How to build a gate for a fence-Good fences can help people get along with their neighbors, but a fence that is ugly, weak, or poorly built won’t make anyone happy. On the other hand, this fence is strong, looks good, and is sure to please everyone. Most places have rules that say the best side should face out (towards the neighbors), but our fence is made so that it looks good from both sides.
How to build a gate for a fence? We used treated 4x4s for long-lasting posts and a “sandwich” design for the panels to make them strong and easier to put together. Compared to the price of a fence made from panels from a home center, this one isn’t cheap. But this fence is better than any you could buy in a store because it is made of thicker, higher-quality wood and has more details and better fasteners. We made it so that anyone who can use a circular saw and a level can put it together.
We’ll show you how to line up and set up the posts, build strong panels, and make elegant gates that won’t sag and are wide enough for a lawn tractor to fit through. We’ll also talk about how to make sure the foundation is strong, how to connect and fasten things securely, and how to stain things so that they last for decades without any problems. This project also doesn’t need a truckload of expensive tools.
You’ll only need a circular saw, a screw gun, and a 4-foot level, in addition to the usual tools for digging postholes and basic carpentry tools. But to really speed up assembly, get a 15-gauge trim nailer with 1-1/2-inch galvanized nails to attach the pickets and panel boards. The nails hold everything together until the top and bottom rail pieces are permanently screwed together. A table saw is also useful for cutting panel boards to the right width.
Also, learn more on how to build a wood fence gate.
Key Takeaways
- Before building a fence, you need to obtain a permit from your local building inspections department and follow the rules and regulations regarding fence height and distance from your property line. These rules can vary depending on the area you live in.
- To build a fence, you need to first mark the property line and find the exact places where the stakes are buried. You can do this yourself using a metal detector or hire a surveyor to do it for you.
- When building a fence, it is important to set the corners and mark the edge of the posts. You should also try to keep the distance between the posts the same and adjust the size of the panels to fit the gate.
- To ensure the fence posts are aligned correctly, you need to brace them and make small adjustments as needed. This is particularly important for posts near gates as it is difficult to build gates that swing smoothly between posts that aren’t straight or in the right place.
- Once the posts are aligned correctly, you need to secure them with concrete. This will help keep the fence stable and prevent it from shifting over time.
How to Build a Gate for a Fence
Approval of Fence Plans and Property Lines:
Begin at city hall. Most likely, you’ll need to get a fence permit from the local building inspections department. To start, pick up the application and the local fence rules. There will be rules about how close your fence can be to your property line and how tall it can be. These details may be different for front and back fences, and they may also be different for houses on corners or near busy streets, so look at them carefully.
You’ll probably have to send in a plan for the fence along with the application. The plan should be a scaled overview of your property that shows your property lines and the shape of the fence you want to build, as well as how high it will be and how far away it will be from the property lines. Any other information that is needed will be in the rules or the application for a permit.
If you live in a “planned” community or subdivision, you may also have to give the same information to a planning committee for approval. The committee’s rules can be even stricter than the city’s. They may say what materials can be used, what colors can be used, and even what the final design will look like. Don’t break the rules at your own risk. If you build a fence without permission from the planning committee or the city, you might have to take it down and build it again.
Step-by-step project (21)
Property Lines Mark
How to make fence gate? Find and mark your property line as a first step. One will be at each corner and anywhere on your property where it goes back and forth. You can find the stakes yourself, or you can hire a surveyor. You can easily find and mark them yourself if you rent a metal detector and look in the places you think they might be.
If the detector finds one, dig down to make sure it’s a steel stake and not something else made of metal that’s buried. Going to city hall and asking for a copy of the “Certificate of Survey” is a good idea. It will show the exact places where the stakes are.
Call to have underground utility lines marked while you wait for the permit. (You can call one number to the building department to have all lines marked.) Everyone marked their lines for us except the cable company, and guess what? Soon after they started digging the postholes, the History Channel went away for a while.
Note: Figure A can be downloaded and made bigger by clicking on “Additional Information” below.
Set the corners and make the posts.
Once you have your permit and property lines marked, you can start setting up where your posts will go. Use “batter boards” to set the corners and mark the edge of the 44 posts. String your lines 1-3/4 in. from the fence’s center line. Put a stake in the ground every 6 feet to mark the middle of each posthole. Put the string away and dig three-foot-deep, eight-inch-wide holes for the posts.
Dig Post Holes
With a clamshell digger, dig holes for the posts that are 8 inches in diameter and about 3 feet deep. Tamp the bottom of each hole to firm up any loose soil, and then pour about 6 inches of gravel into each hole. With a marker, draw the exact edges of each 44 post on the string. Then, put the string back on and mark the exact locations of the posts every 6 feet. Mark one side of each post instead of the middle so you can line up the edges of the posts when you put them in place.
Try to keep the distance between the posts the same, and don’t forget to move the posts to fit the size of each gate. The goal is to make sure that all of the posts are about the same distance apart. This may mean adding or taking away a full panel and making the other panels longer or shorter.
