How to Build Doors & Windows

Are you excited to build your first door or window? We have the step-by-step guides to get you started with every kind of door and window. We will get you started with DIY projects, video tutorials, slideshows, and discussion boards, all to help you unleash your creativity while staying grounded in the basics of building.

Diy Barn Door

How to Build Doors and Windows

Step 1: Build your frame: Whether you are building windows or doors, start with a frame. Measure the area the door or window will rest in to determine your dimensions.
Step 2: Add cladding to your frame: Most doors are made from masonite, but you can also use pine. Clad the door with wood panels leaving a block-shaped gap to fit the door handle.
Step 3: Secure your window pane: In the case of building a window, fitting a glass pane into your frame will require beading to support the pane, and putty to secure it.
Step 4: Hang your door: Use screws to secure hinges to the wall and the door. The hinges hold the door in place in its frame, which is built into the wall.
Step 5: Paint your door: Pine and cedar are beautiful if you simply sand and seal the wood with a clear varnish. For a Masonite door, select an oil-based paint.

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Top DIY Door & Window Building Projects

You'll find our top door and window projects here. Check them out.

Diy Barn Door

I’ve always wanted to learn how to build a barn door. Our house is more traditional, but I was determined to make it work!

Beachwood Place LLC

Easy DIY Sliding Barn Door With Mirrored Glass

Want to see the full post, more renovations, or product links from this post?! Find them all on the Southern Yankee DIY blog here!

Lia with Southern Yankee DIY

I took down the curtains and added two gorgeous DIY mosaic stained glass windows.I know what you want to ask me!"Bryan, did you buy these from a cathedral or pluck them out of my dreams?" Nay, I did not! I made these beauts and you can too!

Bryan's Workshop

How to Build a Frame Around a Window With A Curtain Box

We have a very large curtain rod over our window, and it just didn't have the aesthetic finished look I wanted for this room. So, I added a new feature to our window with a DIY curtain box. It made such a beautiful feature to an otherwise boring wall. And it was a fairly easy and budget friendly DIY.

TANGLEWOOD HOMES

Build a Barn Door With a Modern Twist

I have always loved barn doors.They are so beautiful I have always thought they elevate the room they are in, adding a new level of interest! I also have always wanted one! Until my most recent master bedroom makeover, I didn't really have a good place to put one or a good reason to learn how to build a barn door.However, I saw the opportunity in my master bedroom transformation. We have an en suite master bathroom, but the door between it and our room was a grungy old pocket door. I could have just cleaned it up, I suppose, but I seized the barn door opportunity!Now, while I was going for French Country in our room, I did want to incorporate a few modern elements. So, when I saw the barn door tutorial from Angela Rose Home, I knew I wanted it! She had painted hers in a stunning black, which really brought the modern feel. I wanted to blend it with the older vibes of the French Country style, so I opted to use pine boards to replicate the pattern while bringing in some of the natural wood tones.

Michelle | breakingdownthebox

Put Together an Easy Modern Farmhouse Barn Door in Only 8 Steps

I’ve been slowly adding farmhouse touches to my home, and for a while I’d been wanting to try my hand at making my own sliding farmhouse door. Because I knew I wanted to paint it, I didn’t need to use wood for my door, and chose to work with MDF as it’s a bit lighter than plywood. This also cut down on the cost, and allowed me to make this door for only $80. Easy, quick, and cheap, what’s not to love? Let's learn how to build a barn door.

The Rehab Life

Cathedral Mirror Barn Door Joanna Gaines Inspired

I have a very small hall bath & the door opens into the bathroom, taking up even more space, so I wanted to replace it with a sliding door. I bought an arched mirror on clearance and mounted it to MDF, framed it out and added trim and molding on sides for privacy. I purchased the MDF from Home Depot and they cut all the pieces to size for me. I bought the barn door hardware on Amazon. I am pretty handy, but installing the hardware was challenging. It may have been just the one I bought because I had to make modifications. Look for one with easy installation.

Debbie

Up Your Home’s Curb Appeal With These Half Hour Cedar Shutters

Curb appeal is a quick way to up the value of your home. These 30-minute cedar shutters are a great addition to your windows and will have passersby gawking in amazement! I used cedar in this project to match the pillars and portico at the entrance to the house. The contrast of the natural wood on a white background adds an inviting element to the entrance of my home. I have seen this project done in a multitude of colors, just make sure that whatever color you choose, it complements your home’s exterior.

