instructables

How to make an Up-Cycled Pallet wood Sliding Barn Door

by billymccord

For the wood for this project I used all reclaimed a pallet material such as these.

Much of the pallets were collected last summer and the boards harvested, and left stacked outside to age naturally
for several months.

Click here for a full build article on my website.

Step 1: Make the Track

I started the project by making the track for the door,
so that it could be hung and then measurements
taken to build the door. For the track, mechanism and
related hardware I used items that can be purchased
at most big box home stores.
The track itself is 1/8² x 1-1/2² welding steel, the
rollers are 1-1/4² Screen Door Rollers. I used a plank
to back up the metal track to give it some rigidity and
hold it away from the wall to clear the door and the
roller mechanism.

How to make an Up-Cycled Pallet wood Sliding Barn Door: Page 1

Step 2: Track Assembly
Once the track is mounted above the door measure
the distance from the bottom of the track to the floor
and the height of the track assembly. The distance
from the bottom of the track to the floor minus what
ever gap you want between the track assembly and
the door and the bottom of the door and the floor is
the height of the door itself. because I wanted an 80²
door I mounted the track so that the bottom of the
How to make an Up-Cycled Pallet wood Sliding Barn Door: Page 2
track was 81² from the floor this allowed for 1/2²
between the door and the track and a 1/2² under the
door. You can then determine the length of the door
hangers by adding the height of the track, plus the
gap between the door and the bottom of the track
then add a sufficient length to attach to the door side
stiles.
Step 3: Door Assembly

The door itself was created by re-sawing some larger
pallet rails in to 1² stock using the rough sawn side
with natural patina as the face.
I mitered the corners and used water activated glue,
and pocket holes to connect the parts, I also cut a
center rail, with corresponding rabbits and used
pocket hole screws to attach as well but I left out the
glue in case I needed to make adjustments during the
build process or if expansion of the slats were to
cause problems down the road.

Step 4: Smooth

To add to the aged look of the door I used my hand
planes to smooth the door some, but leaving natural
patina in some places. Don’t go over board here, you
just want to slightly refine the look of the lumber with
out removing the all the highs and lows created when
the lumber was sawn. You are trying to create an
“Aged” look as if the door was removed from an old
structure, after years of being warn smooth by time,
and handling etc.
Once I had the frame rails and stiles looking the way I
wanted, I cut the “slats” and used a similar method to
smooth then them fit them in to the door frame and
nailed in place with 1 -1/4 inch brand nails.

How to make an Up-Cycled Pallet wood Sliding Barn Door: Page 3

Step 5: Aging and Finish

I used various techniques to highlight the distressed field of the door.

features of the rough sawn lumber, such as blending
some flat black spray paint randomly placed in areas. Finally I sprayed 2 coats of lacquer over the entire
(again see the video for details) I wanted the frame to thing once it had dried for several hours with a light
appear slightly darker than the field of the door so I sand with a 100 grit sanding sponge between coats.
taped off the door, and applied a very heavy coat of
walnut stain tinted Danish oil, flooding the entire Build Video
surface of the rails and stiles and let it soak in not
wiping any off. Once this process was complete I Build Article
removed the tape and used natural Danish oil on the

How to make an Up-Cycled Pallet wood Sliding Barn Door: Page 4