Choosing the wrong size barn door is one of the most commonly made mistakes made during a barn door installation. Size of doorway, clearance around doorway and hardware kit configuration are just a few factors that could determine the correct size for your particular barn door installation. Follow these simple steps to ensure that you have the correct door size for your opening.

Measure the Height of the Doorway

Starting at the lowest point on your floor (if it is uneven) measure the distance from the finished floor to the inside of the frame at the top of your doorway. That distance will tell you the minimum height of your door

Measure the Width of the Doorway

Starting on one side of the doorway, measure the width of the opening from inside frame on one side, to inside frame on the other side. This measurement will be used in determining the ideal width of your doors.

Now that you have these two important measurements, the width of your doors will be determined by the type of barn door hardware system that you are using. If you're still not sure what hardware system you would need for your opening, you can take our simple quiz which will help you determine the correct hardware kit for your doorway.

Take the Barn Door Hardware Quiz

Single Door Configuration

It is very important that you have sufficient overlap between the door and the sides of the doorway. If there isn't sufficient overlap, you will be able to see through the doorway when the door is closed, when looking at the doorway at an angle. This is because, with a sliding barn door, the door sits in front of the doorway, not in the doorway.

Door Width

In order to have sufficient coverage of your doorway, it is recommended that you have 2" of overlap between the sides of your doorway and the sides of your door. In order find the correct width for your door, take the width of the doorway and add 4" (2" overlap on the right side, 2" overlap on the left side).

Ideal Door Width (Single Door)

Width of Doorway + 4" = Recommended Door Width

Door Height

It is not as important to have sufficient overlap between the top of your door and the top of your doorway, as it is pretty unlikely that someone will be looking at the doorway from above (and be able to see into the next room). It is for this reason that we only recommend 1" of overlap between the top of the door and the top of the doorway. Because the hardware kit will hold the door 1/2" off of the ground, you can even get away with having the door the same height as the doorway and having 1/2" of overlap as opposed to the full 1".

Double Door (Bi-part) Configuration

A double-door bi-part configuration is where both doors meet in the middle of the doorway on the same track when in the closed position and then slide to each side of the doorway when in the open position.

Door Width

As the doors meet in the middle, it is only necessary to have 2" of overlap between the side of your doorway and the side of your doors (on one side of the door). In order to find the correct width for the doors, divide the width of the doorway by 2, then add 2" for the overlap.

Ideal Door Width (Bi-part)

(Width of Doorway ÷ 2) + 2" = Recommended Door Width (per door)

Door Height

As it is less important to have overlap between the top of the door and the top of the doorway (than having overlap at the sides), it is sufficient to have your door the same height as the doorway. If you want to have extra overlap, make the door 1" - 2" taller than the doorway, but make sure you have enough clearance above the doorway to mount the hardware.

(Dual-Track) Bypass Configuration

The traditional flat-track barn door bypass hardware kit comes with two tracks, one cantilevered in front of the other, with one door on each track. The term "dual-track" is used to differentiate this style of system from the Single-track bypass kit.

Door Width

As the distance from the wall to door on the outer track is several inches, it is very important to have at least 2" of overlap between the sides of the door and the sides of the doorway, as well as 2" of overlap between the bypass doors where they meet in the middle. If in doubt, it is better to have doors that are wider than expected, as opposed to not wide enough.

Ideal Door Width (Bypass)

(Width of Doorway ÷ 2) + 4" = Recommended Door Width (per door)

Door Height

As with the single track kits, having proper overlap between the top of the door and the top of the doorway is not as important as having sufficient coverage on the sides and between the bypass doors. It is recommended that your doors are at least the same height as the doorway or 1" - 2" taller if you want to have extra overlap.

Single-Track Bypass Configuration

As both doors of the single-track bypass barn door hardware kit are on the same track, there is a certain amount of overlap between the doors that is "built-in" to the design of the hardware system. The amount of overlap you will have between your doors is dependent on the mounting location of your hangers. The further in from the edge of the door, the more overlap you will have and the wider your doors will need to be.

Door Width

We recommend that you have 2" of overlap between the side of the door and the side of the doorway (on each door). Before you can calculate the ideal width of your doors, you'll first need to decide where to place your hangers on your doors and how much overlap you will have.

Calculating Door Overlap

The amount of overlap you will have between your doors will be dependent on the mounting location of the hangers. If the hangers are mounted flush with the edge of the door, then you will have 4-1/4" of overlap. For every 1" of space from the edge of the door to the edge of the hanger, you add an additional 2" of overlap between your doors. So if your hangers are mounted 2" from the edge of the door, you will have 8-1/4" of overlap [4-1/4" + (2 * 2") = 8- 1/4"].

Amount of Overlap Between Doors

[Distance from Edge of Door to Edge of Hanger (in Inches) x 2] + 4-1/4" = Overlap Between Bypass Doors

Now that you know the amount of overlap you will have between your doors, you can determine the ideal width for your barn doors to make sure that they are properly covering your doorway.

Ideal Door Width (Single-track Bypass)

(Width of Doorway ÷ 2) + Overlap Between Bypass Doors + 2" = Recommended Door Width (per door)

Door Height

As having sufficient overlap between the top of the door and the top of the doorway is not as important as having proper overlap at the sides of the doorway. Make sure your doors are at least the same height as your doorway or make them 1" - 2" taller for additional coverage.

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