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DIY Barn Door Track

April 2, 2015 By: Melanie

DIY Barn door hardware (9)

Okay friends, it’s finally here – our DIY Barn Door track tutorial.  When we say tutorial we just want you to keep in mind that this track was my husbands creation from start to finish.  I slipped out to the garage and snagged a few pictures, but not in our typical tutorial fashion with a clean and bright background.  I was in his DIY world for this one and I literally had to set him aside to walk me through what he did and all the parts he used before attempting this post.  We are hoping you can make some sense out of it and take what you can from it. 🙂  Okay, now that our disclaimer is in place, here goes!

Here’s what you need to make a DIY Barn Door track like ours:

We bought everything from The Home Depot.

  • Two 6 ft. by 2 inch Steel Flat Plates ($13.99 each)
  • Four 1 1/2 inch steel spacers (about $6)
  • Two 4 inch pulleys ($4.78 each)
  • Four 1 inch fender washers
  • Two Nylon locking nuts
  • Two toilet bolts
  • Four 3 1/2 inch lag bolts

The steel plates come in 6 foot lengths at The Home Depot, which happened to be exactly the length we needed.  If you need a track longer than 6 feet you may need to get it from a metal supply store.  One 6 foot length will be the actual track, the other steel plate will attach to the door.  Use a Porta-band  saw to cut the plate to the right lengths.  Jay cut ours into 30 inch lengths.

DIY Barn door hardware (16)

Next he used a blow torch to heat the steel plate so he could bend it.  (It will go up over the pulley wheel.)DIY Barn door hardware (15)

He built a make shift jig out of a pallet we have laying around and a scrap piece of wood.  He made the bend about 5 inches from one end of the steel plate.  DIY Barn door hardware (14)

With the steel plate still on the “jig” he drilled a hole through both sides of it.  DIY Barn door hardware (13)DIY Barn door hardware (12)

Now for the pulley, all we’re using is the actual wheel from the pulley.  It goes in the bend of the steel plate as in the picture below. Are you starting to understand the need for our disclaimer?  Ha!  (A drill bit is what’s holding this all in place just for picture purposes.)

DIY Barn door hardware (11)

I failed to take pictures of the actual assembly of the track.  But I think these will do.

First, attach the pulley wheel in the bend of the steel plate.  This is what Jay used the toilet bolts for.  They happened to be the perfect size and they are flat on the front which he thought looked good.  DIY Barn door track (1)

Then bolt the steel plate pieces to the door.  Be sure to measure, measure, measure to mount them exactly the same height.  As far as how high and how long they come down on the door, that’s all a matter of personal preference.  Ours are about 24 inches from just above the wheel to the end.DIY Barn door hardware (8)

Here is a picture of the backside of the door.  He used Nylon locking nuts and countersunk them so they don’t stick out.DIY Barn door hardware (3)

Next, attach the track to the wall using the 1 inch fender washer against the wall.  Use the steel spacer between the wall and the steel plate, screw the lag bolt through.  Be sure to mount the bolts on studs in the wall.  Originally, we spaced the bolts nice and evenly but had to use a sheet rock anchor for one.  It didn’t work…….we could see the bolt starting to pull away from the wall after just a few days.  We drilled a new hole through the track so all 4 would be in studs.  Also, be sure to measure your door, and take into account how high the bent steel pieces goes above your door, then measure again.  We had to patch some big holes in the wall from mounting the track too high the first go around. DIY Barn door track (3)

Here’s a view from the top with labels one more time. 🙂DIY Barn door track (2)DIY Barn door hardware (5)

 Once the track is securely mounted to the wall and the hardware is all attached to the door, simply set the pulley wheels on the track.  Then stand back and admire. 🙂  DIY Barn door hardware (7)DIY Barn Door (14)

We did claim this track was around $30 in the barn door post,  my memory failed me.  After looking up the supplies again, I realized it was closer to $50 with everything needed for the track.  Sorry about that!  Still $50 compared to the $180+ for a pre-fab track is a killer deal!