The Rehab Life

Diy Barn Door

I’ve always wanted to learn how to build a barn door. Our house is more traditional, but I was determined to make it work!

Beachwood Place LLC

Easy DIY Sliding Barn Door With Mirrored Glass

Want to see the full post, more renovations, or product links from this post?! Find them all on the Southern Yankee DIY blog here!

Lia with Southern Yankee DIY

Put Together an Easy Modern Farmhouse Barn Door in Only 8 Steps

The Rehab Life

Cathedral Mirror Barn Door Joanna Gaines Inspired

Debbie

Up Your Home’s Curb Appeal With These Half Hour Cedar Shutters

The Rehab Life

Check out our slideshows for ideas for your window and door DIY projects.

DIY Door & Window Building Videos

Here is a collection of DIY video tutorials on how to build doors and windows.

Mosaic Stained Glass Windows

Bryan's Workshop

How to Build DIY Shed Doors in 13 Simple Steps

Your garden shed can be a really important feature of your outdoor space. The perfect spot for storing tools and equipment and keeping your sun loungers and lawn mowers when it’s not so nice outside, it can even double as a small workspace, which means lots of us love having one.But like any wooden structure, sheds are at the mercy of the elements and can commonly experience wear and tear over time. This means that sometimes you’ll need to repair or replace part or all of them, which can prove to be a costly business.Shed doors are particularly liable to ending up damaged. Whether it’s broken hinges, warped wood, or even gaping holes in their exterior, you need to make sure they stay in working order, and one way to do this on a budget is by making new ones yourself.That’s what this tutorial is going to help you do. Easy to build, economical to make, and looking amazing, I’m going to show you how to craft these gorgeous shed doors from scratch in the space of a single weekend.Here’s how it’s done.

Wes Hamstra

Barn Door/Sliding Door Options for Low Ceilings

All of the rooms in my house have 8' or higher ceilings with the exception of one hallway, which is 7' foot(I think they forgot the run HVAC for the two adjoining rooms and had to shorten the ceiling to add it). I had three swinging doors in this tight hallway and felt that it was too many swinging doors. I wanted the main entrance door of the hallway to be a sliding door.I have been wanting to the this project for a long time. But the popular barn door hardware with the wheels on top was not going to work because of the low ceilings. One day I was looking on Amazon and found this Johnson 2610F Wall-Mounted Hardware and it was perfect. 72" Barn door hardware https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Y74R86/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1Suggested Barn door floor guide: (The barn door hardware comes with a cheap plastic one - but I found this much nicer one on Amazon)https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CVXDMQ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Cost:Barn door hardware - $60.00 AmazonBarn door guide - $13.00 Amazonbarn door handle - $20.00 Amazonnew custom size hollow core door primed at Lowes- $65.003 1x4x8 primed $27.00 - Lowes I had the wood filler, leftover paint, nails and screws on hand.

Nadine

Constructing Barn Door Cabinet Doors

I have built in bookcases beside my fireplace and wanted to add doors to the bottom section. Using barn door hardware (that I made myself), I knew this would be a easy DIY. You could also do this project to a free standing bookcase.

Alicia W

Hometalkers' Favorite DIY Door & Window Building Projects

Our round-up of the best DIY window and door projects. Get started.

DIY Bookshelf Door

We decided to make our downstairs closet into a bookshelf door. I've seen these around on pinterest, and was excited when we finally decided to pull the trigger on this project. This particular closet is really long and narrow, which is a good fit for a book shelf door, since the shelving takes away space in your actual closet.

Ginger & The Huth

Faux Window Frame With a View

I needed a way to brighten up a dark, empty wall in my home so I designed and installed a faux window frame to display vacation destination photos in a way that makes them appear to be a beautiful view outside of my home. The window frame design is made more realistic by added paneled doors that frame the panoramic photo like shutters. Find and order a poster-sized photo of your favorite view and try this DIY faux window frame project to bring light and beauty to the area of your home that needs it the most!

Eamon Walsh

How to Make Real Wood Shutters for $30

The original exterior wood shutters on our 130-year-old farmhouse were completely rotted and needed to be removed. They were starting to become more of an eyesore than the beautiful addition to a home that exterior wood shutters should be. Although they were in terrible condition, it was still a difficult decision to remove them but I knew that it needed to be done.

