How To Choose a Gate for a Wood Fence in Minneapolis

Wood Fence Installation Minneapolis

The type of gate you want for your wood fence depends on the purpose it will serve. There is a fine line between installing a gate that is forbidding enough to keep intruders out yet friendly and inviting enough to allow family and friends to enter. Gates provide access to an otherwise inaccessible area. Some gates are meant for easy access and some gates are designed to allow only those who have access codes and permission to enter. The design you choose should reflect the reason the gate is there. For example, a commercial enterprise looking to upgrade their level of security will require products such as automated gates, chain link gates with barbed wire, or anti-climb gates. Whereas the homeowner may not need the same type of protection.

Fence stability is based on its connection to the earth, while the gates stability relies on its connection to the fence. Fences sit while gates open and shut. Over the years of use, combined with general soil erosion, the gate may begin to sag. The changing of the seasons that cause wood gates and fences to shrink and swell might be the reason a gate no longer opens and closes the way it once did. A poorly maintained gate will detract from the fence, your beautifully manicured yard, and possibly even devalue your home. If your gate and fence are wearing away, ravished by time and weather, you’ve already lost your curb appeal. But then you know this or wouldn’t be reading this article.

Reasons for a Gate

Permanence

What type of gate are you searching for? Regardless of size, gates have many things in common. In general, a gate is designed and constructed for greater durability than the fence it joins itself to. Therefore, proper hardware selection is important as these connections need to be strong enough to provide the privacy and security you expect from a gate. The gate does not need to be constructed of the same material as the fence. If you want to attach an iron gate to a brick wall, no problem. That would provide an excellent gated community solution. Also, consider that the posts the gate is attached to should be larger and buried deeper than accompanying fence posts, providing yet greater stability for the gate.

Privacy

Although much of what we say can be cross-referenced with residential or commercial solutions, our focus here is mainly on residential needs. We know you have great neighbors but you both need the separation and retreat that a fence and accommodating wooden fence provides. A fence can act as a fortress or a friendly reminder to respect one another’s privacy. A secured gate safeguards small children and pets from crawling out of the yard and out into traffic. A fence determines how much lawn you’re going to mow. The gate is there to provide access for you and your lawnmower.

Security

Close your eyes and imagine the home where you live. Pastoral landscaped gardens dance before you but the scene is interrupted by an old scraggly broken down paint chipped what used to be a white picket fence that looks as if it may fall over with the slightest breeze. That fence and gate are beyond repair and should be replaced with a fence that will stand the test of time. It’s going to be replaced and you’re going to love what we do for you. Now, close your eyes again and imagine your home without a fence. How absurd and naked is that picture? Nothing to indicate a border, nothing to protect your children or pets, nothing to keep pesky solicitors or other uninvited intruders from marching straight up your walkway, knocking on your door and trying to sell you something you don’t want or need.

Protection

Gates offer a paradoxical dynamic that if designed right sends the message to enter or keep out. Consider the fence gate that opens up to Stephen King’s Maine mansion. How does that fence make you feel? Welcome? Or did you feel a chill run up your spine and want to turn and run the other way? Stephen King is one of the most approachable authors of our time so I would imagine the gate he chose should invite caution with a smile. With a smile, because it’s Stephen King and we know he means no one any harm. 

Further Considerations

Gates made of the same material as the fence can help manage privacy issues. Gates are designed so the seams are hidden to casual observers. One way to ensure your gate stands out is to construct it out of components that are different from the material used to build the fence. Gates that warmly invite guests to walk through and explore the gardens on the other side. Gates can also be used with living fences such as hedgerows. Attach the gate to posts that are buried deep in the ground and plumbed on top. Gates that are attached to buried posts are the easiest to maintain and will last longer.

Consider how wide you need your gate. The gate area is usually around 4-feet but you can choose a larger width. If you require more than 4-feet you may need more than one gate. Think about the largest object you plan on moving through the gate and proceed with that objective in mind.

Finally, know where you want to locate the gate and plan which way you want the gate to swing. The type of gate you select is limited only by your imagination and the reasons you need a gate.

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