It's finally time! The biggest Pintrest project to date that I have roped my husband into, has finally been completed!
When we bought our house 3 1/2 years ago, I knew that adding a second child to our family would eventually make it awkward to have guests; our spare room would disappear. I had visions of putting doors on our front (largely unused) room.
After a lot of research and budget restrictions, I temporarily gave up. Although framed in for french doors, the layout of the room doesn't allow for it; it would have to be a slider of some sort.
Well. Barn door project here I come! Too bad the idea of spending 700$ on a track was NOT in the plans.
Enter Pinterest, and the idea of DIY hardware too! I came up with these technical and elaborate plans:
My door was a double door, so keep that in mind when eyeing the pictures.
Here is what I did! The WHOLE project was under $200, including all of the materials listed! I probably could have spent a little less with a smaller can of stain and if I had researched some alternate places to buy some of the materials
Supplies:
2 pieces 6ft steel track
1 piece 4 ft steel track (cut to make hangers)
4 pulleys, pulled apart to use the wheels
1 4 ft length of aluminum tubing,, cut to space the track from the wall
4 bolts long enough to go through the pulleys and the steel, with washers and nuts
8 bolts to go through metal and doors
10- 3 3/4 inch hex bolts with washers, for the track to the wall.
Wood- opted for tongue and groove pine 1x6. I used 12 pieces, and 3 -1x4 for cross pieces.
Wood Glue
Wood stain (optional)
Spray paint (optional) for black hardware
Cordless Drill
Drill bits
Grinder
Pipe cutter
Sponge for stain
Husband.
Yup. Not hard, but I needed a bit of man strength (not to mention expertise) as I am not exactly practical when it comes to these projects! He was super thrilled to be a part of this, can you tell?
Door Hangers- bend, then cut the hangers. We used a vice to do this as well as a hammer (and husband strength). Tip: we actually put the casing for the pulley wheel inside the hook to keep it the right size and shape.
Drill the holes for the bolts through the wheels. We (keep in mind anything technical that says "we" actually implies my husband did it and I watched) used a drill press, but a cordless drill and a good bit work too.
We used a 2 1/2 inch pulley wheel. Worked well.
Doors: Assemble Tongue and groove to desired width. Wood glue as necessary. Attach Cross Pieces. Stain/Paint to desired finish.
Track: Decide on desired distance from the wall. We had to clear the door moulding .Cut enough tubing to surround each bold to the desired distance. (the tubing acts as the spacer between the track and the wall).
Find studs, mark placement on Track to drill holes. NOTE: Drill the holes in the lower half of the bar, so that there is enough room for the wheel to roll along the track without getting hung up on the bolt.
We mounted the track before painted to make sure that everything was in order.
Paint: If desired, spray all hardware black. (note that the lag bolts and tubing that went from the track to the wall were also sprayed... apparently forgot that in the picture).
Mount the track to the wall.
Hang hangers, decide on placement on doors, and mark where to drill for the bolts.
Mount hangers to the doors, hang doors. Done!
I'm really happy with how it turned out, and the fact that my front play room/guest space now has some privacy! The doors do not take away from the size of the room when opened or interfere with anything. The only thing left to do is construct a door stop for the ends of the track (L bracket perhaps) and maybe a little hook at the bottom to prevent kiddies from swinging the doors.
Happy to answer any questions about how it was done. All of the supplies were available at Home Hardware. Pretty excited about this one!
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