DIY Barn Door: Part 1

For lack of not updating but still being busy with projects, here we are with another “in-progress” posting: installing a sliding barn door in our master bedroom/bathroom.

There never was a door separating the master bedroom and bathroom, and we removed the one in the toilet/shower area (because there really wasn’t space for it), so the only way to get complete privacy in the master bathroom was to lock the master bedroom door.  That wasn’t really an issue for us, but the light and noise in the bathroom when the other was trying to sleep was.

So here’s what we did about it.  First, we bought an 8 foot track and hardware (the easiest part of the whole process).  Next, we had to figure out how to mount it on the wall.  Because we have crown molding (and we didn’t want to remove it), we only had about 3 inches of wall space to mount the track to, but the bracket that connects the door to the track is about 5″ tall.  Do the complicated math and you get a 2″ gap between the top of the door and the bottom of the wall opening.  No bueno.  The solution: install a 2×6 header to the wall under the crown molding and attach the track to it!  It not only solved the gap problem but gave the door an extra sturdy base to hang from (which Chris tested out by doing a manly pull up from).  Crisis averted.

Next up: building the door.  To keep with the indestructible theme, we used 2x6s for the frame and cross piece.  An L-square ruler will save your life in this process.  Otherwise it is nearly impossible to keep your frame square (which is crucial when it comes to cutting the cross piece to the correct length).  Once the frame pieces were laid out, we used T brackets and L brackets to hold them all together.

We then used 5″ tongue and groove planks to fill inside the frame.  We simply cut them to the correct length, snapped them in to the tongue or groove, and put a few nails with the nail gun through them and the back side of the frame.  The toughest part was getting some of the boards to fit together completely because of bowing.  We usually ended up having to get either the top or bottom in first, nail it down, and then push the other side in.

Lastly we attached the door hangers to the door, and slipped them into the track.  And by slipped we mean nearly gave ourselves hernias by lifting the 1 million pound door onto the track.  Okay, so maybe it didn’t weigh quite that much, but I’m sure it was close.  We still need to paint it (it’s a little too rustic for our taste in its current state) and put some handles on, but the bulk of the work is done!

*****Edit: Be sure to check out DIY Barn Door: Part 2 for the finished product!!*****