Planning a gate: walk gates, double drive gates and slide gates

A fence stands still. A gate has to open, close, latch and keep doing it every day for years. That makes the gate the part of a job where small mistakes become daily annoyances: the latch that never quite lines up, the gate that drags on the gravel, the opening that's six inches too narrow for the mower. A little planning up front avoids all of it.

The three common types

A walk gate (also called a man gate) is the one people use on foot. It swings on hinges, it's usually the smallest opening in the fence, and it's the easiest to place almost anywhere. Pick the width for what really passes through it. A wheelbarrow, a garden cart, a mower or a stroller will all be wider than you'd guess.

A double drive gate is a pair of swinging leaves that meet in the middle. It handles a vehicle-sized opening, but each leaf needs space to swing through, and that space has to be flat and clear. A long leaf also puts a lot of pull on its hinge post, so the post and the footing do real work.

A slide gate rolls along the fence line instead of swinging out. It earns its place where there's no room to swing, where the ground slopes or where the opening is wide. The trade-off is that it needs a clear run of fence beside the opening to roll into, and a track or carrier that stays clear of snow, gravel and debris. MF Fencing built a 28-foot slide gate on a commercial job alongside a man gate and a double drive gate, which is about as complete a set of gate types as one site gets.

What to measure before you call

• Opening width: measure post to post, and measure at the top as well as the ground. Openings aren't always parallel.
• The widest thing that has to pass through, plus a comfortable margin. Think trailers, equipment and delivery trucks, not only the family car.
• Slope: note whether the ground rises or falls across the opening, and whether it rises in the direction the gate would swing.
• Swing room: which way should it open, and what is in the way, such as a tree, a curb, a step or a parked car?
• Slide room: for a slide gate, how much straight, clear fence line is there beside the opening?
• Who uses it and how: a latch that works for you may be awkward for a delivery driver or a kid.

A couple of phone photos and a rough sketch with your measurements make a bid faster and more accurate. Dustin Owen will still want to come look at the site, and that's a good sign. Gates are one of those things that don't measure well from a distance.

Gate posts do more work than fence posts

Every time a gate swings open, its weight pulls sideways on the hinge post. Every time it closes, it slams into the latch post. Gate posts need to be larger or set deeper than the line posts beside them, or the gate will sag. If you ever see a gate that drags on one side, the usual cause is a post that has leaned under the load. The fix is on the post, not the gate.

Specialty requests are fair game

Sometimes the job isn't a standard gate. Dustin posted on Facebook about a customer whose mailbox had been knocked down, who sketched a mailbox hanger by hand on notebook paper. Dustin welded it that same day, and the finished hanger now sits on a gate post. His note to followers was that any specialty request like that is worth asking about.

That fits what customers say. LeeAnn Delk wrote in her Google review: "They were the only company willing to do the custom fence I wanted." If you've got an odd opening, an unusual latch need or a bit of hardware you wish existed, bring a sketch. Rough is fine.

Before anything gets built

Call 811 before any digging for gate posts, since gate posts go deeper than most. If the gate opens toward a street, alley or shared drive, check with the City of Yakima or your county before you build, so you know what applies to your lot.

MF Fencing builds walk gates, double drive gates and slide gates for homes and businesses in Yakima and the Yakima Valley. To get a bid, call (509) 594-9013 or email mffencingllc@gmail.com, with your measurements and a photo if you have them.