I have a narrow hallway with a bathroom door that opens out. For years I have not been able to put runners/rugs in the hall because of the door. I had planned to put a pocket door in but recently was told that because of the light switch wiring it was not possible and the suggestion was made that I install a barn door which I did. I did not know that there will be a gap once the barn door was installed, the gap it’s too large to ignore. You can clearly see a person sitting on the toilet or standing at the sink, aaagh!. I tried the weatherstrip as suggested here but it did not work so then I came up with the idea of attaching “L” shaped trim. I have attached photos and it works perfectly!You have to attach the trim on both sides of the door frame and the bolts for the tracks had to be turned around so that they will not catch on the trim.

The door slab can be used for the barn door, but you'll want to remove the hinges and patch/paint them. The knobs could be left on, but realize that they'll prevent the doors from opening the full width of the opening (may not matter to you). And you'll have the latch mechanism that will be extraneous. Here's a photo of a barn door setup we used between a bedroom and bath. We still had normal molding (casing and baseboard), so that wouldn't need to be removed. Your doors will just cover the opening (like they do now) without any overlap. Also, the door jamb will have mortises to full in (where hinges were), an extra piece of wood in the center of the door jamb (don't know the name) that doesn't exist for wall openings without doors. Those could be removed. As long as the above don't bother you, it can certainly be done.

Hi there- Found this online. This helped us in our stain search for barn doors my husband is building. Our wood is old ash so it's a process of trial and error with your species. We didn't want to go too gray or too warm. We layered Minwax Classic Grey and then Jacobean. Oil based so tougher to deal with but happy with how it's turning out. Applied 3 coats of General Finishes water based flat once it was completely dry. A lot of people raved about the iron oxide stain you make at home with steel wool- I tried it but I wanted more control and to be able to apply a top coat so I passed, but does make an aged finish-especially with coffee or tea applied first. I'll post pic of progress thus far later. Good luck!

You should really apply poly to the sample to get a true read of the finished look. As soon as I apply stain, it’s darker initially but the stain will lighten a bit after it is dry. Then when you apply poly, the stain will darken just a bit. Plus, the poly itself is not completely clear. It usually has a slight amber hue depending on the brand. Also, applying the poly enhances the wood making it look richer.