Help me chose a gate/fence for my backyard?

June 19, 2015 11:03 AM

My backyard leads in to an alley, and I'd like to enclose the backyard for a few reasons. I'd like to chose a fence that has a gate for a car, and a gate for a door for people to use, so I can park my car in my backyard if I need. Please help me chose a gate/fence! Details inside

Here is a pic of my backyard/alley/driveway, that I'd like to gate/fence (from the black trash can to the orange flag) in for a few reasons.

1. So my dog can hang out in the backyard alone without escaping.
2. A slight deterrence for people who wanna come steal my new AC unit.
3. A slightly more private space to hangout in the backyard when I have friends over

I will be parking our cars in the mostly cement area outside the yard 99% of the time, but I would like to still be able to occasionally park a car in the yard like in the first pic above, so a swinging gate big enough to fit a car would be great. And I would like a smaller door type thing for people to easily come in and out of as we come to/from our cars everyday.

I don't think I want a "privacy fence" because I wan to be able to see the cars from my house/back yard, but maybe some small level of privacy would be good? Something ike this seems nice, but I'm open to any suggestions.

I am pretty handy and so is my roommate who has time to and energy to help, is this something we could do ourselves?

Thanks for any advice and suggestions!

posted by crawltopslow to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

I recommend a sliding gate, so you don't need to keep space cleared in the concrete parking area when you want to open it. You can include a door in the gate structure, or next to it on either side. here's one link to plans.
posted by TDIpod at 12:00 PM on June 19, 2015

I would consider making the fence match the existing fences on both sides (which look pretty similar). Maybe you could build half-and-half gate for cars covered in wire grid fencing to give you the visibility you want? The man gate could be done the same or just with slats as the rest of the fence.

This is totally DIY-able.
posted by ssg at 12:51 PM on June 19, 2015

I would strongly second the recommendation of a sliding gate. At my last house I built a regular swinging car gate (two halves that swung in/out) and I always regretted not spending slightly more money and time to put in a sliding gate. A car gate takes a lot of room to swing open, and it got in the way surprisingly often. The very best is a sliding gate with an electric opener so you can just press the button on the remote control, but I have never priced that so I don't know if it is crazy expensive or not.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:30 PM on June 19, 2015