In addition to 15 windows of various stages of repair, the barn has multiple doors. Scott expanded the west door years ago to accommodate the mower (see details here:
Article 2010/11/barn-door-rehab-no1). Since then, the main entry door has been begging for its turn in the spotlight. What better way to spend vacation days than by rehabbing a barn door?!
The south-facing entry door is on its original slider. The bottom is missing and there's no hardware. We've been "locking" the door with a bungee cord and some bricks wedged along the bottom.
The sliding rail is rusty and pitted, making it difficult for the pulley wheels to operate smoothly.
These wheels may have seen better days.
After Scott removed the door, Bibbers couldn't resist the urge to create his own sundeck.
Scott began laying out the new door structure on the driveway. He used pressure-treated lumber - the first new lumber he's purchased in ages. We planned to use the existing door's tongue-in-grove siding to create the panel of the new door thus protecting the integrity of the barn.
The structure was held together with L-brackets.
On the morning of the second project day, Scott changed his mind about the door's construction. He opted to build two identical frames of 1x4 lumber which would sandwich the old tongue-in-groove panels, holding them securely in place.
Rather than buy additional brackets needed to hold the structure together, Scott created his own out of some joist hangers of unknown origin. A little pounding, bending and twisting was all it took.
The L-brackets and house-made brackets work well together. Scott applied two coats of paint before moving on to the next step.
Since much of the door's original siding had deteriorated beyond use, Scott scrambled to find a suitable replacement. He searched his stockpile then shopped at Menards and Home Depot before giving up and coming home. In a moment of despair, he searched his stockpile again - this time, finding some leftover outhouse siding that fit the bill. Hooray!
Each piece was laid on the frame and marked for trimming.
The pieces from the barn door cover the bottom of the door while the outhouse pieces are up top.
Once the builder was happy with the layout, the second frame was placed on top . . .
. . . creating a Barn Door Sandwich. Scott used 2" screws to hold it all together (following an emergency trip to Home Depot to buy said screws.)
Scott tested the newly assembled door in its soon-to-be home.
The new rail hardware we purchased on Friday needs to be installed, and we need to figure out the best location for a kitty door. But with the sun setting on our vacation, the project completion will have to wait until evenings after work.
Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!
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