Making my own garden gate
- Thread starter psd99
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Soldato
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Given that he has walls to attach the post to there is no need to use a 4by4 post. I would use 2by4 personally 44mm is still plenty of meat for attaching hinges to and as long as the degree of out of vertical you correcting isn't too gross plenty for planing down to taper back to vertical.
There was a couple of reasons I mentioned 4x4. The first was he stated a difference of 1 and a half inch in width which if most of that is on one side doesn't give much left on 44mm.
The other was I just think 4x4 looks better for framing a gate, especially with a half inch rebate. It also allows you to not have to bother with planing and just add trim.
I'd also suggest that if attaching posts then keep the post slightly of the ground. You could stand it on a plastic packer
Soldato
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Fair points, it is probably a matter of looking at the job, no definitive answer until you can see it.
Two brick walls. Should be able to get some pictures up over the weekend.
Its really easy to build a braced T&G gate. If you use some proper 18mm+ T&G boards you don't really need to make a frame. You probably wont find that thickness board from B&Q though and will have to go to a proper timber merchants. I'd use pressure treated timber if you can find it. I wanted mine to be as light as possible, but have had a bit of black mildew appear despite me using 3 coats of clear preservative.
Don't glue the T&G boards together, the tongues are designed to allow the timber to move. One thing I would do though is paint the tongues before you assemble the gate so you don't end up seeing bare timber when the boards shrink in the summer.
T hinges are what I used, but look for some decent 4mm thick galvanised ones. The black ones from diy sheds are usually really thin and not galvanised so will start to corrode in no time.
http://imgur.com/a/HRS7y - Heres a few more pics of it.
If you want to go the whole hog and build a mortice and tenoned frame that that is also possible with hand tools and a bit of time, but even easier if you have a sliding mitre saw.
Don't glue the T&G boards together, the tongues are designed to allow the timber to move. One thing I would do though is paint the tongues before you assemble the gate so you don't end up seeing bare timber when the boards shrink in the summer.
T hinges are what I used, but look for some decent 4mm thick galvanised ones. The black ones from diy sheds are usually really thin and not galvanised so will start to corrode in no time.
http://imgur.com/a/HRS7y - Heres a few more pics of it.
If you want to go the whole hog and build a mortice and tenoned frame that that is also possible with hand tools and a bit of time, but even easier if you have a sliding mitre saw.
Soldato
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FWIW i just fitted a gate i bought from wickes, Its 1.8m x 900. http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Pressure-Treated-Curved-Top-Timber-Gate---900-x-1800-mm/p/137212 it seems quite substantial, i did wonder why people recommend leaking a gap on the hinge side i forget wood expands so much. I put 3 hinges on as its quite heavy and used some bits of wood to space it off the floor so theres maybe a 3/4" gap. I need to move the post ive screwed to the garage due to a small school boy error but all in all it looks alright. I might post pics if anyones interested.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Professio...hash=item1ec3713895:m:mf1vdv9SydxXwIgx_dfA0qA
I always use this type of square drive decking screw as the heads tend to be smaller and they look quite cool. But any external grade decking screw should do.
Thanks, it was just a quick job really as I needed a gate to stop kids using my garden as a short cut to a field behind my house.
Used a mitresaw, router and combi drill. I think i added a couple of biscuits between the diagonal brace and the top and bottom rails to stop it twisting. Also added a drip mould to the horizontal rails using a half round cutter and a slight angle to the tops.
Timber cost was about £40 and the Sikkens base coat and top coat were like £45. Probably better to just go for pressure treated timber and a cheaper finish.
I appreciate that the way you did it might be far stronger with the mortise and tendon joint, but wouldn't some carefully placed screws and glue done a sufficient job? I'm lazy and I will always take the easy road.
He means if you wanted to make one with a frame around (these are called frame, ledged and braced or fl&b for short) he made a ledged and braced l&b for short.I appreciate that the way you did it might be far stronger with the mortise and tendon joint, but wouldn't some carefully placed screws and glue done a sufficient job? I'm lazy and I will always take the easy road.
I be interested to know if you half lapped the brace in the middle mark a as that's going the extra mile