HowToLou

Pretty Sliding Barn Door. It Slides Behind a Dresser.

Okay. you may be tired of seeing my sliding door projects, but this one is the last. My master bath is really small and the door opens into the room making it even tighter. I thought I didnt have the space for a barn door because I have a small dresser just to the right of the bathroom door. I need this small dresser there because bathroom is so small so it holds my bath towels, linens and toiletries.The solution is to have door slide behind the dresser

Debbie

Front Door Makeover

The previous homeowner removed the regulation size door 6'8" and replaced it with a much shorter door. The door itself is very unique and I want to keep it but make it look taller. I think I've achieved that goal with lots of moulding

Teri Uliasz Boyungs

How to Build a Barn Door Yourself

By Brooke RessellSliding barn doors are super popular these days in both homes and businesses. Not only are they pleasing to look at—with tons of different styles, paint colors, and wood stains to choose from—but they also take up little space and are a great way to maintain privacy, especially with open floor plans.The only real downside to barn doors is that the cost can add up quickly. By the time you add in the materials, labor, and custom finishes, the perfect barn door may no longer seem so perfect after all. In fact, it could very well end up giving you a serious case of sticker shock.So save yourself hours of scouring local stores near you and scrolling endlessly online. There’s a simple solution that can help you afford and customize the perfect barn door after all: Assembling one yourself. Learning how to make a barn door is not as difficult as you think. We’ll show you how to build your own barn door in a matter of hours and say goodbye to sliding barn door sticker shock for good.

Brooke Ressell

DIY Bookshelf Door

Ginger & The Huth

Faux Window Frame With a View

Eamon Walsh

How to Make Real Wood Shutters for $30

HowToLou

Pretty Sliding Barn Door. It Slides Behind a Dresser.

Debbie

Front Door Makeover

Teri Uliasz Boyungs

How to Build a Barn Door Yourself

Brooke Ressell

Popular Door & Window Building Discussions

You've found the popular discussions on how to build doors and windows yourself.

I am looking for the best exterior caulk for windows, doors and trim.

/> Hee22007577

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How to install a door at the top of our stairs?

/> Luci

This is the top of the stairs where I want to add a door. The problem is no wall for a door frame, any ideas out there for DIY??! Thanks!

How to install a door at the top of our stairs?

View discussion

Closet doors for 95" tall opening

/> Andrew

Hello everyone, I'm looking to update my closet doors to be bifold wooden doors, but strangely the opening of my closet measures to be 95" tall, and the current doors are about 94" tall. I was wondering if it's feasible to get 96" doors such as this one http://www.homedepot.com/p/Frameport-36-in-x-96-in-Louver-Pine-White-Plantation-Interior-Closet-Bi-fold-Door-3115283/205080356 and cut 1" - 2" off? Or am I limited to getting it custom ordered? Thanks!

View discussion

What can we do?The barn door we made for our bathroom has warped!

/> Mare

We put up a barn door on a bathroom...and now it has warped. Anything we can do...and if not what kind of wood should we get for next one?

What can we do?The barn door we made for our bathroom has warped!

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New Door & Window Building Projects

Looking for the new door and window projects that are trending right now? Enjoy.

How to Build and Install Functional Wood Shutters

Brooke Jones

How to Build a DIY Sliding Barn Door

*** Original blog post with links***Have you ever wanted a sliding barn door? Have you ever thought about making your own door? If so, you’re in luck because I’m sharing a step-by-step tutorial on how we built our DIY sliding barn door and installed the hardware.We’ve wanted a sliding barn door for our master bedroom bathroom doorway ever since we moved in last year (right now it’s an open door from the bedroom).We originally wanted to find an old, reclaimed door, but the size we needed was much larger than a standard sized door, so we decided to build our own wood door. In the spring we received an oil rubbed bronze hardware set from National Hardware, but we were busy working on our big kitchen remodel (which is still not done, btw).Over the last week Ted has been busy on the door project. First he gathered the supplies.National Hardware provided product for this project. Opinions are totally my own.

Audrey Kuether

How to Build A Crawl Space Door

We are gradually updating our 1970s house, and one of the jobs that needed to be done was replacing the crawl space door. Not only was it an eyesore, but it was also falling off the hinges and not very secure.Here is how I built and installed the new door, and I'm also including the video if you'd rather watch that.