One of the things that was on our “to-do” list for our next visit to the cabin was putting up a fence for the dogs. Now, we didn’t want to spend a ton of money, and we needed something that was easy as the ground is hard at the cabin. We looked at our different options, and just decided on t-posts and some cattle fence. The only issue was that I didn’t want to use a cattle or chain-link gate. I wanted something that looked nice.
We finally decided that we would just make our own gate, so we could make it fit with the cabin. We picked up a few posts, some inexpensive lumber, and the gate hardware. After some very hard work at getting the holes dug for the posts, we cemented them into the ground making sure they were level. After the posts were firmly in place, D measured to see the size of gate needed. (We knew the basic size, but we had to do a little shifting of the poles while setting due to rocks.) He then custom built the gate.
First, he created a box frame and then he attached the slats to the back of that frame. On the other side of the slats, he attached another frame with a cross piece. In other words, the slats were sandwiched between two frames to create a sturdy, simple, rustic gate.
We were quite pleased with the results – especially with the inexpensive lumber. If you had pallets, you could totally use those instead for an even less expensive gate. We plan on making a double gate in the back at a later date.
I added a star from Hobby Lobby to the gate for a little extra detail, and then added solar lanterns to the posts for a little lighting. The gate makes me smile whenever we pull up.
