How to cover an open entryway with a barn door?

arian10daddy

Hi everyone.

Apologies in advance for a very long post.

TLDR: need options for covering an entryway to a study room.

Details:

As soon as we enter our home from the front door, on our right we have an entryway to a small study. It doesnt have a door. It is 1300mm wide. I have my office set up there and would like the option for some privacy when I'm in the zone. For reference, I have attached a picture of the entry as seen from inside the study.

*Overall width of wall - 2400mm (in red)

*Width of opening - 1300mm (in red)

*Barndoor hardware rail length - 2000mm (in blue)

*Possible location of a header board (green highlight)

I have been thinking of adding a barndoor to the space.

The concerns with that are:

1. The barndoor will meet at the perpendicular wall when closing.

2. Barndoor hanging hardware needs a header board. With the space i have, the header board will be partially hanging on the right half as there is no wall to attach it to. That's 1300mm of header board hang without support until it hits the perpendicular wall. Is this a dealbreaker?

3. What would be a sturdy and aesthetic way to attach the header board to the perpendicular wall?

4. What thickness should the header board be? Can I glue two 140x19 merbau deck boards to make it as the header board that can resist the sagging across the unsupported 1300mm span?

5. There is an evaporative cooling vent right in the middle of the unsupported span and I am not sure if there is a beam on either side of the vent that can provide a possible hanging support to the header board. Even if there is one, it will be too close to any of the wall that it will be inconsequential anyways.

6. The door will need to be at least 1400mm wide to cover the 1300mm opening.

7. There will be an opening at the top of the door because the door and hardware can't be ceiling hight. I am wondering if that will look weird.

8. I am thinking of building a hollow core door, 1400mm wide. Frame made with 25mm x 25mm pine and covered with 3-4mm painted mdf or ply on both sides.

9. I already have a barndoor hardware but that unfortunately has a 2000mm wide rail. Can i hang a 1400mm wide door on 2000mm long rail so that it moves across 2400mm range of motion. The only way that seems to be achievable is that the hangers are attached to the door at least 250mm inwards from the edge. I know that is not a standard practice but is there any issue in doing this?

In essence, my main botherations are covered in points 2 and 9. Is barndoor really an option for me at all?

I know Pocket door is not an option because the wall that will envelop the pocket door is an external wall. I don't want to do a major renovation for adding a pocket door.

A bifold door will have the same issue of a partially unsupported length.

I would love to know what the experienced people from this forum think of my plan and the issues.

Varun

JacobZ

Hi @arian10daddy,

The short and simple of it is, yes, you could hang a barn door here, but it would not be simple to do. 

You could, in theory, attach something resembling a header board, but due to the 1300mm unsupported span, you would need to use framing capable of covering that span. For that sort of span, you would be looking at something like a 140x45. You could fix it to the wall on the left, utilising every available stud, but you would also need to fix it into the framing on the right side of the opening. This could be achieved with a Joist Hanger, as long as there is sufficient framing behind the plasterboard to accept it. To confirm this, you would have to remove the plasterboard and add additional framing if necessary.

A better option would be to build a bulkhead across that opening, but this would bring into play the evaporative cooling vent, as it would need to be tied into the ceiling framing. This would give you a much cleaner solution, but it would mean a lot more work to move the cooling vent, frame up the bulkhead, fix it into the ceiling and adjacent walls, then plaster and finish it.

Either of these options is possible, but they would not be a simple case of screwing a board in and then attaching the barn door.

The next issue is the width of the opening. Standard barn doors are 1000mm wide, so you would need to either build one yourself or have something custom-made. There are longer tracks, like this Rolltrak 3000 x 40 x 6mm Barn Door Track Matte Black Side Mount, which could help with the range of motion issue, but it would need to be cut down to fit the space.

Once again, this is all possible, but it wouldn't be simple.

If you are committed to the job, then it is certainly achievable, and I'd be happy to assist, but something a bit simpler, like a ceiling-hung curtain, might be easier.

Allow me to tag our knowledgeable members @Nailbag, @AlanM52 and @R4addZ to see what they think.

Jacob