Barn Door

Here's a cheap and easy way to build a barn door for a closet.

Supplies

Saw, wood putty, finish nailer, tape measure, drill, hardware kit, stain, brush

6 foot 1X6 for the base of the door

6 foot 1X8 for the header and base of the door

6 foot 1x4 to build the design in the door

Step 1: Stage Materials and Decide on Type of Wood You Want to Use

For this door I used white board or pine, its a very soft wood and dents easily, this is good if you want to age the look of your door and make it look a old barn door.

Once you have your hardware and size of door you can calculate the amount of wood needed to cover your opening. For this project it took 8 1X6's and 3 1X4's to cover a 36 inch by 65 inch opening.

Before you start on the door you should first mount the header and rail for the barn door, as per manufactures instructions. They all differ in some way and this will dictate the overall height of the door.

Step 2: Cut Wood to Desired Lengths

You can buy tongue and groove wood or build your own, tongue and groove by using a router table. Once you have the base of the door, lay them out on a level surface and cut the top and bottom to 36 inches and glue it to the bottom, square it up first before nailing it. After the bottom is on square the top by measuring from corner to corner to square it up.

From there you can box in the frame with the 1X4's then do a slash or X design

Glue is not required but will help with vibration and make for a quieter door.

Step 3: Filling and Sanding

Once the door is assembled, bull nose the edges to get the desired finish. Practice on scrap pieces when setting your router before going to work on your door.

Use wood filler to fill all the nail holes.

Sand out any rough spots

Step 4: Prep for Staining

Paint the door with a pre-stain, this will dissolve any oils from your hand and open the pours of the wood so they take the stain.

Step 5: Start Staining

Paint the stain on heavy with a brush

Only do a small section at a time, this will give you enough time to wipe the stain off before it dries.

Use a rag to wipe the stain off the door this will expose the grains and really make it pop.

If you waited too long and the stain is too dark for your liking, reapply more stain and wipe it off before it dries.

Seem weird but it actually lightens the color.

Step 6: Stain One Side at a Time

Once the one side is done, wait 15 minutes to let it dry,

Flip it over and let it rest on rags that will not scratch it.

Repeat the same steps of staining.

Step 7: Let Dry

Easiest step

Let it sit for 4 hours to dry long enough so you can handle it.

Step 8: Install the Rollers

This step you need to revert back to the manufactures instructions of the rollers in order to get the correct spacing and mounting location.

Once the rollers are installed it is ready to hang.

Step 9: Hang and Install Stoppers.

Final step is Hang the door, it simply hangs off the rail.

Install pucks that will prevent the door from coming off.

Install stoppers for correct open and closed position.