D.I.Y. barn door

[Bubbles8712]

Completed projectWe are looking to build our own barn doors (2400H X 1200W) for 2 large openings in our living area. The design below is what we want to achieve. 

We had originally planned on using individual pine planks attached to a thick piece of MDF, but to save time + money, we are now thinking of sandwiching together a piece of 9mm MDF Board with 2 pieces of 9mm 2 x 2400 x 1200 x 9mm V Grooved Project Panels (links to products at end of post). We would glue and then nail the V grooved panels to both sides of the MDF so we get the desired look on both sides of the door. 

We would then screw in a horizontal 1200W X 235mm x 19mm Pine panel at the top and bottom of the door to add further stability and to attach the tracking/rail system to. This would bring the depth of the door to 46mm - which seems to be around the standard depth of a normal door. 

My concern is whether the door will be too ‘flimsy’ as it will essentially be made out of 3 large 9mm boards. I will also be white washing and then sealing the door to help keep moisture out (even though it isn’t in a wet area).

What do you think? Do you think the door will hold up fine as described? Or will we need to attach another pine plank across the door to provide extra support? Something like this: 

V grooved : https://www.bunnings.com.au/2400-x-1200-x-9mm-internal-v-grooved-project-panel_p0390169

MDF board : https://www.bunnings.com.au/9mm-standard-mdf-1200mm-x-2400mm_p0590056

cheers

[Bubbles8712]

Success. We used five 14G x 85mm zenith screws to mount the 30mm thick timber header and then mounted the rail kit as per instructions and supplied materials. 

Thanks for everyone’s input…certainly helped with clarifying what to do.

[StevieB]

Wow incredible job @Bubbles8712. You must be so proud of what you've been able to achieve.

Thanks for sharing.

Stevie

[Noyade]

@Bubbles8712 

Very nice work! Visually it looks much better than the raw-style seen in your opening post.

May I ask which "Kreg" pocket hole system you used?

[Bubbles8712]

I used the 310 system with the 38mm screws (links below). It would have been quicker to have the more expensive Kreg system which allows you to make multiple pilot holes in the one go, but given I won’t be using it often, the single 310 one was fine. It is very easy to set up and use. I used the 19mm option on both the jig itself and the drill bit attachment. This resulted in all timber having about half of the 38mm screw length making the frame very sturdy.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/kreg-pocket-hole-jig-310_p0202873

https://www.bunnings.com.au/kreg-1-1-2-38mm-coarse-thread-pocket-screws-100-pack_p0202880

[Noyade]

Many thanks Bubbles!

You've convinced me to buy and try it.

[splinters]

Hey Bubbles8712 the door you made looks great. What does the other side look like? I notice the opening doesn't have a trim around it, do you get draft through the opening on the verticals? I'm looking at making a similar door to fill an opening that's 1480W x 2050H. I'm thinking I'll add a skirt trim to the verticals and will also need to add a "top plate" to fix whatever rail I go with to.

[EricL]

Hi @splinters 

Let me tag @Bubbles8712 to make them aware of your kind words and questions.  An intriguing question, but I believe that if done properly you can greatly reduce but not totally eliminate the wind coming through the gaps of the door. I propose having a look at the Raven 915mm White RP83 Door Brush Strip Seal for the sides and bottom of the door.

It sounds like a very interesting project, please make sure to post an update when you begin. I'm sure our members would be keen to see how you'll be modifying your sliding door frame.

Eric

[Bubbles8712]

Hi Splinters. As a result of using the 30mm header board, we have about a 60mm gap between the wall and door so the door doesn’t do much to reduce sounds from the other room. However, we have 110mm overhang on both sides of the door and haven’t noticed any wind coming through. However, the door isn’t necessarily close to where we sit on the couch/table…and the blinds haven’t moved from any wind. 

If I was to do the job again, I would go with a thinner header board (20mm - I can’t recall the alternative options) so the gap between the wall and door is less. Though I like the sturdy/industrial look the thicker header board brings, I didn’t account for the extra gap from the actual rail system which sticks out another 30mm, hence the total gap of 60mm.

I want to close the gap - whether it be by replacing the header board which will be relatively straight forward, or adding some sort of trim like you suggested. Will be interesting to see what it looks like after it’s done so flick through some images!

In terms of the floor to door gap, it is 10mm which I think is fine. 

See photos below for the back of the door. It faces a stairwell so wasn’t too fussed what it looked like. 

[Bubbles8712]

 

 

 

 

[splinters]

Hey that's awesome. Thanks for those. I've tried to add pics of my current opening to show what I'm up against. Also some from the slider we installed in the laundry years back to help eliminate a situation where we had 2 doors opening inward to the toilet! It's cool because it was always a door, the door had the original arc trimming around which now creates a slight seal with a gap of what I would say is less than 5mm.

Once I get back to office work will put the pics up.

Cheers, Splints 💪🏻