In our case, we made up the difference in the side part of the yard by adding short, slightly different panels on both sides of the gate. Our fence design works well for panels up to 8 feet wide, but if you choose a panel width other than 6 feet, you’ll need to change your list of materials to match.
Plumb the Posts and Brace them
Plan on getting some help for this step, since it’s almost impossible to set, level, and brace fence posts on your own. Place each 10-foot-long 44 on the gravel base, then screw a couple of 14 braces near the top of the post and drive stakes into the ground near the end of the braces. Align the edge of the post with the mark on the string line and level the post in both directions while your helper screws the braces to the stakes. This takes a little bit of time.
Most likely, you’ll need to take the braces off and make small changes. Take your time: A fence looks like it was put up by a pro if the posts are lined up right. When each side is done, stand behind one of the end posts, close one eye, and look for posts that aren’t lined up right. There are bound to be a couple of rogues. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but any posts that are more than 1/2 inch out of line should be fixed.
When plumbing and bracing, extra care needs to be taken with posts that are next to gates. It’s almost impossible to build gates that swing smoothly between posts that aren’t straight or in the right place.
Use concrete to secure the posts.
When everything is in the right place, mix some concrete and pour it around each post, piling it up about 1/2 inch above the ground. Use a trowel or wide putty knife to smooth and slope the top away from the post to help water run off. Let the concrete dry overnight before moving on to the next step, which is building the panels.
Note: We recommend staining the wood before cutting it and putting it together before moving on to the next step of this project. You’ll get a cleaner look and better coverage, and you’ll also save hours of time staining. Before the boards are put in place, you can quickly paint all the edges. But don’t be fooled: staining your fence will take almost as long as putting it together.
Use a roller with a 1/2-in.nap sleeve to speed up the process. Pour a few gallons of stain into a 5-gallon pail and hang a roller screen ($3) from the side of the pail to load the stain onto the roller. Set the boards on sawhorses and stack about five or six boards on edge next to each other.
Roll the edges of several boards at once, then turn them over and stain the other edge. Roll out the two flat sides and any wrinkles. Then, you put the boards on some long 2x4s to dry. Put on the second layer. If you brush stain on the edges and ends of the boards after cutting them, your fence will last for years without rotting. That will keep water away from the end grain, which is where most rotting starts.
Rough-sawn cedar needs a lot of stain to cover it up. For every 12 feet of fence, you’ll need about a gallon of good latex stain.
Add two 1x4s to each post.
Depending on the grade, our panels are about 6 feet tall. That’s high enough to block your neighbors’ view, but low enough that you can talk to them through the “jail bars” near the top. You can change the height if you want, but you’ll have to figure out the best length of 16 and 14 panel boards to buy for cutting efficiently.
In the same way, you can make the distance between the ground and the panels longer or shorter depending on your needs. In our case, the bottom was about 3 inches above the grass. If you want to keep small dogs in (or out of) your yard, make it smaller. If you want it to be easy to mow, make it a little bit higher than your lawn mower’s wheels.
Start by nailing 8-foot 14-inch cedar boards to the insides of the posts every 8 inches with pairs of 2-inch siding nails. Don’t hammer more than 6 feet up. If you don’t, you might hit the nails with the saw when you cut the posts to the right height. Leave at least 1/2 inch of space between the concrete and the 14 to keep the bottoms from rotting.
Mark the height of the lower rail
Hold the 28 up against the posts 10 inches above the concrete and use the posts as a guide to mark both ends. The cutoff angles are set by the way the bottom rails follow the slope of the yard. Cut the 2x8s to size, minus 1/8 inch for clearance, and use them as templates to cut matching 1×8 bottom rails that you will install later.
Use metal angles to put up the rails.
Use 1-1/4-inch joist hanger screws and a 1-3/4-inch spacer block to attach 2×3 angle brackets to the center of each post, 2 inches below the marks. Then, screw the bottom rails of the 2x8s to the brackets, using the marks to figure out how high they should be.
Cut the curves in the top rail.
Set up the top rail by cutting an 18 pattern for it. Bend a half-rope with no knots on a 6-ft. 1/8 to make a curve that is smooth (If the width of your panels is more than one, make separate patterns.) Use a jigsaw to cut the curve, and then use it as a pattern for the upper 18 rails.
Level and Put Up Signs
Next, mark on each post where the top of the fence panels will go. Unless your yard is perfectly flat, there is no magic number for height. We tried to get an average height of 6 feet, but the shape of the yard made some parts shorter and others taller. Use a 4-foot level and straight board to mark each post between each pair of posts. Step panels up or down to deal with changes in grade and keep the height at about 6 feet. If you’re not sure, you can attach boards to the tops of each pair to get an idea of how high the panels will be before deciding on the final heights.
Place the rails between the posts so that they are even with the top layout marks. Hold them in place while you mark their length and then cut both sets (front and back) of rails to the same length for each panel. Cut them to the right length, less 1/8 inch.
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