This tutorial for DIY affordable barn door hardware will help you to build a track that will add character to your home!
Our master bathroom is TINY and the swinging door was a major issue because it #1- blocked the light between the vanity and the shower making for dark showers. #2- Was always hitting you from behind while at the sink. #3- Was always in the way when getting out of the shower.
So a few weeks ago I took the door off, which posed a few issues. I won’t get into the stinky details but let’s just say a master bathroom door really is a necessity.
I decided a “barn door” would be the perfect solution because like a pocket door it would slide rather than swing. At this point I also decided to rearrange our room moving the bed under the window, no longer needing our accordion door headboard.
By some act of God or huge coincidence I temporarily set the door/headboard next to the bathroom door opening and realized it was the EXACT size I needed for a bathroom door! So I had my door and I just needed hardware, simple right?? No. All the barn door hardware was in the $300-500 range!
So I hunted long and hard for a “DIY” tutorial and all of them required either welding skills or an iron working friend. Until I found this one. It still seemed a little complex to me, and really, drilling through and cutting steel seemed a little difficult. Then I showed the instructions to my husband’s step-dad who was like, “This is no problem, we’re doing this tomorrow”. So the next day we got to work on our DIY Barn Door Hardware. Because I live in a small town we had to go to a hardware store, steel yard, and lumber yard to get all of our supplies, but the typical Lowes or Home Depot would carry everything. The benefit of the steel yard was that they cut the steel for us! After our three stops all of our supplies came in right around $60.
Supply List **contains affiliate links**:
-1 piece of 1×4 stain-grade lumber, cut to the proper length.
–Stain of choice (I already had this on hand, saving a little $$)
–1 piece of 1 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch steel, cut to the proper length. 2 pieces of 1 inch by 1/4 inch x 24 inches long. We were able to get our precise size cut at a local steel supply store. We did forgot to have them cut our 4′ piece in half and made the cut with our sawzall, so if your store does not cut steel do not worry, it was not too difficult.
–4 hex lag screws – 4 inch long, 1/4 inch diameter
-4 fender washers – fits over 1/4 inch bolt/screw but larger outside diameter
–1 2″ “L” bracket
–2 black drywall screws
Once we got home I hit the steel bars, the L bracket and garage door pulleys with two coats of black primer and stained the board.
Next up was the assembly, I am a visual person, so hopefully these pictures help. First we measured where the studs were and then drilled 4 holes through the steel bar and wood where we would hit a stud. Then we assembled our bar over the wood in the following order, “Wood, 1 fender washer, 4 standard washers, steel bar, standard washer, 1 4″, 1/4″ hex lag screw”. Once we had all 4 lag screws attached to the wood with the washer spacers we just mounted it on the wall in the pre-measured spot hitting studs with all 4 screws.
Next we drilled three holes through each 1″ piece of steel. The top hole was 1/2″ from the top and the other two were evenly spaced for mounting onto the door. Then we assembled the wheels by placing the bolt through the steel and then placing 4 standard washers between the steel and wheel, and a nut on the back of it. Then we just mounted it to the door using 4 1″ lag screws.
Lastly we set the pulleys on the rail and determined where we wanted the “L” bracket stopper to be, and mounted the stopper using 2 drywall screws. The minute we were done I knew I was in LOVE! It was exactly what I had envisioned and looked awesome.
Seriously… aren’t you drooling over how great this looks?!
Now that Matt’s step-dad helped me tackle this I realize that drilling through 1/4″ steel really isn’t that difficult and this project is something that anyone with a drill could accomplish. I can’t even fathom paying $300-$500 for barn door hardware after making this for around $60!
Now when I lay in bed, rather than seeing three ugly old doors I have this awesome barn door with so much character!
**6/21/17** This post was so popular that I followed my own tutorial and built another barn door track. I shared all about it in this post.
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It looks amazing!! I pinned! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and pin!
Thanks for your great tutorial! I just finished my barn doors. http://i-heart-decorating.blogspot.com/2014/03/diy-double-barn-doors.html
It makes me so happy to see that you were able to make your own using my tutorial. I tend to over-explain things so I’m glad you guys figured it out. Yours looks terrific!!
Awesome! You tutorial was super helpful! Thank you for sharing it, and thanks for stopping by!
Hurray! I just looked at my husband and said, “Well, lets forget the barn door idea. It is going to cost too much”. Then, by some miracle I found your information before completely shutting down my computer!!! I’m soooo happy!! Thank you a million times over!
I’m so glad you found it! Let me know how it turns out! I’d love to link to yours!
Hi, how smooth is the open/close action on this door? It looks awesome and would fit our bill so well…but it is a high-use door, so I have to make sure it is smooth. Thanks in advance 😀
It is pretty smooth, and I trust our 4 and 6 year old boys to open and close it, but I don’t now if it would be great for an area that gets opened and closed frequently. Mainly because it rubs against the trim behind it, so if you don’t do it gently you could really scuff up the trim.
thank you for this great tutorial!
one question for you:
how wide is the opening to your door? i have a space that is definitely different in size, so i’m trying to approximate how that’ll change the number of bolts/washers/etc i need.
Sorry I just finally got around to measuring! The track is 65″ long, the door is 30″ wide, and the doorway is 28″ wide.
