Garden Gate

Yesterday was one of the first days in quite a while where I didn't have plans to be anywhere, or have to work inside at my day job. I have built up quite a to do list of odd jobs that need doing around here and without a honey to help out with the "honey-do" list -the list has grown rather long.

About a month ago I built a yard gate. A temporary closure had been there since we first visited our property. It did the job of keeping the dogs in - for a while, and then the dogs discovered they could squeeze through the gap and it ceased to be effective. A new gate was a must!

I was still humming and hawing about what I wanted to put there but my humming and hawing was accelerated! Being that new metal gates are expensive (about $70.00 for a 4 footer) and don't have a whole lot of eye appeal, I decided to build my own gate.

This gate was my inspiration:

My materials list:

• 2 pieces of 2x4 (scrap I had lieing around). I cut one into two pieces the desired width of the gate and the other was cut to fit the diagonal
• 8 Cedar pickets 5/8" thick @ 1.62 each, total $12.96
• Gate hinge set $14.97
  
• Screws-Various left overs I had on hand

Total cost $27.93.

Construction:

I first cut 2 2x4's to the desired width, and laid out my pickets on them, spacing the pickets so that I didn't have to split a picket lengthwise. I then screwed the pickets to the 2x4's, being careful to measure each as I went to keep them spaced evenly. Once they were all screwed on, I cut and screwed the diagonal board to keep everything aligned.

Then came the task of cutting the arch. I wasn't sure how to do this so opted to use a piece of baling twine as a guide. I lay the baling twine on the gate, and then curved it into an arch. I used a pencil to trace a guide line, took a deep breath and cut the arch with my circular saw. I was very happy with the end result.

Mounting the gate was no fun what-so-ever. My drills were not cooperating. The battery drill's battery was dead and my electric drill's power button kept getting stuck and it would only turn at 1/2 speed. The screwdriver I was using when the drills failed just wasn't strong enough and the tip started wearing. Through a rotation of tools, I finally got the gate hung and latch mounted!

I'm pretty proud of the end result-the gate even swings AND latches!