D.I.Y. side gate using Bunnings tutorial

[Tara86]

This sturdy gate was constructed by following a Bunnings tutorial by a D.I.Y. novice. It looks fantastic and uses recycled pallet timber.

• The project
• How to build a gate

The project

My partner asked me to build a gate for the side of our house. I haven’t done anything like this before so I was a bit stumped over where to start. 

During one of my usual browsing sessions on the Bunnings website, I found this How to build a gate tutorial. I found it very informative, making the whole process easy to understand and even quicker to make.

Luckily we had heaps of old pallet wood leftover, so only had to purchase the stain, hinges and gate latch. 

The retaining wall isn’t straight so I had to fiddle around with where to put the posts. The concrete path also slopes for drainage so I had to have the gate off the ground so it could open, but again had to work out the height so it all looked straight. We have a drain pipe in the way, so that stopped us from having a gate that fits the whole width of the side. Overall, I'm happy that the alterations worked and the gate does the job.

It’s worked a treat and been great for keeping the kids away from all the utilities down the side.

I used Intergrain Redwood Natural Stain. My partner wanted the colour to be similar to our bricks but after two coats I felt it was too orange. The scrap piece of timber I tested the stain on became a darker red, but the stain turned out more orange when used on a larger item. I sanded the gate and re-stained with one coat of Merbau. I still need to paint the side.

The hinges were the trickiest part. I was worried about sagging or even the gate splitting. After giving the specs of the gate and explaining the environment, I was told that these hinges would be more than enough. The posts on the right are screwed into the retaining wall and very sturdy. So far the gate hasn’t budged and still works perfectly. Even after the kids found the novelty in it and used it in a lot of their outdoor games.

How to build a gate

The Bunnings team has shared a helpful guide to building a wooden gate that includes how to build the frame, how to add bracing to keep the gate square and how to attach the front panels.

[laviyer]

is there a DIY class on at the bunnings site for a side gate shown here? I am super keen to join that as I need one...would love to build it myself

[Jason]

Hi @laviyer,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. That's fantastic you are keen to build your own gate. We are happy to help.

The video above should be very helpful. There is also another video and step-by-step instructions here - How to build a picket gate. Please have a good look and let us know if you have any specific questions. You might like to hit the Start a discussion button and document your project from start to finish so members can provide advice along the way.

Thanks,

Jason

[Nailbag]

Thats a great looking gate @Tara86 and very impressed that you were able to re-purpose old materials. All timber gates can be quite challenging to build in keeping it all square and looks like you have done an awesome job of it. Glad to see you used the proper long tongue gate hinges to.

Regards, Nailbag