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Need advice on building wood gate

4K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  jharris2 
#1 ·
I need to replace some wood gates on either side of my home that my father in law built about 25 years ago. I got a quote on a Sederra cedar gate and it was $750 per gate, too much for my wallet. I have done some woodworking in the past and have some basic tools. Here is a picture of what I plan to build:



I assume the middle section is plywood. The place I got the Sederra quote from told me they could sell me the the wood (Western Red Cedar) for around $200. I would like to paint the gate instead of stain because I don't want to restain it every year or have it turn grey. I read that Douglas Fir might be better for painting. I got a quote for kiln dried DF 2"x12"x8' and it is $95 so maybe more expensive than cedar. A friend of mine who does a lot of woodworking told me the thickness of dimensional lumber can vary up to 1/4" and it would have to be planed to a consistent thickness. I don't have the capability to do this and i don't want to pay to have it done. I am going check on the cedar to see if it is consistent thickness. Is it possible to paint the cedar and have it last for at least 10 years? Any other wood I should consider?
I plan to use dowels to hold the frame together since I don't have the tools to do mortise and tenon. I am willing to spend some money on tools since I am saving money by building the gates myself but not more than a few hundred dollars.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
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Regardless, a gate has 3 aspects, the style, the material and the structure. The style can be board on board, diagonal, vertical, horizontal etc. It doesn't matter to a point, then structure comes into play. A diagonal brace either on the outside or hidden by the boards is necessary to prevent "racking" a structural failure. :thumbdown: You can attach boards to plywood which will act as the diagonal brace.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=ytff1-tyc7&va=diagonal+brace+gate

A weather resistant material like Pressure Treated Southern Yellow pine is a good choice. White Oak is good also, but very heavy. I used Cypress, a very good choice for these barn doors: http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/evil-machine-28461/index2/


A penetrating stain is better than a paint, since it can be recoated without stripping. Paint peels eventually and that means more work. A solid color stain is what I used on my shop, garage and house and it doesn't peel. Sherman Williams makes a good one.
 
#3 ·
Attached is a photo of a ceder gate I did.
Solid cedar stiles and rails with solid cedar infil panel.
Top is covered with a rolled piece of solid copper to protect it from the weather.
Construction is mortise and tennon glued with Gorilla glue and pinned with Teak dowels.
This one has been up over 10 years, no problem.
I also did another one like this only wider, that one has been up at least 5 years I guess.
I picked the cedar, let it dry, and planned it to a consistant thickness before I started building.
 

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#4 ·
#7 ·
I can't see the photo but I just built a couple of gates for my daughter. They were about 40" wide and 6' tall. I built them like I do all gates, take 2" * 4" pressure treated wood, built a square out of it, sized at the width I want and 16" under the height leaving 8" of slat on the top and bottom. The square is butt jointed and the 2" * 4"s are where the 2" side faces the slats. I screw in a cross piece of 2" * 4" from the top left side of the square to the bottom right side. Then I attach the slats using galvanized screws putting three in each at the top and bottom and two where the slat crossed the cross piece.

This probably makes no sense at all and may not relate to the gate you are making but as I said, can't see the photo.
 
#8 ·
NathanB said:
I saw those and also something called Adjust-a-gate. Sure it would be easy and cheap but it would not achive the look that we want.
Laughing! They're definitely not pretty!

Once I complete my router mortising jig I will not be using those brackets again.

Ugleee!!!!
 
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