Do It Yourself Wood Fence Gate Construction

When the fence is in place apply paint stain or a weather proofing finish according to manufacturer s instructions.

Do it yourself wood fence gate construction.

Apply wood preservative around the base posts to prevent the wood from rotting. Some towns might require this plan for an approved building permit. To strengthen your gate cut a piece of wood to be placed diagonally from the top of the hinge side of the gate to the bottom of the latch side of the gate. You might want to lay them out left to right and right to left depending on the hinge side try to get things even.

Prop up the gate and screw the hinges into the gate and attach the hinges to the post. After building a fence staining or treating the wood can be the first step in proper maintenance that can extend its life. Gate pickets should be flush with the inside faces of the posts. Step 3 add screening to gate frame.

Since you are building the fence and the gate you control the opening and the dimensions so think ahead. Install hinges and attach the gate to the fence. Plan your gate size to use full pickets. At that point they call the wood barn wood and sell it for 3x what it initially cost.

Predrill where the screws will go. Step 2 the posts if new posts are needed you ll need to bury them at least a foot into the ground maybe as much as two feet if the posts are big and the door will be heavy. Make sure you keep your gate square while assembling. I used cedar fence slats and do not plan to finish them in any way.

Put the gate into place supporting it on the bottom with a 2x4 1 5 inch off ground. I live in a fairly dry climate so wood fences like this turn gray in a few years and then just last until they re deemed too ugly and someone tears them down. If there are already fence posts spaced the distance apart you want you can skip to the section constructing the gate s frame. Add some wire mesh to make the enclosure more secure.

Use a pencil to mark where the hinge should go on the post and then put the gate down. Use graph paper to draw a plan for your fence. For a more modern take fence posts are drilled all the way through so that the rails can be inserted into the slots. Plan gate post locations.

But designing a fence gate that balances the need for privacy with a level of curb appeal that won t deter the invited guests can be a challenge. You can purchase split rail fencing materials at most hardware stores but the original way to do it is to split the logs yourself. Worst case senario you have to play with the picket spacing or cut a picket.