Supply List:
-One sheet of MDF
-Saw
-Caulk
-Your favorite color of paint
-Water based poly
-Sandpaper
This barn door was an absolute blast to build! We built it for my parents new house for a Christmas gift. My mom had no idea, it was the best surprise. My dad knew because he had to measure the doorway for us. Luckily my moms most favorite color in the world is Navy. So, it was no question that we would paint this door in a Benjamin Moore Hale Navy.
We started with a sheet of MDF from Home Depot and cut it to size. We use a table saw and cut it to 29" x 81".
We used the excess wood to make the lines and dimensions for the frame and face of the door. We cut those to 3 inches wide and the length of the door. If you are building a larger door you could do 4 or 5 inches.
After cutting the edge pieces we used wood glue and clamps to hold everything down.
...and then we nailed everything down with the brad nailer. This is really to reinforce the glue, which is where the strength is. Do not skip the glue step.
We cut the remaining wood into 1.5 inch pieces to make the pattern. Again, if you are doing a bigger door you can do wider pieces. We cut the ends of the pieces of wood to 45 degree angles so they would line up with the straight boarder already in place. Each pattern piece got longer and longer, those measurements will change depending on the size of your door.
We used a little dummy piece to ensure our spacing was right on target.
We did not lay out the pattern ahead of time but you certainly can. I felt like four directions was good for this size door. You can do more or less. The straight edges are the easiest to do. Most of the angles should be at 45 degrees.
Once we had our pattern set, we glued, nailed, and clamped.
Then, we caulked all the edges for a smooth and professional sealed look.
We also filled all the holes with putty.
Now that all the building is done we are ready to get painting!
Here are a few tips for applying chalk/mineral paint in a sprayer:
First, we mixed our BB Frösch Paint Transformer with water. The key here is to start with a doughnut glaze consistency, then add more water after adding your paint (because you will need to thin slightly for use in a sprayer.) We mixed our powder and water in the hopper that comes with the sprayer because it comes with handy-dandy lines showing where to fill the paint to.
We planned to mix up half a quart of paint. Note: We would have used less paint had we brushed, but sprayers have overspray and typically use more paint. For half quart of paint, use 4 HEAPING Tablespoons of BB Frösch Paint Transformer with at least 6 Tablespoons of water (add a little more if the mixture is too thick or clumpy.)
If you use the Homeright Finishmax, your sprayer should come with a viscosity cup, which makes knowing how much to thin your paint a breeze. You want your paint to run through the entire cup at approximately 35 seconds. If it takes longer, your paint is too thick, so add 1/2 Tablespoon at a time until you get the right consistency.
Note: Paint brands, sprayers, and your idea of heaping tablespoons all differ, which make it impossible to have a hard and fast rule about exactly how much to thin your paint for use in a sprayer. It helps to refer to the directions that come with your sprayer.
I ALWAYS have navy paint on hand so I just used what I had.
You can see here we just poured the paint right into the hopper after mixing the powder and water together. The color we used is a Benjamin Moore “Hale Navy,” but we had our friendly Home Depot paint guy mix it for us using Behr paint. Be sure to mix your paint and powder/water mixture WELL. You may want to run it through a paint strainer.
Once your paint is the desired consistency you may begin spraying.
PRO TIP: Make sure your first coat is THIN! This will help ensure bonding. It will look a little crazy but you will be blown away by just the second coat.
We really let the paint cure before sealing. We waited about 2 hours. We are in a warm, dry state. If you are anywhere with humidity then wait longer.
This is the poly we used. We always recommend using a water based poly so it won’t yellow. This one was in the clearance bin because the can was dented. So, we gave it a try for this project. Once the door was painted, we cleaned out the sprayer and then used it to spray on the poly. We used the same technique we used for painting. Follow the directions on the can to know how many coats to do and how long to wait between coats.
Note: You won’t need to thin your poly.
We were just about done but needed to add one little touch:
This is definitely my favorite part and is on the back of the door for my parents to enjoy for years to come.
What do you think? Are you going to build a barn door? If you do don't forget to tag us!
Check out our office barn door build with BB Frösch
here!
