Building my own driveway gate.

[elsmandino]

Hello,

My driveway is completely open at the moment and I need to put up a gate for security/privacy reasons.

The driveway is 3.4 metres wide and the gate shall have to be 2 metres tall to match my neighbour's fence.

I was originally going to build everything from wood but have decided that perhaps box steel might be a better idea.

My plan is to build and cement in a frame (two gate posts and a cross-member) and then attach two rectangular squares inside with hinges (made from the same material) as gate frames.

I was then going to cover the gate frames with wood.

The above is completely theoretical - is it a workable idea?

Is 50mmx50mm box section a decent material (i.e. strong and resilient enough) for a project like this?

Any pointers/modifications would be much appreciated.

 

[nev]

4 or 6 inch galvanised posts sunk and concreted at least 2 feet into the ground.
Forget the cross member unless you never want a transit, 4x4 with a roof rack etc to enter the drive, and if the posts are in properly you won't need one.
50mm box will flex/ bounce over 1.7m especially with the weight of timber on it without (diagonal) bracing.

 

[elsmandino]

Thanks Nev - it is encouraging that you definitely think that it is possible.

I shall see if I can source some 4x4 inch 9 foot metal fence posts.

One quick other thing, that I should have originally mentioned - we are planning to have an extension put on the side of our house (within, hopefully, the next couple of years).

My original plan for using box steel was that it was cheap enough for a driveway gate that is only going to be in place for 2-3 years. Do you still think metal is the way to go in light of this?

 

[nev]

Metal's not that cheap.
If you are planning on covering it all in wood then it would probably be simpler and cheaper to make wooden gates in the first place.

search.php?keywords=gates&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search
e.g.
post1259606.html

 

[powertools]

Iv'e got exactly the same problem in that I need to make a pair of gates about 6ft high to span a gap 10ft wide. To make matters worse in the morning one side of the gates will be in full sun and in the afternoon the other side will be in full sun and I think that making them from wood will cause some problems with warping.
I can do both metal work and wood work but have kept putting the job off but I think that my best solution is to make metal frames and posts and clad them with feather edge boards that are both cheap and will match the fencing.