Ok, ok. I know the other day I mentioned on Facebook they were $50 each, but in all fairness, I already had some of the supplies, so the actual cost is around $70 each.

***VERY IMPORTANT-LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE***

When picking out the tongue and groove for the doors, put them together on the hardware store floor  to make sure they all fit together

DIY BARN DOORS

Don’t have the time or means to make your own barn doors? Scroll to the bottom of this post and I will share a company that has an amazing selection for you to choose from.

My oldest son Preston turned 17 last week and I have been thinking about giving him a more “grown-up” room which included a set of DIY closet barn doors.  You see I have plans for this room!  Eventually, he will move out, my younger son Parker will get this room, and then Parker’s room will become my office/guest bedroom.

I’m not sure if I have shared this, but in order to fund my decorating and DIY projects, I flip furniture that I find on Offer Up,  Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.  I purchased this dresser for $50 and sold it the next day for $200 and I didn’t even need to paint it!!  If you want to see what this dresser looks like painted, I have this same one in my daughter’s room. With $200 in my pocket and $150 of that being profit, I was able to buy enough supplies to make 4 barn doors (that does not include mounting hardware).   

DIY BARN DOORS STEP 1 -Selecting the material

Lay all of your Pine tongue and groove out.  I purchased mine at Lowe’s for $5.58 each and used 8 boards for the door, 3 for the frame and 2 for the British brace (Arrow look), so 13 total per door.  I would purchase a few extra just in case you make a mistake. Regular common wood can be used instead of Tongue and  Groove, but I like the way it looks when it goes together.  I remolded our guest bathroom using tongue and groove which can be seen here.  I had some extra laying around so in total this project cost me $50/door.

DIY BARN DOORS STEP 2-Sanding and preparing the wood

Give it a quick sand using fine grit sandpaper, spray off dust with an air hose (if you have one) and then wipe with a tack cloth.  Sanding is optional, but I did this just in case I ever wanted to paint them in the future. Then condition with Minwax Pre-Stain.  This will help ensure an even coat when staining.  **You must stain w/in 2 hours after applying the Minwax Pre-Stain**

DIY BARN DOORS STEP 3-Staining

Stain your wood. It is much easier to do this prior to building the door. I first used Minwax Classic Gray and then when that was dry went over it with Minwax Jacobean. I found a company called Rusticroodesigns on Instagram that lists all the stain colors they use for their doors and fell in love with this combo.

YOU MUST FIRST INSTALL THE BARN DOOR HARDWARE FIRST IN ORDER TO KNOW WHAT SIZE TO CUT YOUR DOOR TO. 

DIY BARN DOORS STEP 4-Installing the hardware

I purchased this Bypass Door Hardware Kit on Amazon.  Let me tell you, the install directions were less than stellar.  A couple of nights before we installed the doors we put the hardware kit together and mounted it.

The measurements you see below are 71″ wide for the door opening, 79″ from the top of the closet to the floor and then 81 1/4″ and below is all drywall

We used a 1″x12″x8′ piece of Common White Wood from Lowes (less expensive in store) for the header to attach the hardware.  The double bypass kit is much larger than a standard single sliding door kit and therefore you need a larger piece of wood.  The opening to the closet is 71″ so we cut this to 77″ in length to have 3.5″ of overhang on both sides. The header is completely OPTIONAL and the hardware can be installed directly onto the wall.

First, we attached the inside rail to the bottom of the header

Then we lined up the outside rail with the bottom rail and marked where we would drill the holes

Pre-drill your holes first with a smaller bit

and then drill with a larger bit (not as large as the Lag screws you will be using), but DO NOT mount the outside rail to the wood, you are only getting it ready for the install.

Install the header. The 6 lags bolts you see below were an additional purchase that went directly into the studs.

Install the outside rail.  The majority if these did not go into the studs, that is why we used the additional 6 Lag bolts.

On the far left and right you can see the rollers, from there we were able to determine that the door needed to be 78.5″ tall.  

DIY BARN DOORS STEP 5-Building the doors

With the T&G now cut to 78.5″ I could start putting the doors together.  It was POURING rain outside so I decided to put them together on his bedroom floor

Using 8 pieces for the face of the door, you want to make sure you rip the tongue off the far left piece and also rip the groove off the far right piece so they are flat.  If you have trouble putting the pieces together try sliding them in from the bottom.

Put a little bit of glue inside the groove

To build the frame I also used Tongue and Groove ripping off the tongue of and groove of each piece  (EXCEPT FOR THE BOTTOM PIECE GROOVE) with a table saw. 1 piece for the top and bottom and then 2 more pieces for each side. Then I secured it with a nail gun.  The frame pieces are 4′ wide.

WAIT 24 HOURS FOR IT TO DRY!!!

The reason you do not cut off the bottom piece groove when you are framing is that is what the floor guide slides through. Two guides come with the hardware kit.

Remember when I said to learn from my mistakes and to put all your wood together at the store first?  Well as you can see here some of my wood was not straight and I had to head back to Lowes to get some more for the second door

DIY BARN DOORS STEP 6-Installing the British Brace

24 hours later, it was time for my husband to step in for these measurements and cuts.  I know I could do this myself, but I did not have extra wood to practice on nor the patience.

We first used a 6″ wide piece of common white wood for the center. To make sure it lined up in the center of the door we measured the length of the door on each side of the frame and marked the center and then marked the center of the 6″ board and lined them up.

Tongue and Groove were used for the for the brace aka “Arrow” in which we ripped off the tongue and groove with a table saw and cut to 4″ wide.  You can purchase 4″ wide wood instead if you do not have a table saw.

See up in the top left corner how the top of the frame doesn’t line up lol?  Well, I have fixed that!

We were also able to use the first angled piece as a guide to mark and cut the rest, but the saw angles had to be adjusted

DIY BARN DOORS STEP 6-Installing the door

We brought the doors back upstairs and set them on the rails.  Then we adjusted the stoppers on each side of the rails to prevent the doors from coming off the tracks.  The doors were a little too dark for me so I applied another coat of gray stain.

This VIDEO was also extremely helpful for hardware installation.

If you’re not into DIY, don’t worry! I recently came across White Shanty Shoppe. They have the best selection of barn doors I have ever seen! Reclaimed Wood, Wood, Metal, Panel, Glass, Mirror, Bypass, and Double Barn Doors. You can also select your custom finish with paint or stain. Don’t forget to take advantage of their Free Consultation.

At the beginning of 2021, I will be working on a Master bath remodel for the One Room Challenge hosted by Better Homes and Gardens. The room will have a modern feel with hexagon floor tile and floating vanity. I am seriously considering a set of sliding barn doors to close off our bedroom from our bathroom as now it is all open and provides no privacy.

Here are some of my favorites:

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