How to build barn doors?

[JDRandyC]

I have a barn that I need to build a set of doors for. The barn is made of 1 by 8 cypress wood lap siding. I want to build two doors that I can attach to sliding hardware at the top. I am not sure how to build the doors. Door size for each door will be 5' by 9',

I thought about building a rectangular frame out of 2 by 8's. Then I thought about cutting a 1" dado 1" around the inside perimeter so that I could nail vertical 1' by 8 cypress boards to the frame. But I would think I would need something such as plywood, etc to back up the vertical cypress to seal the door for shrink of the cypress boards over time. I am concerned that I could not attach the cypress boards to the plywood because the plywood would not allow for wood movement.

Can anyone point me in the right direction here? I am not sure if the above description is the correct way to proceed.

thanks for any input.

 

[beenthere]

I'd strip three horizontal boards on the back side for nailers (near top, bottom, and middle), with a couple at an angle (like letter Z) to keep the door from racking. Don't see where you would need plywood, unless a heavier door is needed.

 

[studor]

It depends on how fancy you want them to look versus shrinkage etc. If you use plywood and the wood move in the drying process it will likely not be a problem. If you do a search on here you will find a thread on building barn doors and mounting them with a FEL by yourself -- worhtwhile reading. When I build my barn doors I used 2X6 in a z pattern with pine 1x10 screwed to it much like the originals that were on there for over 100 years. In another spot I used a 2x6 rectangle frame with plywood on one side and pine boards on the other and mounted it with a track

 

[pat32rf]

If you are worried about the boards shrinking (some woods are more prone than others) just nail them by putting two nails in the center, about 1 1/2- 2 inches apart. This is how we do board and batten, leaving about 1/4" clearance behind the battens for swelling/shrinkage.
One "carpenter" insisted on keeping the nails behind the battens while doing his own house, each board split up the middle as it shrank....
I am about to build a similar door for my wife's garden shed, which is attached to the house. Just going to make it match the wood siding on the house and slide it along the house wall behind the flower bed. I'll be using the "Z" pattern of boards behind the facing.
I will "ship-lap" my facing boards so when they do shrink they will not have gaps that go all the way thru.

 

[/pine]

if you do some searching you can find plywood in 5x9 sheets to use as substrate...

 

[beenthere]

Right slashpine, as 5 x 9 is the official ping pong table size.

 

[lhfarm]

I had a pole barn build with poplar and the door construction was pretty simple. I had a request for some pictures from someone so thought I'd post them here. Hope this helps.

 

[cjfling]

I built one big sliding door for my pole barn instead of splitting it into two, but I'm sure this same method would work for two smaller ones. The big difference in my project was it had galvaluime sides. I used 1.5" square tubing, welded end to end to make a square, and welded 3 more peices spaced out vertically for support and attaching the galvaluime. Used standard barn door track, hangers, rollers, and 3 inch lag bolts to attach the hangers/track to the building. You have to have a hanger every 2 foot on the track run and maybe more if you have a heavier door. All of this can be purchased at TSC or your local hardware store (cheeper). TSC does have some nice latches for securing the doors from inside.

Jamb Latch, 7 in. Hook, Zinc - 3541283 | Tractor Supply Company

Center Latch for Wood Doors - 3541275 | Tractor Supply Company

I have seen a Morton building and one other one with double doors made from 2x6's in a rectangular shape with a 2x6 "X" shape in the middle. The hanging part was all the same as mine. Morton has the option of a concrete beam under the door with a rail on the bottom to help support the door when opening and closing. Morton also offers a metal "anchor" in the concrete located were the double doors close to help keep them closed together.