My old driveway gate -- what's left of it after the termites have
finished -- is badly in need of replacement. Online, I found
instructions for building such a gate at eHow Home. Yes, I know it's
a simple job, but I don't have the tools or facilities to DIY.

I looked on-line for "wooden driveway gates" but found nothing
anywhere near my very low price range.

This is a narrow driveway beside an old house. It was built in
conjunction with nabe fence. It hangs off wooden posts embedded in
concrete. Posts look OK.

This is a pricey area for skilled labor [I was just quoted $95/hr for
labor to replace a simple bathroom sink!!!!]

Any hope of my buying the materials and hoping for a good enuff
laborer from the kind that waits for work outside the local building
company (Bourget Brothers).

If you have experience, would appreciate a breakdown of labor/
materials.

TIA

HB

On Mar 25, 1:50*pm, Higgs Boson wrote:
My old driveway gate -- what's left of it after the termites have
finished -- is badly in need of replacement. *Online, I found
instructions for building such a gate at eHow Home. *Yes, I know it's
a simple job, but I don't have the tools or facilities to DIY.

I looked on-line for "wooden driveway gates" but found nothing
anywhere near my very low price range.

This is a narrow driveway beside an old house. *It was built in
conjunction with nabe fence. *It hangs off wooden posts embedded in
concrete. *Posts look OK.

This is a pricey area for skilled labor [I was just quoted $95/hr for
labor to replace a simple bathroom sink!!!!]

Any hope of my buying the materials and hoping for a good enuff
laborer from the kind *that waits for work outside the local building
company (Bourget Brothers).

If you have experience, would appreciate a breakdown of labor/
materials.

TIA

HB

Hire a pro and use the time you save for something important. Get bids
first. The only skill you need is to write the check and enjoy the
result.

Joe

On 3/25/2011 11:56 PM, Joe wrote:
On Mar 25, 1:50 pm, Higgs wrote:
My old driveway gate -- what's left of it after the termites have
finished -- is badly in need of replacement. Online, I found
instructions for building such a gate at eHow Home. Yes, I know it's
a simple job, but I don't have the tools or facilities to DIY.

I looked on-line for "wooden driveway gates" but found nothing
anywhere near my very low price range.

This is a narrow driveway beside an old house. It was built in
conjunction with nabe fence. It hangs off wooden posts embedded in
concrete. Posts look OK.

This is a pricey area for skilled labor [I was just quoted $95/hr for
labor to replace a simple bathroom sink!!!!]

Any hope of my buying the materials and hoping for a good enuff
laborer from the kind that waits for work outside the local building
company (Bourget Brothers).

If you have experience, would appreciate a breakdown of labor/
materials.

TIA

HB

Hire a pro and use the time you save for something important. Get bids
first. The only skill you need is to write the check and enjoy the
result.

Joe

(to OP)
1. Do you really NEED a gate? (Kids, dog, whatever) Or is this just a
matter of there has always been a gate there?
2. If you don't need it, rip it all out and don't worry about it. As you
have found, wooden gates are a high-upkeep PITA.
3. If you do need it, and can't afford a pro to build a new one, check
out pre-made gates at local fence companies and farm supply stores. Some
of the metal ones are not ugly. And some of the metal ones can easily be
skinned with wood as a low-skill DIY project, if the posts and hinges
are strong enough, and you choose a light wood like cedar to make the
skin out of. Somebody probably even has a gate with premade flanges to
add wooden horizontal rails to screw fence pickets to. If not, fence
store has all sorts of brackets that wrap around the metal tubes so you
can add rails.

--
aem sends...

On Mar 26, 5:33*am, aemeijers wrote:
On 3/25/2011 11:56 PM, Joe wrote:









On Mar 25, 1:50 pm, Higgs *wrote:
My old driveway gate -- what's left of it after the termites have
finished -- is badly in need of replacement. *Online, I found
instructions for building such a gate at eHow Home. *Yes, I know it's
a simple job, but I don't have the tools or facilities to DIY.

I looked on-line for "wooden driveway gates" but found nothing
anywhere near my very low price range.

This is a narrow driveway beside an old house. *It was built in
conjunction with nabe fence. *It hangs off wooden posts embedded in
concrete. *Posts look OK.

This is a pricey area for skilled labor [I was just quoted $95/hr for
labor to replace a simple bathroom sink!!!!]

Any hope of my buying the materials and hoping for a good enuff
laborer from the kind *that waits for work outside the local building
company (Bourget Brothers).

If you have experience, would appreciate a breakdown of labor/
materials.

TIA

HB

Hire a pro and use the time you save for something important. Get bids
first. The only skill you need is to write the check and enjoy the
result.

Joe

(to OP)
1. Do you really NEED a gate? (Kids, dog, *whatever) Or is this just a
matter of there has always been a gate there?

It's for privacy. I don't want people staring into my backyard. And
it could be a teeny-weeny deterrent to a non-athletic burglar.

2. If you don't need it, rip it all out and don't worry about it. As you
have found, wooden gates are a high-upkeep PITA.

This puppy has been on the job for several decades, so I think it's
pulled its weight, but it's ugly and hard to keep closed even after I
changed latch, because sags.

3. If you do need it, and can't afford a pro to build a new one, check
out pre-made gates at local fence companies and farm supply stores. Some
of the metal ones are not ugly. And some of the metal ones can easily be
skinned with wood as a low-skill DIY project, if the posts and hinges
are strong enough, and you choose a light wood like cedar to make the
skin out of. Somebody probably even has a gate with premade flanges to
add wooden horizontal rails to screw fence pickets to. If not, fence
store has all sorts of brackets that wrap around the metal tubes so you
can add rails.

I have been online to gate companies and have checked Home Despot and
one other place. Prob. is that most gates I saw are wider than my
narrow driveway.
It may be that these places show only the fancier gates; I will be
looking around some more.

But I think that finding someone to knock together such a simple gate
shouldn't be too expensive (fingers crossed). I would like to use
seasoned wood if not too much more expensive, since the present gate
has gaps between boards as the wood dried and shrank. But even that
is no biggie, as I could back it up with something when it starts to
shrink. I am NOT building for the ages! Just something not so ugly
and termited.

An earlier poster pointed out that I had not posted measurements:

Roughly: house wall to fence is 10.5 ' wide.
gate is 64" high at its lowest point (top is
gracefully curved)
each panel is approx 46" wide.

In addition, there are "returns" on each side approx 2' wide.

Appreciate all the feedback.

HB