Share
We are thinking of building a gate to close off access down the side of our house. Because we purposely made this area wide we want to make sure that any gate we put in can open up so the whole width can be utilised when required. (Photo is looking down the side of the house towards the street, the gate would be installed close to the front of the house)
The opening is roughly 2.45m and we will also require pedestrian access, so we thought of doing a double gate design with one 750mm wide single gate and the other side a bi-fold gate made up of 2x 750mm gates. Here is a rough sketch of what I have in mind (hinges are only drawn like that for ease of recognising them as hinges). Gate height 1.8m.
We want to use these Gate Kits for this.
as well as the ‘Rapid Fence 50x50 x1.8m flanged fence posts’ which would be secured to the concrete using chemset anchors.
It can get quite gusty down that section (as seen this past week with the crazy wind we had!) and I’ve worked out that if the gate area was a solid (no slats or anything) it would need to withstand Wind Loads of 3.45kN and Dynamic Pressures of 0.798kPa. Now that doesn’t mean much to me (I used an online calculator) and I have no idea how to this wind information affects my design choice. Would bolting the posts to the concrete be sufficient?
Also, Do I need to reinforce the hinges on the bi-fold side? The gate kit says they’re good for gates up to 1500mm which technically the two gates together would be. I have drawn a spring loaded wheel into my design to help support the bifold - is this actually needed?
And last question: I have searched the bunnings website high and low for a ‘thumb gate latch’ hut have found nothing. There are some latches but they say no access from outside - that defeats the purpose of it being a pedestrian gate!
tl;dr
Questions I need answered:
1. will the rapid fence 50x50x1.8m flanged fence posts be fine to support the bi-fold design?
2. will bolting the posts to concrete be ok?
3. Will the gate kit be ok for a bi-fold design?
4. Do I need a spring load wheel for extra support?
5. Does bunnings sell pretty ‘thumb gate latches’?
Cheers!
Location: Geelong (VIC)
Hello @nikkinik
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about building a bi-fold gate.
Please allow me to try and answer some of your questions.
- I don't think the 50x50 will be strong enough to hold the weight of the gate and deal with the dynamic forces applied to it by the wind. I propose using a 100x100 timber post instead.
- Bolting the post for the single gate should be fine but the one holding the double gate should be buried and concreted into the ground.
- In combination with the timber frame you'll be using, the Peak gate set should work nicely.
- It is always a good idea to have an Easyroll 100mm 55kg Load Swivel Gate Castor to help carry the load.
- I'm sorry but Bunnings only carry the Pinnacle Smooth Black Gate Ring Latch, which is a twist to open latch.
Here is a handy step-by-step guide: Peak Gate Kit
Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their recommendations.
If you need further assistance, please let me know.
Eric
Good Evening @nikkinik
Mmmm lets roll through your questions 
Questions I need answered:
1. will the rapid fence 50x50x1.8m flanged fence posts be fine to support the bi-fold design?
A - I dont think so, especailly with the wind you describe.
2. will bolting the posts to concrete be ok?
A - Larger sized posts as @EricL has mentioned, yes
3. Will the gate kit be ok for a bi-fold design?
A - Dont know but really like the kit in that video
4. Do I need a spring load wheel for extra support?
A - It will definently give a longer life to the gate as it carries the weight and its not all carried by the posts.
5. Does bunnings sell pretty ‘thumb gate latches’?
A - Another dont know so will go with Erics Answer.
Going through your design I am wondering why you want a bi-fold gate. I like the Engineering side to it but think its going to be a complicated way to do the job. (Not that it cant be done )
A short gate on the left hand side (looking towards the rd) and a a gate the same size as the bi-fold on the right. It will be easier to carry the load and more steady as the whole gate would be rigid. Definently with the wheel idea to stop sag of the 1.8m high gate.
Another thing you could do is have a removable steel post in between the two gates. This is what you could "clip" both gates to to secure them and when needed to open the whole width you just pull the post up and out. Think A large pipe/hole in the concrete with the removable pipe being 5mm smaller in width then the hole. This will also support the gate from flapping in the wind as well as securing it from being opened. I am thinking the removable pipe to be at least 50mm width (think give way sign or stop sine width) So something solid and the hole to be 300mm deep at least.
There will be less torque force on a solid gate compared to a bifold and the size of the post against the fence (but not attached to the fence) will be the same size (100mm square)
Dave
