Love barn doors but not the price of expensive hardware? Then you will love our Sliding Barn Door Plans – they’re free and use easy to find materials!
This is the last day of tutorials in our Barn Door Week – and it’s a good one! Tomorrow we will share a round up of a few of our favorite DIY Barn Doors.
Dean and I really wanted to give you clear instructions for making your own barn door. We went back and forth between step by step instructions and a drawing. In the end we decided it would be best to provide old-school hand-drawn plans. Just click on the plan image below and you’ll be taken to a printable PDF. (Please remember this is for your own personal use and can’t be sold or otherwise modified or distributed.)
MATERIALS
- scooter wheels (with rubber removed) or pulley wheels (disassembled pulleys) qty=2
- 1-1/4″ x 1/4″ x 86-1/8″ long steel flat bar qty=2
- 1-1/2″ x 1/4″ x 84″ long steel flat bar qty=1
- 3″ x 1/8″ x 84″ long steel flat bar qty=1
- 1/2″ x 1/16″ x 2″ long steel tubing qty=7
- 2″ x 6″ x 48″ long wood qty=15
- fitting black iron floor flange 1″ qty=4
- fitting black iron 90 degree elbow 1″ qty=4
- black steel pipe nipple 1″ x close qty=4
- black steel pipe nipple 1″ x 16″ long qty=2
- 1/4″ x 1-1/2″ long plated lag bolts qty=60
- 5/16″ x 3-1/2″ long plated lag bolts qty=7
- #12 x 1-1/4″ long screws qty=16
- 5/16″ x 2″ long – 18 thread plated hex bolts qty=2
- 5/16″ – 18 thread plated hex nuts qty=2
- 5/16″ plated flat washers qty=4
- Minwax Dark Walnut stain
- Rust-Oleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint
- white or light grey paint
- water
- sandpaper
NOTE: Once you’ve drilled all the holes and before assembly, spray paint all of the metal flat bar, the wheels and the lag nuts and bolts with oil-rubbed bronze. Let dry.
If you have any questions, give us a shout in the comments and we’ll try to walk you through them. 🙂
Click on the links below to be taken to each step to build your own DIY Barn Door and DIY Barn Door Track That Won’t Break the Bank!
- Instructions for Grey Wash Wood Finish
- Pipe Fitting Handle Instructions
- Sliding Barn Door Plans (YOU ARE HERE!)
Or click here for our original Upcycled Barn Door Reveal or here for 6 of our favorite barn doors that other people diy’d.
HI Shannon, How are the wheels holding up? I am a little concerned about all of the weight of the door hanging on one side of the wheels. Also, are you having any problems with the supporting straps bending where the wheels attach?
Hi Ed. Dean has worked in sheet metal for 23 years, so to say he knows metal is an understatement! We have therefore had no issues with either the wheels or the strapping given the specific gauge of metals we used. If you stray from our plan and go with something different you may have issues. 🙂
What is the 1/2″ x 1/16″ x 2″ long steel tubing qty=7 used for? I didn’t see that on the diagram. Thanks!!
Yes, please, I can’t figure out why I’m purchasing the tubing either. By process of elimination I assume it’s for the railing system, but don’t see it pictured. Thanks for sharing, and I love the project.
The tubing is used as the spacer between the flat bars for the rails.
Oh okay, awesome. Thanks!
🙂
Hi Shannon. Beautiful door. I’m working on one myself, using pallet wood. It’s been a little tricky, but I’m almost there. I learned a lot. Question! This steel tubing you used–is this EMT tubing? That is, the stuff that electrician’s use for commercial electrical work? Thank you!
t.
Hi there…where did you purchase the door strapings?
Thank you!
My husband sourced our via his work. But you can find similar flat bar at Metal Supermarket and sometimes at Lowe’s or Home Depot.
I love your website. I am currently in the process of putting up a pallet wall and also a sliding barn door! this has come in so helpful! thank you!! KB
Hi Shannan! First time I’ve ever commented on a post so please bare with my new adventure.
Can bed rails from a Queen size bed be used as the top and bottom rails for the wheels to ride on? Could I replace the scooter wheels be substituted by hard rubber wheels, I would think that the rubber would grip better and quiet the metal on metal grinding. Just thinking.
That would probably work. 🙂 Don’t know if you don’t try!
I do like your wheels But I found a set of them at a different place. I went to a auto electrical shop where they rebuild and repair Alternators and bought a pair of their steel wheels for $5.00. Then I went to a Bering supply house and bought two bearings to fit inside of the holes for $3.00 each. Total of $11.00 for some REAL HEAVY DUTY wheels.
