Garden Tool Storage With Barn Doors

Our house has a bumped-out area in the back where the kitchen extends out past the lower section of the house.  This created an odd space in the backyard that is a bit unsightly.  To fix the issue, I decided to close the lower area in to create a garden tool storage area with barn doors.  This was my first barn door installation experience.  Leslie and I agree – This is a huge improvement for the look of our backyard!

Before & After

BEFORE
AFTER
 

The Hardware

I recycled cedar lumber from our old deck for this project, so the cost was limited to just the cost of the barn door hardware (~$110).

qty (2) sets of (2) rollers for the (2) doors (Lowe’s) (2) x $30 = $60
(1) 8ft track (Lowe’s) (1) x $25 = $25

(4) track top brackets (Lowe’s)

(4) x $5 = $20

Construction Photos

About 1 1/2 years ago I rebuilt our deck. I saved a lot of the old cedar lumber knowing that It might be handy in the future.
I flipped over all of those old boards and ran them through my planer. The finished boards look better than I expected!
The boards are all attached at the top and corners only. There is about a 2″ gap around the bottom to prevent rotting.
Another view of the basic enclosure
Added trim. Leslie really likes the stair steps.
The 8ft barn door track allows the (2) 2ft barn doors to open fully.
Door construction. I cut a groove in all of the stiles and rails to hold the (3) center panels and used loose tenons to join the rails and stiles.

This project really turned out great.  I’m glad that I was able to get this done.  After replacing quite a few windows, getting the house painted, and finishing this project, the exterior of our house is looking really nice now.

Update:  A month later we did a little weekend family project to seal the deck and this new garden storage area.  Leslie and Reece were a great help and we finished this off in one weekend afternoon.  It looks even better now.

FYI… I was really dissatisfied with the original sealer that I used on the deck (Total Wood Peservative – TWP), so I did a lot of research on what would really work well for this application and I found another product called PPG Proluxe.  Others might know this product by the name of Sikkens.  PPG bought out that company, but it is still the same quality stuff.

The deck was looking rough only 6 months after the initial deck sealing.
I gave the entire deck a good sanding with 150 grit sandpaper to smooth everything out.  I wanted to make sure that the new sealer would bond well and have an even appearance.

I chose the “Cedar SRD Exterior Transparent Matte Wood Finish”.  We only had time to apply one coat before the weather got a bit too cold… they recommend two coats… but it still looks good after making it through the winter.  I’m really pleased so far with this deck sealer.  I’ll probably put another coat on this spring just to freshen it up again and thicken the protection.  The Colorado sun can be tough on things, but we deal with it.  🙂

My project team at work!
I sprayed the sealer onto the deck… which makes it go a lot faster… and Reece back-brushed it. What a team!
Family project complete… and looking awesome!

Till next time…

Leave a Reply