The keys to ensuring that your wooden gate won t sag are to build and reinforce the gate frame so it doesn t warp to hang the gate plumb and to distribute the weight of the gate over as much area as possible.
How to build a large gate that won t sag.
The way you anchor the post will depend on the size of the fence but in general you need to make sure the post doesn t wiggle with weight.
Built with standard diy woodworking joints the gate will twist unless it is braced or pulled into tension.
Garden gates sag because a square or rectangular frame is essentially unstable.
Building a strong wooden gate requires no special tools or advanced carpentry skills.
You should also check and see that the post is level straight up and down.
Use a dado blade.
The old fashioned technique of using diagonal.
To cut the lap joints.
The unhinged free side sags from its own weight and from the trauma of being slammed.
The key to making big gates that will not sag are the half lap joints.
If it can be easily moved the gate will sag.
This tendency is exaggerated because a gate is held along only one side.
Paul keeps a dado blade on a portable table saw for such projects.
May 24 2016 tight joints.
The secret to big gates that won t sag.
You need to make sure that hanging the gate won t pull the posts to one side.
This is how you can build a sturdy wooden gate frame attached to your fence.