I want to install a “barn door” as the entry to a detached bedroom.
I am thinking of an 8′ wide 7′ high solid door that slides along a track at the top.
What is available that is more weather tight and residential than using the hardware parts from the local feed store?
Getting the details right for a wall assembly with the control layers to the exterior and lots of drying potential.
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Replies
Whats the budget? LOL
I'd think the threshold would be the main issue..sealing it from mice and bugs...and keep the "track" clean of debris.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
I have irriatable Vowel syndrome.
A self-closing mechanism similar to what is used on electric autoclosing van doors.
damn, am I fat!
What is available that is more weather tight and residential than using the hardware parts from the local feed store?
The short answer is nothin' off the rack...how come you want such a thing, and how much are you willing to pay?<G>
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."
Nothing. Any way you can still use a sliding barn door on the outside, sort of large shutter, use an oversized pair of sliding glass doors mounted in the jamb. My $.02.
How much do you want to spend?
http://www.crown-industrial.com/
Check out the Typical Installations tab - I don't see anything "typical" about them - LOL!
I can't help but think of the sliding door to the bedroom in "Green Acres". Ralph and Alf (?) never did get that thing to keep from jumping its track!
Seriously, a lot depends on how you're going to use the door. I've done 2 of them on the same building, one 11 years ago and the other this past fall. No weatherstripping, but the door is held against the jamb with a couple of cam locks made by National Hardware, about $15 each. I replaced the hook bolts on the latches with carriage bolts, which engage a keyhole-shaped cutout in the latching plates. I made the plates, 3x3 or thereabout, from some steel laying around, and routed them flush into the inner face of the door. It's sort of jury-rigged for residential, the latches take some fiddling with and can only be operated from the inside, but they suck those doors up pretty tight.
Look for the latches at http://www.mytscstore.com/detail.asp?pcID=2&paID=590&sonID=590&page=1&productID=2552
mdbarb,
This old house did something like that with the Wickwire house. (a timberframe) but if I recall they simply mounted it over an exterior wall and then built an actaul door into the house.
Sliding doors will have more sealing issues than doors that squeeze the seal when they are closed.. you an't change the physics of it. but if that look is more important than the maintinace issue there are several alternatives.. none of them will wind up being as cheap as a regular door would be though..
mdbarb,
You have to redesign from scratch. It's not just the cold air you want to keep out but rain as well. Whats to keep rain water from rolling down the side wall, past the track to the inside? Flashing Right? But how is that going to look?
Best to you and yours, Chris.
Some say I know too much.
As usually I have created work for myself. It appears there is no off the shelf answer. I will have to build something. It will be covered with a six foot overhang so I am more concerned about wind and pest than water. I am thinking about setting garage door gaskets into both the door and the wall so they meet when it is closed...
or something
Just remember that the sliding action of the door will have a tendency to abrade and tear weatherstripping. Maybe you could gang together some door thresholds with the vinyl inserts, or maybe some of that stapled on finned rubber strip attached to some entry doors?
yes I have been thinking about that.
For the sides the weatherstripping on the door and on the wall would just match up and kiss each other. no friction no problem.
The top and bottom would be a different story. any gasket is going to eventually grind away. I will deal with water with the large overhang at the top and a sloping sill at the bottom. But I am concerned about a gasket on a sliding door quickly wearing out and allowing air infiltration.
A puzzle
I enjoy puzzles...
I got it! Spring loaded magnetic weatherstripping..use burglar alarm type contacts..when the doors reach proximity the circut completes and energizes the magnet strip to suck up to a steel strip..open the door and contact is lost. Releases the magnet.
500.00$ please.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
I have irriatable Vowel syndrome.
I like it!
check's in the mail
There is a weather strip out there that looks like something a Fuller Brush salesman would sell made for garage doors. I'd ask your local garage door company for a supply. And maybe one of the other guys here know who makes it.
Then another thought struck me. What if the door slid on a slight angle so that it rested ON the sill & in the opening when closed? Someone said something about mini vans, didn't they? HMMM,.... Entering dream sequence... Sliding barn door becomes 8'-0 wall section with cedar shingles on drawing board that floats on a cloud. Mechanical Engineering friend suddenly appears bending a metal door track in his hands like Superman.
"Snort! Coffee? I'm awake!"
Assuming that the look your going for is anything flush our seamless, I thing you should go with straight track mounted externally that gives little lateral play, top & bottom. Keeping it simple. Then seek out, concentrate your efforts on the weather stripping. Install the best you can find in a way that will allow you to replace or change the type you started with.Best to you and yours, Chris.
Some say I know too much.
You can install the door on a track that is not perfectly level so that when the door closes it will go downhill and not slide on the threshold.
Who says barn doors have to slide? I've seen plenty on hinges.
We did something similar in our last house - if you use the round barn track, it will be quite smooth. Guests would ask if we had converted a barn...
There are latches that pull the door tight against the house when it is in place - you could have the door hang lower than the threshold and pull tight against weatherstrip - not too hard.
The trick will be finding hardware that works from the outside and the inside.
Brian
how did you weatherstip and latch yours?
how long has it been and did it work?
Edited 12/12/2006 6:05 pm ET by mdbarb
Found this post in the ancient archives - sorry I missed it before.
In case you still care, it was an interior door - no weatherstrip.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
Probably cheaper to put your MIL on a diet...
;o)
Here's a link you may have missed....
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages/?msg=86412.1
Curious if you ever found a solution? These guys do custom external sliding barn doors, they might have some suggestions: https://www.realcraft.com