DIY Exterior Sliding barn doors

[allons-y]

Good morning COTH sages,

I am considering adding these to the front of my barn. In the Winter, horrifically cold wind blows in, no snow. I dont want a roll up, garage type door. The opening is 12 foot, minus a couple inches. It seems that 2x4s, 2x6s and then exterior plyboard of some type would be sufficient. I dont know how much that would then weigh (2 separate doors)

The rollers I’m looking at are rated 225#, so a pair on one door can hold 450#. Surely one door won’t add up to that. I have been watching Youtube videos on how to and I feel cautiously optimistic. Has anyone here built their own? Any ideas or thoughts for me?

below is a picture of the simple style I refer to. Thanks in advance.
​​​​​​
I have a workshop and all the required tools. (Came with the property). I don’t have much experience but I follow directions well.

[allons-y]

Here is the latest website I’m studying:https://www.barntoolbox.com/barn-door-construction.htm

[Nestor]

My husband built ours, as well as the sliding stall doors we have. We built our barn to have 8’ doors so we could easily use one sheet of T1-11 for the stall doors and 2 for the big slider, so admittedly the weight will be a little different.

Super simple (for my carpenter husband). We laid the sheets of T1-11 down and used 2x6s in the same pattern as the doors in your photo. I honestly didn’t even look at what the rollers were rated to hold, but they’ve been up for nearly 4 years with zero issues. I can still push the sliding doors with my pinky, and those doors are HEAVY. It took both my husband and I to lift our 7’ wide by 8’ high sliding door into place, and it wasn’t easy. But definitely not anywhere near 400lbs. You should be good with the two rollers on each door.

Make sure you get a bottom roller to help keep the bottom of the doors against the barn in the wind. Possibly also get some kind of rubber gasket to seal the crack between the doors, if that’s a concern.

[allons-y]

Thank you @Nestor

[Madhouse]

They are surprisingly easy to build. YouTube and Google are your friend… as well as your local lumber yard (not a big box store). When I’m tackling a project I will often consult with the guys behind the counter at the lumber yard, most of those guys used to be carpenters until their body told them to find a desk job. They are typically very insightful. Also, they typically deliver for free.

[allons-y]

Thank you @Madhouse I do have a lumber yard not too far away. I didn’t think of them!