Sliding Doors on a Budget!

JayN
by JayN
10 Materials
The MenDen project is nearly complete, here is the previous post on the rest of the project: http://www.hometalk.com/diy/basement/furniture/menden-basement-finish-all-re-purposed-materials-7069740 I added a couple of sliding “barn style” doors. To keep the costs down I used some simple parts from HomeDepot to hang them. I think they turned out pretty cool.
The first door I built using this how to: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,20850440,00.html The dark wood was salvaged from an old building, the lighter stuff is new from Menards per the shopping list on that how to.
Honey, you can make something from that!
The other door was built from a freight elevator door we salvaged from the old building. I am lousy at before and in process pictures, but here is how it came home in the back of the truck.
Those new bolts are too blingy!
We were not going to paint the door, but it was the wrong size to use as is. The bolts holding the gate together were too far gone to re-use. Using new shiny hardware was not going to work either. Jabbed the new carriage bolts into a box, hit the heads with some random spray paint left over from other projects and voila!
Instant patina!
I built a standard Z style frame for the back. Then stapled , whitewashed, and glued some ¼” luan plywood to it. On top of that I rebuilt the elevator door to the size I needed. Drilled the holes for the bolts all the way through, pushed the bolts in the holes… and I had a door.
Pottery Barn, eat your heart out!
These doors are pretty cheap up to this point, but the hardware that is available to hang them seems to start at $150 and goes up from there. I saw somewhere that it can be done with pipe, eyebolts, some casters, and some ingenuity. I decided to go that route. I used ½” black iron pipe and fittings from home depot. For each door you will need: 2 ea floor flanges 2 each nipples 2 each 90 degree bends length of pipe 2X the width of the door. Home Depot will cut and thread it for you. 2 ea eye bolts that will fit comfortably over the outside of the pipe 2 ea 2 inch non-swivel casters Screws to mount the casters to the door, and the floor flanges to the wall.EYE The length of the nipples will determine how far away from the wall your door will slide. I would guess you will need either close or ½” nipples, but you will need to experiment depending on your door casing and the overall thickness of your door.
Roll ON Door!
Mount the casters to the bottom of the door. Take some time with this, they need to be straight and parallel for the door to track straight.
Drill pilot holes and screw the eye bolts into the top of the door. Again, need to be straight and level.
Set the door in place. Assemble the floor flanges, nipples and 90s. Put one of these assemblies on one end of the length of pipe, then slide it through the eyes that are on the top of the door. Put the other assembly on the other end of the pipe. I just rolled with it when I screwed the floor flanges to the wall. Put the door at one end, center the pipe in the eye bolts, put in a couple of screws. Run the door to the other end, put in a couple of screws.
This design will only work well on hard surface floors. You could put it on carpet, but it will be hard to roll.
My walls are plenty sturdy in this area to mount the track to. If it were a standard wall I would definitely have used a backer plate that was mounted securely to the studs.
The door is kind of noisy at first. Added some soap to the pipe for lubrication and it quieted down a lot.
This is my “Entertainment Center” for the MenDen. Had some scraps of billboard laying around. Cut, glued and screwed them into a couple of shelves in the corner. I like the way they look.
Suggested materials:
  • rust-oleum ultra cover
  • carriage bolts
  • ¼” luan plywood
See all materials
Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Hel11190897 Hel11190897 on Jan 15, 2018

    is there any way to keep the door bottom from being pushed up from the other side?, I'm thinking my dog could push it and get caught.

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