Simple Guide on Installing Barn Doors

You just installed your barn door and it looks amazing. It matches well with your décor scheme. You love it and you couldn’t be happier. Well, until you try to shut your barn door and it doesn’t close properly. A barn door installation guide can make all the difference whether you are just setting out for the first or want to try again. With these steps, you can begin to install your barn door.

Before You Start:

Choose the Right One and Ensure it Fits

Depending on your need and requirement, ensure that you pick out the right door that fits in the space you want to place it in your home.

Buy Barn Door Hardware

Before start installing of barn doors, ensure you have purchased all the right and required barn door hardware, which includes track, rollers, floor guides, and handles. You will also receive any screws needed along with your door hardware purchase.

How to Hang a Barn Door

To hang a barn door, follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Attach Your Door Hardware

Attach your door hardware to your barn door. This hardware includes the rollers, handles, and anti-jump disks – small rubber blocks that ensure the door remains in place if it jumps off the track. Since all doors are not the same, ensure you follow the manufacturer instructions for your product when attaching these pieces of hardware. However, there are best practices to follow:

• When marking where rollers will be placed, ensure the track is placed between the roller wheel and the top of the door for accurate placement.
• Ensure there is a space between your door and the track to ensure easy sliding.
• The handle center should be 36” from the bottom of the door.
• When making the interior handle location, ensure it is placed some inches from the edge of the door. Since the doorway will be overlapped by the barn door by a few inches, you want to make sure the handle is reachable after the door has been shut.

Step 2: Locate the Studs

Barn doors are heavy and move on a track, so the hardware is best attached to the studs and not just the drywall. Find where the studs are above your doorway using a stud finder. With a pencil, mark where the studs are. Line up the holes in your track to the studs in your wall and then drill pilot holes into the studs.

If the studs are not well lined up along with the track mounts, a support beam or a mounting board that runs the length of the track will need to be installed. Ensure the beam is wide enough to clear the trim above the frame of the door. Then attach the support beam to the studs. To avoid having your beam stand out, consider painting your beam the same colour as your walls or give it the same finish as your barn doors.

Step 3: Attach Your Track

Once the track holes and stud holes line up perfectly, hold your track up against the wall until it lines up well for the placement you seek. Keep track straight and steady with a level. Then mark out the wall track as well as the non-stud track mounting holes with a pencil. Take out the track and drill marked holes that have been leftover. Ensure the track and screws align with the holes that have been newly drilled and then connect these to the wall using a drill. Get someone to hold the track while tightening these. Ensure the track is fast supported on the wall.

Step 4: Install Stoppers

Slide the stoppers onto the two ends of the metal track. Tighten the screws using the hardware included.

Step 5: Attach Your Barn Door

Having attached your track to the walls and rollers to the door, your barn door can now be finally hung. With an assistant helping you, lift the door so that the rollers are slightly above the track. Gradually lower the rollers onto the track. Slide the door back and forth on the track to ensure it aligns properly.

Step 6: Install the Floor Guides

Install the floor guide to ensure easy gliding of your door. The floor guide ensures barn doors don’t swing out of position. Some guides fit into a groove located at the bottom of the door, while others go under and around the side of the door. Move the door so it hangs straight, then by following the manufacturer’s instructions, carefully place the guide. Mark where the screws will go in and screw the guides into place.

And that’s it. Now sit back and enjoy all your hard work.

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