I Made a Gate!

The side of the house has kind of been in limbo.  We want to build an extension there in time, so we're loathe to invest too much in improvements.  However, the gate was an eyesore.  Some friends stopped by our house (they had been here when the renovation started) and told me they only way they could recognize the house was by the gate!  I know it was meant as a compliment, but I took it as a challenge.  The only picture I can find of the gate before is this one.

The old gate and one of the posts were rotten.  We started looking around for new gates and the narrow size meant we had to get one custom made.  The best quote we got was £140.  I thought that was a bit steep and on a Sunday evening I told Niall I thought I could build one.

On Monday morning, I was at Jewsons and there just happened to be some offcuts of wood that were the exact height we needed for the gate.  I took it as a sign and bought the wood.  Our joiner was on site (making George in the kitchen island) and gave me some guidance (and helped wench the pieces together.)  It was a niggly operation.  At one point I had my mom and our three year old holding pieces together.  It was a three-generation job!

Pretty soon we had this.  (If you looks to the left, you can see another shot of the old gate.)

The title of the post is a bit misleading.  I didn't make the gate all by myself.  Our joiner ripped both sides of the gate with a saw so it was just the right size.

Then I started sanding.  And then priming.  Only to find that I hadn't rinsed our roller very well. 

Then I did the rest.  Primed again.  Sanded.  Painted with gloss paint.  I then ripped, pulled, used a crow bar,  kicked and a few other tricks to get the old gate and post removed.   Replaced a gate post, and hung the gate.  Apparently I didn't take very good after pictures either.  But, anyway, we have a new gate!  Here's the view from the back door (along the side of the garage, heading out towards the front of the house and the street.)

The gate matches the front door.  (We have a lot of that gloss paint left.  I think I'll use it to paint a few more outside doors.  Like on the coal shed and possibly the bomb shelter.)

We sanded, primed and painted the wooden surround on the garage as well.

The original lock I put on the gate wasn't strong enough.  It has taken a few weeks, but I finally got around to beefing it up and moving the placement to make it stronger.  Gate is 'secure', and maybe some day I'll get around to painting the new pieces.  Or maybe not.