Logistics for replacing a wood garden gate with a metal one
November 24, 2018 10:55 PM Subscribe
I have a splintery but sturdy wooden garden gate which I'd like to replace with a metal gate. The metal gate is heavy wrought iron. Overall size is identical, and the new gate is already pre-hung. Current wood gate is anchored by wood posts sunk in concrete holes. Sturdy, but could be removed. Do I need to remove and replace the concrete to install the metal gate, or can I somehow use the existing infrastructure?
Yeah there's not much to work with here. "Wooden gate" and "iron gate" are very broad categories that contain a lot of variation so it's hard to give advice. A couple decent photographs of the old gate and the new would help a lot.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:27 AM on November 25, 2018
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 7:27 AM on November 25, 2018
Your new gate will either have some kind of loop or hole that fits onto hinge pins (aka pintles/pintels) on the support post (and which are available in lag screw style, carriage bolt style, or surface mount designs for attachment to a square wood post). It's also possible the pins are on the gate side, in which case you need a heavy duty eye that will screw into your existing post. The latch may actually be the trickier part to mate up if it's a single-leaf gate. Gate pins/eyes are usually either 1/2" or 5/8" so you'll need to measure the hole or pin size on the new gate, remembering that if you're measuring the eye, it will be a smidge larger than the nominal diameter of the pin.
That said, pressure treated wood posts only last so long. If the gate has been in place long enough to get splintery I'd suspect that the posts are nearing the end of their lifespan. I personally would suggest just removing the old posts and using the posts that came with your new gate rather than spending money/time buying and installing hardware to fit your existing posts.
posted by drlith at 8:06 AM on November 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
That said, pressure treated wood posts only last so long. If the gate has been in place long enough to get splintery I'd suspect that the posts are nearing the end of their lifespan. I personally would suggest just removing the old posts and using the posts that came with your new gate rather than spending money/time buying and installing hardware to fit your existing posts.
posted by drlith at 8:06 AM on November 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
If the existing posts feel solid I'd be inclined to just attach the hardware for the new gate to the old posts. As drlith says above matching the latch may prove more difficult than the hinges. A spare pair of hands will be useful either way.
Best practice would be to remove the existing posts, bust up the concrete, and re-sink new posts.
If you have a way to get a couple sacks of quick-setting concrete (the kind used for fences/piers will be labeled as such), a level, posts, and a shovel, this isn't difficult to do yourself - just watch a couple youtube videos to make sure you understand what you're doing. If you're lucky the concrete will be easy to dig out, if not, you may need a big pry bar or crowbar.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:52 AM on November 25, 2018
Best practice would be to remove the existing posts, bust up the concrete, and re-sink new posts.
If you have a way to get a couple sacks of quick-setting concrete (the kind used for fences/piers will be labeled as such), a level, posts, and a shovel, this isn't difficult to do yourself - just watch a couple youtube videos to make sure you understand what you're doing. If you're lucky the concrete will be easy to dig out, if not, you may need a big pry bar or crowbar.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:52 AM on November 25, 2018
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posted by flabdablet at 5:57 AM on November 25, 2018