Building a Barn Door

Well finally, after many months I built the final door to close in the barn. Our barn is a great little barn, it has multiple stalls which allows us plenty of room for animals, storage and we even have a feed-room. There are 3 door openings that exit out the side of the barn from separate stalls.

Unfortunately when we moved this summer, the barn didnt have doors for any of them. Earlier I built batten doors for the two stalls that we put animals in, but the last doorway was left open. In the warm months this was fine, but now that the cold weather and windy days have arrived, I needed to close off the last one. The cold breeze would just blow right through the barn and I don’t think the goats felt very cozy!

First off I purchased some cedar from the local lumber company. They call it “utility grade” cedar, and it is great. At a little over $1/foot, for 2″x10″, I purchased some and brought it home. The first door I made was from 1″x10″ cedar and the door is lighter for sure, but doesn’t have the same “feel” as the heavier 2″ thick cedar.

Here are the boards all laid out before being cut.

The next step is to measure the door opening.

I took measurements at the top (40″), middle (39.5″) and bottom (39″) of the doorway, and since these measurements were not the same, I used the widest section (the top) as the guide at 40″ and will then have to shave off some of the door at the bottom to match the irregular doorway.

I then transferred these measurements to the planks and cut each one.

I then laid the door out and measured diagonally both directions to ensure it was square. This is made much easier with some good help. Both measured 88″. Perfect.

Then I added the upper and lower battens to the face of the door being careful not to bump the boards we just ensured were all square. I brought the top batten down 2″ from the top and the bottom batten up 8″ from the bottom. This will allow my hinges, when centered on the batten, to be 7″ from top and 13″ from bottom.

then I laid the board I will use for the diagonal batten over the door so I can transfer the angles from the door to the board for cutting. Once the cuts are made, position the diagonal batten down and its all ready to be screwed together.

On my last door I used nails, but I opted for screws this time.

Then I cut some additional pieces where I will add a couple more hinges, 4 total. Remember, this door is VERY HEAVY.

And here is the finished product hung in the doorway. I did have to cut about 1/2″ from the side of the door at bottom, but we knew we would need to do that when we started. It takes some work to get the door in the opening square and true. We used some shims to lift it off the floor and create the space needed to open freely once bolted to the doorway.

I also added some small trim around the door jamb to serve as a stop when closing the door. It also helps seal the gaps between the door and the jamb.

So, that is the 3rd and final batten door for the barn. This is a fairly simple and very functional and sturdy door style for any barn, shed or rustic application.

Thanks for following along!

Michael