A few year’s ago, a local carpenter built a very simple gate for us. It was made from scrap wood and meant to help keep our dog’s on the deck. Unfortunately, two of our three golden retrievers have been able to slide right through it. That is, until recently, when our youngest got his hips stuck and broke the gate. (Don’t worry, he was totally fine, but we we’re all a little rattled).
We loved the Chevron headboard that we built and I wanted to carry the same theme on to our deck.
So, our next project quickly became to build a new gate! Luckily, we kept the old gate to use as a template, so we didn’t have to worry as much about the dimensions of the new gate. If you’re building a gate from scratch these are some of the most important measurements!
We purchased two 12′ salt treated boards from Lowe’s and John used a miter saw to cut boards to the exterior dimensions of the old gate. We cut each corner at 45 degree angles for extra support.
We added one center board and then measured the boards for each side. After cutting at 45 degree angle, we used the boards themselves as we were making the measurements to make sure we got the perfect fit.
We laid out all of the pieces first to ensure that everything fit properly and then attached everything with outdoor wood screws. The gate was hung using two hinges and will clearly last us for a long time!
We love how this simple project turned out! It took us less than one afternoon and we now have two very happy puppies who get to spend extra time outside on the deck!
Now the question is, to paint or not to paint? What do you think?
