wheels by themselves and save a couple bucks. I wish more people realized you can DIY almost anything these days especially with google and websites that teach you how to do anything from math to cooking. The door turned out great and is really nice, good job!

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  108. I love this idea, I can't believe I didn't think of just making my own barn door hardware myself... I'm going to use this idea to make a smaller version for the custom dog kennel I'm making.

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