Looking for advice on building barn doors

[jcaron2]

Some of you may have seen the progress on my horse barn in this thread: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/153626-my-horse-barn-progress.html. It's getting time to build the exterior doors, and I'm looking for advice/experience/expertise. The barn is sided in T1-11 and will be painted. I'd like the doors to be typical barn-style, similar to what's shown in my 3D drawing below. Basically I want the doors to consist of a field of T1-11 painted to match the color of the rest of the barn, with decorative framing painted to match the trim on the barn.

The barn will have two sets of main doors, each consisting of a pair of 6'x10' sliders. There will also be a washrack entrance, with a pair of 4.5' x 9' sliders, and two exterior horse stall entrances each with a pair of stacked 4'x4.5' dutch doors on hinges.

Obviously I don't want the doors to be too ridiculously heavy, but I want them to be sturdy enough to hold up over time. Also, I need to build them to minimize warping and twisting. I don't want them to rot away so I maybe I need to use PT wood for the frame, or maybe I need to add flashing at the top?

Finally, since I've never done sliding doors before, can anyone tell me how you get them to seal up relatively well around the edges when they're closed? And how much should I oversize them relative to the opening?

Thanks!!!

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I just built some big sliding doors that overlapped each other and worked out fine. They're on here at the end of a thread "start of something big".

On all your doors I would build a metal frame, two by two fourteen gauge square tubing. Then I would add tabs so that two by fours can be added for attaching the T-11. You get the strength of the steel and the ease of maintenance and installing of wood.

 

[scgargoyle]

That's what a friend of mine did- made frames out of 2X2 steel tubing. He sub-framed it with 1" square steel tubing, then put T&G pine planking over it, screwing through the wood into the 1" tubing. His doors are massive and heavy, so he built his own track and rollers. You can easily slide them, as the wheels have roller bearings. He has a slide bolt in each door frame that engages the door to lock it. He spray painted the metal frames prior to mounting the wood, which he also pre-painted. The doors are under a shed roof, so no weather reaches the doors.

 

[davkir]

Since you have horses, you probably know this already. They can kick a hole right thru a piece of T1-11. Just something to keep in mind.
If the doors are exposed to the horses, you might think about some rough sawn oak boards screwed to an oak frame with a diagonal brace.

 

[ben2go]

I'm glad you started this thread.I will be adding doors to the ends of my carport.The plan is to set 4x4s in the corners,you all ready have door framing,and build a frame out of 1.5x1.5x.120 square tubing like the carport is made of.Then I will side it,probably t1-11,and use stainless fasteners.

Here's my building.

 

[BotaBigot]

I did as you describe when I built our barn. T1-11 on the outside, stalls lined with 3/4" ply...all done with screws. All my exterior doors are wood framed. Frames are 2X4 (dutch), and 2X6 (slider...I used a single slider to one side, since other side has window). Frames are diagonally braced, rabbited, screwed and glued. Dutch doors are a "sandwich" T1-11/frame/ply. Slider has 4"-6" overlap, and seals well at perimeter. Flashing depends on roof overhang...I have 1' and don't need it. Crossbuck trim is PT 1X4 and 1X6...next time I'll use plastic. Don't be cheap with hardware. Buy at farm store, and get heavy duty. Strap hinges/lag pins on Dutch. My single slider is heavy, but rolls really smooth with the heavy duty hardware. I used metal drywall corner bead on top inside edge of lower Dutches...but didn't need it, horses didn't crib. Only problem I had with Dutches; with doors open (clipped to screw eyes in wall), one horse liked to rub his rump on lower door, lifting doors off hinge pins. Cured that with a lag bolt in wall above upper pin...

Since you're using double sliders, you might try a wider center board attached to one door on your crossbuck trim to act as a batten...sealing the center gap when doors closed.

 

[2manyrocks]

There is no need to be a slave to t1-11 siding for the doors. Using the same material for the doors could make the whole thing rather bland compared to using different materials for the doors. Board and batten doors have been used for a long time and there are all sorts of other door designs for carriage houses, etc. that are strong and look great.

 

[jcaron2]

I did as you describe when I built our barn. T1-11 on the outside, stalls lined with 3/4" ply...all done with screws. All my exterior doors are wood framed. Frames are 2X4 (dutch), and 2X6 (slider...I used a single slider to one side, since other side has window). Frames are diagonally braced, rabbited, screwed and glued. Dutch doors are a "sandwich" T1-11/frame/ply. Slider has 4"-6" overlap, and seals well at perimeter. Flashing depends on roof overhang...I have 1' and don't need it. Crossbuck trim is PT 1X4 and 1X6...next time I'll use plastic. Don't be cheap with hardware. Buy at farm store, and get heavy duty. Strap hinges/lag pins on Dutch. My single slider is heavy, but rolls really smooth with the heavy duty hardware. I used metal drywall corner bead on top inside edge of lower Dutches...but didn't need it, horses didn't crib. Only problem I had with Dutches; with doors open (clipped to screw eyes in wall), one horse liked to rub his rump on lower door, lifting doors off hinge pins. Cured that with a lag bolt in wall above upper pin...

Since you're using double sliders, you might try a wider center board attached to one door on your crossbuck trim to act as a batten...sealing the center gap when doors closed.

Thanks! Good info to have. When you talk of rabbeting the frame, are you doing so to inset the plywood, inset the T1-11, or just to make lap joints where you join the boards together? Is the total thickness of the door 3 5/8" (3/4" plywood + 1.5" frame + 5/8" T1-11 + 3/4" crossbuck)?

Also, since the dutch doors are presumably open much of the time (at least the top one, anyway), did you use PT plywood on the inside?

I'll take the other suggestions under advisement too. I don't have any equipment or ability to weld at this point, so steel frames seem a little daunting to me, but then again, what better excuse to buy a welder and start playing? The insides of the horse stalls will be T&G 2x6's, so I could potentially make the inside layer of the dutch doors out of those as well.

Great suggestions so far, everybody. Please keep the info coming! The more I know before I get started, the better.

Thanks!

 

[tlbuser]

I'm still in the process of building my barn. I have a 8' wide center aisle.The two rear sliding doors are made from 1x6 oak then covered with poplar siding. I made each door 50" wide to allow for overhang, not enough IMO. I used box track hardware on the rear.
For the two front doors, I'm building them 52" wide and making my own flat track hardware for something different and a little old school accenting.

 

[jcaron2]

I'm still in the process of building my barn. I have a 8' wide center aisle.The two rear sliding doors are made from 1x6 oak then covered with poplar siding. I made each door 50" wide to allow for overhang, not enough IMO. I used box track hardware on the rear.
For the two front doors, I'm building them 52" wide and making my own flat track hardware for something different and a little old school accenting.

Wow! I love the wrought iron look on that track. Very nice.