Teach Me About Barn Doors

My barn currently has dilapidated wood overhead garage doors. I 'd like to replace them with barn doors, probably of the swinging type (versus sliding or overhead). I'd like to make them, since buying them is pretty cost prohibitive. While I have some ideas, and I'm fairly handy with stuff like this, I also haven't done it before, so I'd like to hear from anyone who has some experience or knowledge in this area. I can figure out how to make something that would work. My main concern is that if I'm going to make them, I want them to work and hold up well.

don't look..but yours is open.

First thing that came to my head. My parents just replaced their sliding doors with roll-up overhead units. much happier. with sliders or any outside opening doors, you deal with snow, ice, grass, and weeds.

May I suggest you get quotes first?

Just a thought.

In reply to N Sperlo:

I already did. That's how I know they're cost prohibitive.

Touchie.

What do you use the barn for?

IMO if the cost new is too salty for you, I'd look at used/salvage. I'm afraid anything you build will be heavy, awkward to use, and not cheap - unless you can get materials free.

In reply to DaveEstey:

I put all my yard equipment in it, my tractor, and right now two vehicles waiting for restoration. I open it mostly to get my mower and tractor in and out.

In reply to petegossett:

used/salvage barn doors? Where do you find those? I've been hunting on CL for a year and haven't found anything, partly because I have two of them.
I'd really like to know, because in addition to those I need to get a torsion bar setup for a 16 foot door, and apparently they don't sell them new to home owners. Nanny doesn't want me to hurt myself, I guess.

The VW-tard in me was hoping you were shopping a new project vehicle.

Sorry for my lack of help.

petegossett wrote: IMO if the cost new is too salty for you, I'd look at used/salvage. I'm afraid anything you build will be heavy, awkward to use, and not cheap - unless you can get materials free.

Yup. Been there, done that, got the hernia. Anything that you can build easily and cheaply will warp and quit operating. Anything that won't warp is likely to be very heavy and/or expensive.

Sliding doors will be the easiest to make and don't have the problem of flapping in the breeze.

In reply to DaveEstey:

And replacing the overhead would be easier when it comes to getting the tractor and stuff out during the winter.....having to pick axe ice from the bottom of sliding doors to get a tractor out in the winter berkeleying sucks.

In reply to yamaha:

The overhead doors block my access to the loft, which is one reason I want to get rid of them. If I use swinging doors, they won't go all the way to the ground, but you do have a point if there is a lot of snow.
Sliding doors would work, I guess, but when one is open it would block the other. The doors that are on it are situation like two single doors on a two car garage, only they are wider. But there's less than two feet between them.

yamaha wrote: In reply to DaveEstey: And replacing the overhead would be easier when it comes to getting the tractor and stuff out during the winter.....having to pick axe ice from the bottom of sliding doors to get a tractor out in the winter berkeleying sucks.

Here's an idea, what if instead of having a slider on the bottom of the door, the slider was a few inches above the floor on the wall next to the door? The wheel could come off the back of the door and stick out to the side, so that it's on one edge of the track when closed. No trouble with the track being on the ground.

That's a good DIY option.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

You obviously have never had to break ice away from the bottom of a sliding door......they are top sliders btw.

In reply to bravenrace:

you could always do one of each

We have been considering hydraulic bifold aircraft hanger doors lately. But then again, we need a 42'x16' opening.....

There's half a dozen 16' garage doors on Akron Craigslist for under $250, most including springs and tracks. Easy enough to cut down a too long door, and making it taller is just a matter of adding panels from another door.

But if an overhead door just isn't for you then you still might want to pick up a couple. They are light weight and cheap, and turned sideways would work well for sliding barn doors. Weld up a sturdy metal frame for each swinging door and you can skin them with the metal from garage doors as well. With some creative hinging you could probably even make the panels accordion together at the top of the door opening. This is GRM, think outside the box.

Okay, if you google barn doors you get all kinds of sites for hardware, etc.. and some for how to build them. That doesn't mean whoever wrote it knew how to build them correctly, which is why I'm asking. Lots of good information here. But if I'm willing to deal with the snow/ice issue, tell me why something like this wouldn't work:

While I know and understand that when you post a question like this you don't always get the answer you were expecting, what I was hoping for were specific tips on building swinging wood doors. Things like what kind of hardware works best, construction techniques, etc... If this is really that bad of an idea, I'll have to consider sticking with overhead doors, but that's not what I want.
There is also an aesthetic component to this. Right now the doors that are on it make it look like a garage instead of a barn. I want it to look like a barn. So if i was going to use overhead doors, I'd be tempted to rebuild the doors I have. They are wood frame, but have kind of a masonite center section that is warping and disconnecting itself from the rest. The tracks, hinges, etc.. are easy to replace.
So if I were to attempt to rebuild my doors, I'd like to make them look like swinging or sliding doors if possible.

the swinging doors are easy, you just have to be pretty good with measurements. Make sure your hinges and door frame can support the weight and then use stainless bolts on the hinges and go all the way through the wooden door.

Something like this?

http://www.fimbelads.com/EuroDor/Default.aspx

In reply to Duke:

Uh, no.

Did you lok around at any of the others? They have a lot of different carriage house / barn door styles, all of which are overheads.

How about these, with the crossbucks?

http://www.fimbelads.com/AmericanLegends/Default.aspx

Swinging doors are pretty simple to build,how large is the opening?

Wooden swinging doors always sag. I have never experienced an exception. Best durability is going to come from plywood sheet trimmed with 1x inside and out to make it more rigid and look decent, but only if the doors are sized so they can be made from single sheets.

For bigger than 4x8 if you want a metal frame or layer to keep it from sagging. Your options for that are limited by what you want to work with.

I like gate hardware over typical door stuff. Better adjustability, heavier parts, and there are times when being able to lift the door off entirely is handy, like in very deep snow.

Also consider building the door about 3" short and attaching a filler panel to the bottom that can easily adjust up, down, and off the inside. Then no matter what snow and ice situation you find yourself in the door will still open.