Timber Gates

 

This article contains some notes and tips on timber gates. If you are looking for our timber gates product galleries please go here, or contact us for a quote.

Quite often, you will find your timber gates (or doors) don’t fit into their socket after a few years. The timber from the gate just doesn’t line up and fit flush with the timber fence or holding wall.

This can be partially to the timber swelling and shrinking as a timber gate or door (when outside) endures the elements. Treating can reduce the occurrence of this phenomenon, but don’t always assume your timber gate has changed size when it doesn’t fit anymore – check the hinges.

Another cause of your timber gate not closing flush and silently, could be that your hinges are coming apart. You can actually see that the bushes are not in line, or are diagonal instead of perpendicular. This is typical of timber gates’ hinges in areas close to the sea (a common adversary of timber gates in Cape Town and other coastal regions of South Africa) The bushes of the hinge, or the screws that hold the hinge in place in its wooden stock come apart and crumble under the oxidation and rust until they no longer hold firm. Age, and a timber gate that experiences lots of use and traffic (such as a timber gate at a school) can also be found to show these symptoms.

What needs to be done in cases of timber gates that have failed hinges is the hinge simply needs to be replaced. Unscrew the hinge out of the timber stock (on the gate side, and the timber fence or wall). Sometimes the screws are so rusted that the head of the screw comes out, and the rest of the screw is left behind – lodged into the timber. This is typically why Fischer plugs (wall anchors) should always be used – in timber gates and fences, or concrete walls and the like. The Fischer plugs are plastic, will not rust, and work very well for any timber or building application. If you do find yourself in this situation, you may need to contact a timber specialist on the best way to remove the rusted screw. Perhaps it will result in the need to replace the timber stocks that the hinges are joined with (either side of the timber gate).

Ok, when the hinges are all out of your timber gate, take them to a hardware shop and find the exact replacements. Take them with, because sometimes you will have the correct measurements and the holes are too small, don’t quite line up, or there is some other minor change. Also, buy high quality goods where possible – this will avoid rust and unnecessary breakages and damage to your timber.

Also, you can consider re-drilling your timber, inserting Fischer plugs (if there are none), and replacing the hinges with the new screws. I write this article – as recently I encountered this problem. I was very disappointed in the workmanship of who-ever installed my timber gate – as no Fischer plugs / anchors were used. Much of the timber needed to be replaced, and really could have been avoided. The final result was great though – a snug, well fitted, silent and secure front garden timber gate.