Oppositegate

[zipfuel]

We are hopefully adopting a dog this week so I needed to put a gate on the backyard asap.

My wife knowing my tendency to procrastinate bought a generic gate kit and latch off Amazon which gave me a good starting point.

Given the deadline and being my first time doing this I figured go simple as possible: rectangular 2x4 frame with 1x6 fence boards across the front and some diagonal braces at the back.

Then I went to double check my measurements and started thinking it would last better if the boards were capped as our old fence ended up pretty snaggle-toothed. Also if I lapped the boards it would match the new fence really nicely and I wouldn't have to rip all the boards to a weird width to fit the gap.

Ah well on to the MK2 version. Didn't need the braces anyway as the kit comes with metal corners.

Made a cut list and $110.30 CAD (ouch!) of pressure treated lumber later was ready to start Saturday afternoon.

Not many progress photos as I was focused on the task at hand.

My favorite detail was using the radial arm saw to buzz down the cap to fit over the top of the hinge and hide it. This thing has proved its value today and I'm going to give it some upgrades (I'll do another post on that)

I started after lunch and got the last hinge hung by the light of the impact driver. (I maintain I'm not stubborn at all - my wife says otherwise). No pics cos it was dark.

Next morning there was rain in the forecast at 10am so I skipped breakfast and jumped straight into cutting and mounting the 4x4 post onto the foundation.

The concrete anchors available were nowhere near long enough to pass through a 4x4 and I thought L- brackets would be hideous so I counterbored more than half way through the piece and tightened the nuts up with an extension.

Mistakes were made; the first cut I did was exactly 1/4" too short when I fixated on getting the saw lined up exactly and forgot the number. Past me was smart enough to foresee such dumbassery however and had plenty of spare material.
I also didn't clean enough concrete dust out of the first hole in the wall and hammered over the thread on the anchor trying to get it in.
Sawzall to the rescue: I zipped the tip off and was back in business.

Got it all finished just in time to take the kids swimming and before the rain started.


Still not 100% happy with it, but I never am. The gate swings open when released and the latch bounces if not closed gently. I figure both can be fixed by adding a spring later and for now its nice and solid.

Just as well since the rescue emailed while I was writing and we pickup the dog tomorrow night!

[atfsgeoff]

@zipfuel Very nice job there. I've built two gates in the past ten years for my yard and both were solid 6-hour jobs. And they were just duplicates of existing (but rotted) gates. Would probably add another hour or two if I had to design one first.

And yea $110 CDN in wood sounds about right. My gates were about $75 USD each and made with lattice.

[beefchips]

@zipfuel measure thrice cut twice! Looks great

[pyroholtz]

@zipfuel great work! I highly recommend adding a backing board to create a jam, so that the latch doesn't sustain the closing forces, they're really not designed for that and before long the fasteners will be loose. Add a 6x1 here, mounted to the 4x4 post and that will absorb the closing force. Unfortunately it will narrow the opening a bit but you don't need much overhang.

[zipfuel]

@pyroholtz that's absolutely in my plans, that latch is spindly and and the gate is heavy. I have a extra 2x4 and 16' of 5/4x6 left by the decking guys one of which will do nicely. I also want to 3d print a custom cap for the fence post and some 1" plugs for the counterbores.

[zipfuel]

@beefchips I'm normally from the school of cut slightly too long and shave down until it fits precisely but no time today.

[pyroholtz]

@zipfuel good ideas! If you want to maintain the maximum width for the walkway, you can always add the 'jam' board to the face of the fence, but it won't look standard, but who cares.

[Roadkilled]

@zipfuel The title of the post made me assume you would be writing about some scandal on Oppo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_"-gate"_scandals_and_controversies

[SilentbutnotreallyDeadly]

@roadkilled said in Oppositegate:

@zipfuel The title of the post made me assume you would be writing about some scandal on Oppo.

They are NOT scandals.

They are Uppu-tunities.

[zipfuel]

@roadkilled some might accuse me of clickbait but

[sn4cktimes]

@zipfuel next time you do concrete anchors spin a bit or two on the end of the threads. Bigger hitting surface and protects the threads. If those sleeves anchors ever come loose, don’t upsize. Remove them and use concrete epoxy and threaded rod. That tends to be my go to for anything at work now. I don’t use inserts anymore. They eventually back out.

[zipfuel]

@sn4cktimes yeah I learned my lesson on the second one and left a nut on. Also figured I could recut the threads to some degree by backing it off if required but since I cleared the hole out there were no issues.
Epoxy is always a a good idea, many of our equipment suppliers at work are specifying epoxy anchors now instead of ones embedded in the foundation cos it's harder to screw up and the pull out force isn't much different.