To see the tutorial for the Barn Door click HERE.DIY Barn Door (1)

Linking up to some of these parties:

Sunday: Keeping it Simple-Block Party
Monday: Remodelaholic, Creatively Living Blog-Monday Funday,  Skip To My Lou Made by you Mondays, Your Homebased Mom– Inspiration Monday, Home Stories A-Z, DIY Showoff,  Sugar Bee Crafts-Show and Tell, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia-Inspire Me Monday
Wednesday: DIY on the Cheap-Moonlight & Mason Jars, Oh my! Creative-Whimsy Wednesday, Someday Crafts-Whatever Goes Wednesday, Gingersnap Crafts-Wow Me Wednesday, The Life of Jennifer Dawn-A Little Bird Told Me, The Turquoise Home-Work it Wednesday
Thursday: Artsy Fartsy Mama,  The Happy Scraps-The Creative Exchange, Love Grows Wild-The Inspiration Gallery, Love of Family & Home-Inspire Me Please, Practically Functional-Creativity Unleashed
Friday:  Craft-O-Maniac-The Creative Collection, Lady Behind the Curtain-Best of the Weekend,  Just us Four-Pinworthy Projects, Today’s Creative Blog-Link Party Palooza, Craftaholics Anonymous-Friday Finds
Saturday: Whipperberry-The Party Bunch

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Comments

  1. Melanie says

    December 1, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    Hi Katie! Yes the door will tilt outward if the kids pull on it. We tried using a construction glue with one of those plastic floor door guides, but it didn’t hold up very long. We were in the process of figuring out another way when we ended up moving. While we never had a real problem with it, a groove or guide of some kind would be ideal. 🙂

  2. Katie says

    November 21, 2016 at 11:12 am

    Won’t it tilt? Do you have a groove underneath the door and / or the guide on the gloor?

  3. Melanie says

    April 15, 2015 at 3:24 am

    Thank you Deb! So happy you found the tutorial helpful! I can definitely relate to giving up on a frustrating project- I hope you have better luck with your Master Bedroom barn door. 🙂

  4. Melanie says

    April 15, 2015 at 3:19 am

    Thank you so much Danielle! We also love the color and easy access. 🙂

  5. Melanie says

    April 15, 2015 at 3:17 am

    That’s awesome! So happy you found it helpful:)

  6. Melanie says

    April 15, 2015 at 3:11 am

    Thanks so much Kaysi! We love the yellow too:)

  7. Melanie says

    April 14, 2015 at 9:50 pm

    Haha! Thanks so much Sam!

  8. Sam M | Atkinson Drive says

    April 14, 2015 at 2:55 pm

    I’m SO impressed … it looks amazing! Also, I am interested to know if you’re willing to lend your husband out for DIY help *haha*!

  9. Gwen says

    April 14, 2015 at 1:53 pm

    Hey girls! I just wanted to pop over and let you know that your Barn Door Track won the MEGA Rockstar contest this week at Creativity Unleashed Week 63! Drop me a line with your email so I can invite your to our MEGA Rockstar secret pin board!

    Lots of love,

    Gwen from The Bold Abode

  10. Kaysi @ Keeping it Simple says

    April 12, 2015 at 7:23 am

    This is awesome and it looks amazing!!! I love the yellow!

  11. J @ A Hot Southern Mess says

    April 9, 2015 at 3:02 am

    My hubby will be so happy and thankful for this tutorial! I want to put up and sliding barn door in our laundry room so badly! Thanks for sharing this! I’m sharing this with hubby and pinning it for reference later! 🙂

  12. Danielle@TheSummeryUmbrella says

    April 8, 2015 at 9:46 pm

    This is a really awesome project! I love the color and how it pops against the white and black in your kitchen! What a wonderful way to separate two rooms with easy access and style!

  13. Amanda says

    April 8, 2015 at 7:05 pm

    WOW! I’m super impressed and it turned out just beautiful!

  14. Deb says

    April 8, 2015 at 1:40 pm

    I give you 100% credit for accomplishing this! I have to say me and the hubs tried doing the same thing figuring out a way to make our barn door hardware without spending tons of money. After tons of frustrations, weeks of begging, some small fights we gave up and caved into just buying the hardware. Yours turned out so GREAT! The yellow is adorable in your all white kitchen too. We currently just added one to our dining room and are planning to put another up in our Master Bedroom which is huge to cover our closet. Loved seeing how you accomplished this (and the hubby) can’t wait to show mine this tutorial. Have a wonderful week!

    Deb

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