Preparing a wall for a barn door
The wall your barn door track will be mounted to needs to have enough support to carry the weight of the door.
Best method (for renovations or new builds): Add extra framing timber along the wall in line with your door lintel. Fill in the full length of your track — the wider and higher the better — so you have room to adjust the track up or down if needed. Once the wall is finished, screw the track directly into the solid timber behind it.
Easiest for existing walls: If fixing the track directly to the wall isn’t possible, you can mount a timber board (for example, 140x20mm) securely to the wall, ideally into studs. The track can then be fixed to this board. This method isn’t recommended for larger or heavier doors, and something to consider is this method will position the door slightly further out from the wall.
Alternative method for existing walls: You can cut a strip of your wall lining out of the wall, then add timber framing (as per "best method" above). This also allows you to see what is behind the wall — avoiding pipes or wiring. Then patch up/paint the wall, and attach the track.