The steel seems to be a problem for some folks. DO NOT BUY YOUR STEEL AT either Home Depot or Lowes. Look in the Yellow pages under “Steel” and find a supplier close to you that will cut your steel to size PLUS some of the suppliers have “Scrap” steel that will be even cheaper than the new steel[what’s a little rust]. Even with the New steel it should be about 1/2 the price of Home Depot or Lowes
I built the door for under $70.00 and it looks GREAT!!!
THANKS FOR THE INSPIRATION!!!
Good for you!!! We have mentioned Metal Supermarket for anyone near one. Dean works in sheet metal, so we got ours thru there. 🙂
I am wondering if the bottom part of the door tends to angle back towards the wall. It seems to me that having the vertical straps secured to the front of the pulleys might make them want to pull the pulleys off the track. I would think this is made worse when all the wood is attached to those straps. Is this the case?
Ours doesn’t do that at all! The weight of the wood allows it to hang quite straight.
Awesome! Love, love , love your design and so looking forward to doing this!!
Just wondering if the door rubbed on the wall when being opened and scuffed it at all?
The only time it touches the wall is if a dog toy gets thrown too hard in its direction. We don’t have little kids and Dean and I know to open and close it straight. So no we have no wall scuffs from the door.
Did you have to plumb the door?
No, we did not.
Hello there me and my wife are wondering where you used the #12 1″1/4″ long screws at.Thank you love the doors
They’re to hold the handles on!
I need to create a barn door for an opening doorway that is 10 ” tall x 5′ feet wide. I cannot seem to find the flat steel bar easily. Did you use hot or cold rolled? The sizes are not easily found either. UGH! Please help. Thanks Shannon,
terilk@citlink.net
I meant 10 feet tall. OOPS!
Hi, just wondering if the DIY track squeals or makes any noise when opening and closing the door?
Yes, the track did squeak a bit.
Where can I source the two long steel flat bars for attaching to front of barn door? I already have my track and pulley hardware. For this reason, it would be useful to see the hardware list separated for each part of the door plan. For ex. the design and parts for building the handle could be separated from other aspects of the door, and the track above. For a first timer, it’s hard separating the parts I will use.
Since I have my track, I need to modify your design slightly, ex. place the two bars on the outer edge of each side of the door. That should work fine. Just need to find where to purchase the bars. Also I presume that I will have to drill the holes in the metal bar, and want to know how labour intensive that will be? Thanks for answering me. I’m excited to get started, because I found some awesome wood as you suggested.
Thanks for offering this design.
As we mentioned in the post you can source the metal items from Metal Supermarket. I’m very sorry that you’re having issues with deciphering the parts list. And yes, of course holes will need to be drilled. How long and how labor intensive it is depends on the tools you have and will use.
Love this project! Do you have anything installed to prevent the door from rolling too far and falling off the track? Thanks!
We didn’t…but we had a wall at one end and the door handles would touch the doorway at the other side if it went too far.
Hi Shannon!
I love this barn door!
So I’m planning on a master bath remodel, and I want a barn door. I have this 100yr old pine I got in traverse city last year I want to use. My question is did you glue any of the boards, and I think from the plans you just used the flat iron on one side? So that other side just has the handle correct?
Thanks again
Nope, no glue. Just the flat bar. You could add glue if you felt it necessary. And yes, flat iron on one side only.
I need a Dean!
Everyone needs a Dean!
Did you use anything besides the door strapping on the boards? No wood glue or anything else necessary?
We only used the strapping, which is quite enough. 🙂
I love this! Where do you find 86 1/8″ long flat steel bars? I’m having a difficult time locating that length.
My husband sourced our via his work. But I did mention that you can find similar flat bar at Metal Supermarket and sometimes at Lowe’s or Home Depot. 🙂
I love the look and that it does look bulky. Where did you purchase the flat bars?
My husband sourced our via his work. But I did mention that you can find similar flat bar at Metal Supermarket and sometimes at Lowe’s or Home Depot. 🙂
I love this door and can’t wait to build my own!
Quick question about the rail system, I noticed that you have measurements listed. I am assuming these will depend on the studs in my wall or did you use another means of attaching to the wall?
The 3 inch wall plate needs to be attached to the studs for sure! So yes, you will need to adjust the placement of the lag bolts based on where your studs are. Thanks for asking for that clarification! This post is several years old and could definitely benefit from us updating it!