Sliding Door Tutorial on Built-in Dog Crate

Our little dogs LOVE their little cave/dog crate, I created in the lower section of this built-in bookshelf. The center panels on the doors are lattice, allowing plenty of airflow but creating den-like environment my dogs love. One door slides behind the fixed panel so we can leave the door open without it being in the way.

The dogs choose to go lay in their open crate for napping and just getting away from the noise of the TV or chaos when we have friends over. I mainly only need to close the door when the vacuum is running. It tends to stress Brody out and he attacks it – but he’s totally fine about it when he’s safely secured in his little cave.

steel bar – Sliding Door Track

This cabinet uses a steel bar as a sliding door track. Steel bars can be found at hardware or big box stores. For a standard 3/4″ thick cabinet door, a steel bar that is 1/8″ thick x 1″ wide should work great. The steel bar should equal the full width of the cabinet bottom.

Construct the Cabinet

The cabinet is built with the basic cabinet construction method you prefer- with two added steps.

1. Cutting a groove in the cabinet bottom for the steel bar track.
2. Installing a cleat to create an upper pocket to contain the sliding door.

Cabinet Groove

Cut a groove into the cabinet bottom that will create a tight fit for the bar.

• This groove should be 1/8″ wide by 1/2″ deep – across the full with of your cabinet bottom.
• Set back from front of cabinet to account for 1/2 of the thickness of your door + some wiggle room to allow to door to slide freely behind the faceframe.

Install track

Time to install the steel bar into the groove in the cabinet bottom. If sawblade created any tear-out while cutting the groove – wrap some sandpaper around a thin strip of wood and clean up the visible edges. The bar should fit snugly in the groove. Tap it in with a rubber mallet or use the pressure of some clamps to seat if fully into the groove.

Build doors

On this particular cabinet – one door is actually a fixed panel made to look like the sliding door.

1. The panel should fit it’s designated space and be permanently secured. (I used pocket hole screws in the back.)
2. The sliding door is sized 1/2″ taller and wider than the door opening.

Cut Door Groove

• The groove cut into the bottom of the sliding door should be:
  • Centered
  • Slightly wider than the steel bar (providing wiggle room so it will slide freely)
  • Slightly shorter than the the portion of steel bar that is protruding up from the bottom of your cabinet.
    • The amount protruding should be 1/2″ – but it’s a good idea to measure the height of what’s actually there.

Install Cleat

The door will slide easily on the steel bar but there needs to be something at the top of the cabinet to keep the door upright. The easiest way to handle this is to create a pocket by adding a cleat behind the door. The cleat should extend the full width of the cabinet and be thick enough that the door fits up into the pocket. You may have to layer a couple pieces of plywood, depending on your faceframe overhang.

• Since the door is sized only larger than the opening, it should easily fit inside the opening if held at an angle.
• Once inside the cabinet, turn it straight – slide it up into the pocket – then down onto the rail.

Pro Tip: Rub paste wax in the grooves and on the backside of the faceframe – to make the door glide more smoothly.

Now you should have a fully functioning sliding door. Because it is sized 1/2″ taller and wider than the opening, the faceframe keeps it from tipping out of the opening. The upper cleat keeps it from tipping backwards into the cabinet. The upper pocket is deep enough that you can lift up and remove the door from the lower track if you ever want to replace the door with a different style.
We want to extend a big thank you to our project sponsor, Duluth Trading Co.