Tips On Barn Door Construction...For An Actual Barn

[Mike Ontko]

I have an opportunity to build two sets of sliding doors for a center-aisle barn (to replace the ones pictured below) and had a tough time over the weekend trying to find any helpful design information online.

Each of the four doors will measure approximately 4-1/2 ft wide x 8-3/4 ft tall, which is bigger than a standard sheet of plywood. So, I'm assuming that starting with a sheet of T1-11 and tacking on a simple butt-jointed frame with cross-bracing won't be possible. I wouldn't want to build something so flimsy anyway. My only thought would be to construct a frame from 2x6 lumber, using either half-lap or bridle joints to connect the rails and stiles, and then create panels using T&G 1x material.

Would that kind of structure hold up to time and the weather (assuming correct treatment/finishing of the wood), given the size of the doors?

Would fir or Western hemlock be suitable as a building material instead of cedar as long as it was properly primed and painted or stained?

Does the cross-bracing need to be joined to the frame via M&T or some method (biscuits, domino, pocket screws, etc) other than butt joints to ensure the bracing does its job?

barnDoors_resized.jpg

[Ed Labadie]

I would take a look at these:

http://www.slidingdoorpros.com/sliding-door-frames.html

Ed

[Mike Ontko]

I would take a look at these:

http://www.slidingdoorpros.com/sliding-door-frames.html

Ed

Thanks for the info, Ed. I came across this site during my initial search. This construction approach appears to rely on the use of an external metal frame, or what appears to be something like u-channel that holds a simple wood frame structure together. This particular barn uses that approach for the smaller doors that connect each horse stall to its paddock. I didn't think it would be structurally sound enough for a 9-ft tall door. It seems like any twisting or racking stresses would easily knock the door out of alignment.

What I'm really looking for is all-wood construction, either all solid components or a combination of solids and plywood.

[David Helm]

Hi Mike,
You can get t-111 in 9 foot lengths. I would make a base of the T-111, then vertical cedar t&g. Line the edges with galvanized angle iron and use cedar for the cross bucks. I would not use doug fir for this project. If interested, I live pretty close to Ferndale, contact me and you can take a look at what I have done.

[Mark Bolton]

Is the barn to be heated? We have had the best success with building barn doors for even slightly heated spaces using 2" steel stud framing with 2" foam panels between and then skin with either sheet material (balanced both sides) or solids. Makes for a fairly lightweight insulated door that looks like a wood door.

[Mike Ontko]

David, I may take you up on that offer--to see your barn door and to check out your shop!

Mark, the barn is unheated. Wind is an issue in the area we're in, so the weight of a solid wood door is actually a benefit to the design. There are simple roller bearings on the bottom to keep the doors from swinging in or out, but there is no bottom track. Your design description makes sense, but again it seems like the strength and rigidity are coming from the vertical steel frame parts and not from the frame construction itself. Also, with 2-inch foam panels as a core and a skin of some type of sheet good, the finished thickness must be somewhere around 3-inches?

[Ken Kortge]

Thanks for the info, Ed. I came across this site during my initial search. This construction approach appears to rely on the use of an external metal frame, or what appears to be something like u-channel that holds a simple wood frame structure together. This particular barn uses that approach for the smaller doors that connect each horse stall to its paddock. I didn't think it would be structurally sound enough for a 9-ft tall door. It seems like any twisting or racking stresses would easily knock the door out of alignment.

What I'm really looking for is all-wood construction, either all solid components or a combination of solids and plywood.

Mike, my 36'x72' barn has 12'x12' sliding doors that are built with steel frames much like the link shows. It has held up very well, though we've had a problem with the T-111 rotting at the very bottom. I assume water is not draining well and that pre-painting the bottoms before installation would have prevented the rot. Good luck on your build!

[Erik Manchester]

10A0547C-5164-4568-97C5-3A589DCFD2D2.jpg

I used PT 2 x 4 for a frame with some doubled 2 x 6 for a header and 1/2” PT plywood for the doors on this pole barn. Very solid and I covered the top of each door with aluminum so that water or snow cannot puddle on top. It will be good for near forever as it doesn’t contact the ground and is 100% PT.

[cody michael]

I made shed doors as a torsion box, used 2x2 on inside 1/2 plywood on outside, they are a few years old and look good. feel incredibly solid, like a safe door when they swing.

[Mike Ontko]

Erik,

Those doors look great against the cedar shingles.

This morning, I found an article on the Mother Earth News site, giving an overview of three methods for barn door construction: board and batten (seems to be the least expensive and therefore most common, as has been shown here so far), layered (for example, one layer of ship-lapped boards and one layer of 1x support framing), and joined (traditional M&T, half-lap, bridle, etc). I haven't talked to the barn owner about costs yet, until I get estimates from the lumber yard on cedar and T-111. My leaning (thinking more as a craftsman rather than just a carpenter) is to go with the jointed frame and panel style. Though I'm betting the costs for four doors constructed from 2x and 1x cedar could end up being pretty steep.

[David Helm]

WAST 14 001.jpgHere is a shot of my door from the outside.

[Mike Ontko]

WAST 14 001.jpgHere is a shot of my door from the outside.

Looks to be a board and batten style? Are those ship-lapped or T&G boards behind the cross-member frame...or, is that just as you were suggesting earlier--an inside layer of T-111, with T&G cedar on top, and the cross-member frame on top of that?

[David Helm]

3/4 plywood rather than T-111 because the door is just under 8 ft high. Otherwise it is exactly as I suggested earlier.