Hardwood Gate - Fitted and Finished

You might of noticed a higher frequency in blog posts recently. Much of this is due to the realisation that what has become familiar to me for the 20 years and for the business for 80 years, might also be interesting to others looking for inspiration. And although self praise is no praise at all it's been good to reflect on what we're doing and feel some pride in the results of our efforts. This simple project would typically be something I would've overlooked to share, our minds would naturally be drawn to the next project and a humble garden gate seemed nothing worth talking about.

However this simple item has a few interesting aspects. The gate is made in the same way we would make a "framed, ledged & braced" ("FLB" in trade jargon) door. It uses mortise and tenon joinery secured by glue and wedges, a reliable and traditional method of construction that has proven successful in work of this type for hundreds of years. The "braced" part of the construction can be seen clearly in the photo below. The braces work by preventing the door or gate dropping at the nose and must always point up and away from the hinge side. Clearly if they did not the brace would have not effect on the stability of the door

The boarding in tongued and grooved together with a plain V joint applied. The V joint emphasises where the tongue and joint meet, drawing the eye away from any discrepancy. This is also often done by applying a scratch bead. On external work we always allow a slight gap between each board, our inclement Devon weather tends to lead to swelling, without that gap the boards will turn the door into a barrel or at worse even force the door styles right off the door.

The ironmongery on this door is ultra simple but effective. The hinges start life as galvanized "hooks & bands" which we then paint black. We've found that factory painted hinges don't resist the elements well and although our approach adds time and a bit of extra cost it seems well worth it. The heavy duty ring latch works brilliantly, however we can not economically find galvanized versions of this design so we encourage our clients to periodically wipe them down with oil to prevent rust.

All in all this type of project might cost more than some solutions but if maintained it'll outlast most other solutions and look a good deal better in the process!