Sliding barn doors are modern and a great way to close off a space with an existing door opening or that a traditional swinging door may not fit. Sliding barn doors offer visual privacy, but depending on the distance from the wall there can still be sight lines between the door and wall and they don’t offer the greatest sound attenuation due to the gaps. That said, they’re a great choice for many spaces!
Barn doors usually slide on a track mounted above the door opening and mount to the top or side of the barn door depending on the hardware. There are many options and upgrades to these tracks and doors, including soft close mechanisms where you can start the barn door sliding, walk away, and it will modulate the closing to avoid slamming shut. Most barn door tracks have rubber bumper stops to limit their travel, but without the soft close mechanism it is possible that the door will shut with enough force to bump into the rubber bumper stop and open back up again.
When installing a barn door it is critical that the track is perfectly level. We usually achieve this with a laser. If the track isn’t level the door will seem to have a mind of its own and favour one side making it hard to keep open or hard to keep closed. It is also very important that the track is securely mounted, usually to wood studs in a typical house. In condos with thin gauge steel studs, this is trickier as the studs themselves can’t accept a lag screw as is usually supplied with the track hardware. In this case, we would use wood blocking. There are two ways we can achieve this:
1. The first method, which is more cost effective and less invasive, is to mount a piece of wood called a “header” above the doorway where the track will be mounted (usually centered vertically for style points) and secure it with screws through the drywall to the metal studs. This header can be painted or stained as desired for aesthetics. In our experience, mounting a wood “header” above the door on top of the drywall is fine for an average door and gets the job done. Barn doors are often rustic in appearance and the wood header can tie into this aesthetic. That said, it does add depth and makes a larger gap between the wall and the door.
2. The second method is to cut out the drywall where the track will be mounted and add a piece of plywood called blocking (usually ½”) where the drywall was. The plywood is the same thickness as the drywall and is patched and mudded to be made to look like the existing wall. Typically the whole wall will need to be painted so everything looks continuous. Then the barn door track is mounted to the blocking which can take the structural lag screws. This can give a more seamless, high-end appearance, especially if the door is more modern and sleek.
Either way, barn doors can be a great option for a variety of uses and spaces. They come in all shapes and sizes and can even be custom made/painted/stained to suit the space perfectly.