The South Boston doors were completed in July, 2017 and the 200 year old gray planks used to build them came from an old dairy farm being demolished near Kennebunk, Maine in min June, 2017.
Northshore Barn Doors has its roots in Northern Vermont as owner, Jeff Filipov and his family have property in Stowe, VT. Beginning as a hobby in 2016 where building doors for friends turned into building more for their friends, this Stowe project was completed in the winter of 2017 and uses 100 year old tan planks from the side of a Vermont house that were being sold as scrap on the cheap. The doors incorporate blackened steel bars across the fronts and are 33” wide by 6’5” tall.
The Essex, MA project involved the use of massive steel brackets we had custom-made to hang two 36� x 7’ doors made to look like sections. The TV shown to the right will later be moved so as to be behind the doors so all electronics are hidden and they can be opened to reveal the screen. The wood here is 150 year old Vermont planks removed during renovation of a barn being converted into an office in Waterbury, VT.
The Saugus, MA project was to hang one 2-pannel 6’ x 7’ 3” thick door from a special trolly track mounted to the ceiling of a stairwell and a big pin was fashioned to run along a mortise groove at the bottom of the door as it rolls open or closed.
For a small home in Dracut, MA, an old white door with ancient wheel hangers was repurposed to hang in front of a bathroom off the living room in order to save space. The old wheel hangers were beautiful but rusted and noisy on the track so we changed them to today’s stock and the home owner decided to make something beautiful in the room to compliment the door by using the old hangers and wood.
Black Oak Farm in Hamilton, MA needed new work closets for the inside of one of the horse barns. The same 200 year old Maine planks that were used on the South Boston project were used here in August, 2017 and as that Maine barn was seeing the end of its life, the wood from it was used to bring this horse barn some new life.
The Cornering Door Built for a home during kitchen renovation in North Reading, MA in September 2017, this self-invented innovative solution enables the home owners to fully access their pantry. The wall next to it was not wide enough to house the 5’ wide door when opened without either sticking out into the pantry or sticking out into a hallway to the left. So we used spring loaded hinges and positioned caster wheels to allow the left leaf of the door take a hard left turn as the door is moved open and then it snaps back when closed again!
Bypass doors Marblehead, MA - August, 2017. These closet doors were installed using two tracks and customcrafted brackets used to allow one door to pass in
front of the other. The back of each door is black 1/4” ply and the front is 1890’s subfloor planks from an old home in Ayer, MA. Bypass doors can be an interesting space challenge because the bracketing can make the track of the front door stick out 8” into the room.
These bypass doors were installed in South Portland, ME for a kitchen pantry. The wood is 150 year old gray barn wood from Vermont and while the bracketing makes the front track and door be 8� out from the wall, the home owner had plenty of space, which is recommended for this kind of door system when using barn wood. We also installed edges or sides to hide gaps and space beteen doors and the wall, which helped further enclose the pantry when the doors are shut.
The Reverse Cornering Door Made for a bathroom with a tight cornering wall next to it, this newly invented unique solution uses gate hinges and a single rubber band to operate! (Left: door in open position, Right: door in closed position, Above shows inside of bathroom view of back of door)
The Reverse Cornering Door operates with simple hinges built into a quite complex utility (in this case, the right side leaf of this door is detached after its construction and then put back together by the black gate hinges. The left side hinges are there for show and symetry and serve no other purpose). As the door traveles to the open position, a small white caster wheel mounted on the back of the left side leaf contacts the curved mini “shelf � mounted on the wall corner. This turns the door as it is pushed further open. When closing it, the leaf would just stay partly folded but the rubber band mounted on back forces it to snap shut!
Barn Door Parts
Barn Door Parts Rail connectors (top) These are used to join two tracks together for longer runs. Stay Rollers (bottom left) These are used at the bottom of doors to keep them from swinging.
This is not my beautiful house... This is an old house that, while under renovation, revealed some of the perfect wood for doors!
Doors being worked on in the yard and newly installed or scheduled for install.
Tech Specs & Conclusion
Building barn doors is more than just construction. It is art. There needs to be a feel for the wood, how it might fit together, what goes with what, how to use and highlight any blemishes on the planks or how to hide them. How does the back go with the front? How does the door fit into the space both size-wise and scale-wise. Does the wood color match the rest of the space or the paints used? What handles or wheel hangers might be used? Is the door for a closet or a pantry or a thin halllway bathroom? This door will become the center piece and a conversation piece for the owner and so it must be quality and built with style.
Thank you!