[Yorky]

I want to make two garden gates to go at both ends of a 4 ' picket fence. They willl be in the same style as the picket fence, which is on a slope, so they appear to be a continuation of the fence.

Each gate will be approximately 4' wide and hung on the existing fence posts.

I haven't done this before and would appreciate any advice / tips.

My initial question is how should I measure and cut the diagonal bracing rail so it is a snug fit between the top and bottom rails?

Thanks in advance.

[JulieSh]

Hi Yorky,
I made a gate for my daughter a couple of months ago - but I don't do plans, so explaining this will be hard!

Anyway, first I measured the total gap..... yours is approx 8 foot, yes?
So - take 2 8ft lengths & lay them out horizontally - then mark the centres, and decide how high your gates are going to be. Move the horizontal bars to the appropriate gap - say if your gates were going to be 4 foot also, I'd put the horizontals with a 2 foot gap, so that then gives you 1 foot each at top & bottom...... Cut your horizontals & lay out your diagonals across them - use the horizontals to mark your angles at the out side edge.
Then if you take your verticals & screw each one top & bottom - keep checking that they are parallel tho! And lastly, fit your diagonals into the gap, using the verticals to screw into - should be nice & snug.

I'll take a pic of the one I made to illustrate - but below is sort of what I mean... like I said, I don't DO plans, it all sort of comes together as I make stuff!
Julie.


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