Side Yard Wood Fence and Gate

The project

How this side yard fence and gate came together

The goal

The side of the house needed to be closed off from the front with a gate people would use every day, and the back of the side yard needed a solid fence with its own gate. Both had to work with a new concrete walk and pad going in during the same job.

The challenge

The front gate sits in a narrow gap between a block planter with a small tree and a tall hedge, so the posts had to go in exactly where the walk would run. A tall gate on two posts also needs those posts held at a fixed spacing, or it can bind and sag over time.

The solution

The two gate posts were set first and braced while the concrete walk was poured around them, as the concrete page shows. A header beam joins the tops of the posts, which holds their spacing and frames the opening. The gate itself is built from vertical wood boards with a black pull handle and latch. At the back, a wide fence section with a framed gate of its own was built across the end of the new concrete pad.

The result

The side yard now has a tall, solid gate at the front, opening onto the new concrete walk, and a closed fence line at the back with a second gate. The natural wood boards suit the light siding and the green of the hedge, and a later photo on the concrete page shows the front gate stained a warmer brown. From the street side, the gate reads as part of the house rather than an add on, and from inside, the side yard is now a closed, usable space with firm footing all the way through.

Questions

Questions about this project