Hi, thank you for the tutorial. Any way you can show a tutorial about how to make bypass barndoor?
Thanks! I’ve seen people do it using closet tracks, similar to a sliding closet door. The only way I can think to do it would be to make it like I did with one track higher and further out than the other.
I understand the supply list and how everything goes together except the fender washers…the supply list calls for 6 of them but I only count 4 that are used (behind each 4×1/4″ lag screw). Please let me know if and where else the other two go. – Thanks
The only garage door rollers I found did not have grooves like your picture. Please explain .Did you use two rollers back to back? And what do you do about the stems on the rollers
I got mine at Menards and it came exactly the way it was when I used it. I found one on Amazon and am linking to it so that you can see. Hopefully this helps: http://amzn.to/1Kvh3yz
Not really the door rollers. Actually the cable pulleys, I believe.
What kind of drill bit did you need to drill through the steel?
Just a regular drill bit, starting with a new small bit and then we made it bigger with a second new bit.
What color is your bedroom walls?
They’re Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Grey. Thanks!
I was wondering if the barn door tends to lean in towards the door framing since it is not directly hung under the header? Does the bottom of the door rub the door frame when opened and closed? Thanks.
It does lean in, but not enough to scratch or rub against the frame hard. I have heard of people putting a little roller foot on the bottom of the door to help with this.
Thanks for the tutorial. I had do redo this a couple of times, but here are some things that i found:
– metal was super easy to cut with sawzall
– you can cut your drilling time SIGNIFICANTLY if you use the right drill bit (I had a drill bit set but I bought a bit that specifically said to use for HARD METAL)
– I used a thicker piece of wood and a few more washers to keep the door from rubbing against the trim.
Super excited how it turned out
Thank you so much for your feedback! It’s been a few years now and I’d love to do one again in our new house. I’ll definitely take your advice on the sawwzall and drill bit!
Now that you’ve had it for a while, I want to know how noisy this barn door is. I have a couple of places I would LOVE to install them in my house, however, I fear that the DIY hardware will be screechy. Is it??
It’s not loud at all! It rolls along silent and smooth! We sold that house, but we totally loved the barn door!
My grandparents’ barn had wooden “hardware” on the rolling stall doors. I wish I had pictures. They were gorgeous.
That sounds so cool! I bet it would be vintage salvage that would be worth a ton now!
Hi, I was wondering if you could explain how the wheels are staying on or attached from the opposite side.I see how it is attached from the door side but not the other.
Thank you
The grooves in the wheels are deep enough that it just rests on the track, it isn’t actually attached anywhere and can be lifted right on and off the track. I hope that this helps. Let me know if I can clarify any more!
Have you had any problems with it just popping off the track? I noticed on other barn doors, the metal piece rounds over the top of the wheel and attaches on the opposite side. not sure if this really adds to the security of it holding in place or not.
Thanks!
No! It stayed on just fine. We could lift it off, but it never fell off on its own.
I need to use this tutorial to add a barn door in my mobile home:)
That would be a great idea for a small space!
Did your lag bolts go right into your wall studs? I am about to put mine together. (YAY!) I thought I might put it all together in my living room and then take it all into my bedroom and just screw the whole unit into the wall studs with framing screws.
Yes the bolts went straight into the studs!
I have 5foot opening so can you tell me what size kit I need for that opening? Thanks.
You’ll want a little more than double the door, so at least a 10′ track, probably about 10’6″ so that it can overlap a bit.
Thanks a lot for your help!!!
I built this door for my fiancé in our new house. I’m not a master builder, but this came out even better than expected. The doorway was a full closet, so I needed to cover 4 feet of door (8+ feet of track) I just doubled the required pieces and went from there.
Your explanation was great. I love that you let pictures do most of the talking. You made me look like a hero. We are both very pleased with the results.
Aw thank you so much for letting me know. I’m so glad that the instructions were understandable. I agree that seeing the pics makes it so much easier. I’m so happy you love your new barn door!
Um, hi! just got the Barn Door info on my Pinterest feed and HOLY SMOKES! I am so excited I can’t believe it! going to do this this weekend! I will put you on my FB page as the inspiration! Inspire Donelson
I love that you can do it and still have a nice looking room! That’s a bummer about the effect of barn door.
Great post!
Used your “plans” and made my own hardware. Modified just a little to fit my door but overall it was on point.
Awesome! Thank you for letting me know! I love hearing when readers use my tutorials! I hope you love it!
Hi! Hopefully you will see this post since its been so long for the original. First, I want to tell you how impressed i am with this DIY. I am actually needing to install two & yours seems the best way for me to go. My bath is also small with the door opening out into the hall. Since the door needs to be flush against the wall, what did you do for a door knob on the inside bath? My door will be hollow core, don’t know if that makes a difference with yours or not. Thanx in advance for any help or advice you can give! Take cr e & keep sharing your best ideas!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I never took photos, but I installed a small round finger pull meant for closet doors. One like this: *affiliate link* http://amzn.to/2DHGhkA
Did painting the pulleys cause any problems? I’m wondering if I can simply spray paint the pulleys…
No as long as you don’t get it too thick it worked fine!