# turning a fence panel into a gate



## Woodworkingkid (Jan 8, 2011)

So I have been asked if I would take some old wood fencing and turn it into a gate to go in between a building and a chain link fence. It is for a rowing club that my dad's cousin is a member of and I spent part of today clearing out the area today so kayak racks and go in there. One end they just want a fence panel cut to fit one side attached to the building and the other attached to either a post that i would put in the ground of to one of the metal fences post. I am not relay sure how I should do the gate. I am thinking of using my hammer drill and attaching the hinges into the wall and then attach the gate to that. Then I am thinking of cutting another piece of fencing to go next to the gate and up to the chain link fence. The distance between the wall and the chain link fence is around 6 feet. The fencing is six foot tall privacy fencing and is necessary because the boating club is in the hood and they are concerned that the one day they will go there and all the kayaks will be gone. None pf them know what they want to do for racks yet but my idea was wooden racks and then drilling a hole in the rack next to each kayak so they all can be individual;ly locked up for even more security


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you are wanting to attach a section of dog-eared fence to the building as a gate, the section of fence will take a lot of beefing up to use as a gate. It isn't designed for that purpose. It would be necessary to put some pieces across the back on a angle with glue to keep it from sagging and possibly a piece of cable from the upper hinge corner to the lower opposite corner. Then before you attach it to the building it should have a timber attached to the building to hinge it on. You couldn't expect the siding of the building to hold up the gate. Actually it would probably be better to set a 4x4 or larger post in concrete next to the building to hinge it on.


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## Woodworkingkid (Jan 8, 2011)

Thanks that's a good idea to put some cross braces on the back to beef it up. The building is either concrete or cinder block so I thought that it would be OK to attach a 2X4 to the side and screw the hinges into that. If its not then I will put a 4X4 post into the ground. I have put in a fence before so I know that the post will need to be at least 36 inches down so frost wont mess with them and how to get it all lined up so it will look good. I am a little worries about this job because I have never done fencing by my self before and I don't want to mess it up.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I made gates from the board on board fencing to match the rest of the fence I installed. When you select your panels, some are sold with 2x3's as horizontal, so make sure.

Fence panels don't make good gates. You have no integral stiles to install hinges. When I did mine I was in a rush to get some gates up, and I just used strap hinges on the 3 rails.

On the house you can sink a 4x4, and lag it to the building. If it has to get hinged in a free area, sink 2 4x4's about 12" apart and framed together. The spread of them will help counteract the leaning weight. You would benefit from cross bracing the backside with 2x4's, as the fence panel will get out of rack. I also recommend screwing the boards to the 2x4's, as the nails they use work loose after many times of getting wet.

This picture was taken when I had the trenching dug to hook up to the sewer. You can see the gates in the background.









 







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## Woodworkingkid (Jan 8, 2011)

OK so the fencing they all ready have its sitting in a big pile in a area thats locked up so i wasn't able to take a close look at it but its not so much panels as it is fence boards on both sides nailed on to boards running the whole length through it. I don't know what the fencing is called but I am pretty sure that its what you are talking about. So a 4X4 lag bolted to the building is the best way to attach it?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Woodworkingkid said:


> OK so the fencing they all ready have its sitting in a big pile in a area thats locked up so i wasn't able to take a close look at it but its not so much panels as it is fence boards on both sides nailed on to boards running the whole length through it. I don't know what the fencing is called but I am pretty sure that its what you are talking about. So a 4X4 lag bolted to the building is the best way to attach it?


That's the way I did it.









 







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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Woodworkingkid said:


> OK so the fencing they all ready have its sitting in a big pile in a area thats locked up so i wasn't able to take a close look at it but its not so much panels as it is fence boards on both sides nailed on to boards running the whole length through it. I don't know what the fencing is called but I am pretty sure that its what you are talking about. So a 4X4 lag bolted to the building is the best way to attach it?


 Innitially I was picturing a wood frame building. Having a block wall should make it a lot better. You can just attach a treated 4x4 with concrete anchors and lag screws to the block wall and hinge the gate to that.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

You could use a hinges similar to the one below. They work out well for the way fence panels are constructed. I would suggest to pre-load (adjusting the load on the hinge to account for sagging) the hinges before securing.
















 







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## Woodworkingkid (Jan 8, 2011)

great I will be sure to get some of tthose hinges for the gate. 
how many should I get 2 or 3?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Woodworkingkid said:


> great I will be sure to get some of tthose hinges for the gate.
> how many should I get 2 or 3?



One for each horizontal 2x4. If the panel only has 2 horizontal 2x4's add a 3rd.









 







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## Woodworkingkid (Jan 8, 2011)

OK so i was out there doing some more work and was able to take a look at the fencing and it is all junk. They all are rotted relay bad and falling apart so what we are going to do is buy a gate and some fence from Lowe's.


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## jessy224 (Sep 21, 2012)

A assemble the gate is one of the most costly parts of your timber fence. Fortunately, you can use an extra fence panel to build your own custom gate for fraction of cost. Timber fence is easy to cut and alter, so making a gate out of the fence is actually simple. By using right tools you can convert an ordinary panel of fence into a fully functional gate.


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## Pirate (Jul 23, 2009)

I've made 4' wide gates from stockade fence, with x bracing, that have held up good. If there is chainlink fence there, I would go to a chain link fence co. and check on the price of a chain link gate. Stronger and would look better, and less work.


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## ctwiggs1 (Mar 30, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> One for each horizontal 2x4. If the panel only has 2 horizontal 2x4's add a 3rd.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



+1 - I grew up on a farm and we used to joke that hanging gates was an art because it was so hard to make sure they didn't sag.

What I've learned since is that if you put in the right post and use really good hardware, it'll be fine. We tend to overload and under-support. Also, even though most fence pros say 8ft is the max for wooden gates, here are two things to consider:
1) 6ft is a long gate in my opinion if it's a high traffic gate. I'd recommend putting a wheel on it (preferably spring loaded)

2) We had a VERY long gate (about 16ft) that we put on our cedar fence this year. We wanted to keep the cedar look but knew that it was way to big and cumbersome to be made out of wood (unless I wanted to put a lot of extra time/money into it). We ended up using an aluminum livestock gate like this

and drilling cedar planks onto it. It really came out sharp.


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

I made an 8' entrance in my back yard fence by creating a removable panel. The panel fits tightly between two posts, and is held in place by two gate latches and two barrel bolts inside the fence. You release the barrel bolts at the bottom, and open the gate latches and the whole thing drops so I can just carry it to one side. It avoids the issue of gate sag.


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