Wooden gates are not known to be exceedingly durable, especially when compared to other building materials such as steel. However, because they are easier to work with and they are more affordable, they are often a popular choice. You can install wooden gates in your backyard, in your garden, or anywhere with wooden fences. The wooden gate will help keep out unwanted trespassers like children or animals.

If you really wish to install wooden gates that will last longer, you need to learn how to preserve your gates. Wood, by nature, breaks down easily enough. In general, there are two types of wood – hardwood and softwood. Hardwood is more durable because it doesn’t break down as easily. However, hardwood is harder to work with, and wooden items made from hardwood often cost more.

Softwood, on the other hand, is the opposite of hardwood. It’s easier to work with, more readily available, and highly available. Most wooden gates are made from some type of softwood. The problem with softwood is that it wears down very easily, especially when exposed to the exterior. Ultraviolet rays from the sun will damage the wooden gate. The wood will become brittle over time, and cracks will start to appear.

Fortunately, there is a workaround solution. You can learn how to preserve your wooden gate by learning how to treat the wood properly. There are two ways you can do this. You can preserve the wood by applying a transparent film of lacquer or varnish, or you can treat the wood by applying a protective layer of paint.

A transparent coating works well to protect the wood from dust, grime, and insects. However, it does not protect the wood from ultraviolet rays. The rays can still penetrate the film due to its transparency, and damage the wood. Still, a layer of transparent coating will still help to lengthen the life span of the wooden gate.

If you are really particular about the life span of your wooden gate, perhaps an opaque wood stain would do a better job. There are many types of wood stains available in the market. Choose one that is weather proof. The paint will help protect the wood from the weather, the sun, as well as dirt, plants and insects.

The side benefit of using wooden stains to preserve your wooden gate is that you also get to beautify your wooden gate in the process! You can pick your favorite colors, and start decorating your wooden gate. A well preserved wooden gate can last for years, and will save your time and money.

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As well as well as gap and aesthetic reasons you also have security issues to take into account which will be an influence on the third dimension of your timber gate, the depth. One other deciding factor on the width of your garden gate is cost, which unless you are extremely wealthy, will be judgement based on a balancing act between necessity and funds available.

First of all we shall look at what many will see as the most important factor, the gap for which your timber gate is to fit. Now from my experience this is actually one of the least important things to take into consideration when choosing the size of timber gate you wish to go for. There are many things you can do to make room for your garden gate to fit into the area you wish to have it. Some of these could be trimming back a hedge, knocking down part of a wall or even taking a few fence panels down to make room for your timber gates. By the same token you can also extend a fence or wall and plant new hedges or plants to fill a gap should a slimmer garden gate be your gate of preference.

Although making space for your timber gates may be simple enough, once you have created the required gate you then have to make sure that you measure the gap correctly. If you do not get this step right you could have a hand made wooden gate made and then have to mess about re-adjusting the gap so that it fits. When measuring you gap make sure that you allow for gate posts if you are having them to go with your timber gate too.

Now for the aesthetic part which is what I would class as the most important aspect when choosing the size of your garden gate. If you only have a small garden then a 6ft by 6ft timber gate is just going to be too over powering for the layout of your garden. A nice delicate 3ft garden gate would be just the ticket for a petite garden whereas a large 5 bar timber gate would look lovely at the bottom of a garden with a long drive.

Tall garden gates are more suitable as passage way gates where they are up against the side of the house. Having such a timber gate in a normal garden with a smaller wall running around it just would not set the scene of a beautiful garden at all.

These taller timber gates do offer more security though and if you want a gate to keep intruders out then these may be the type for you. A thicker gate would also stop would be intruders gaining access to your premise if they were to try brute force as a means of trespass. Thicker garden gates are also ideal for pet gates which need to with stand the test of dogs and such like jumping on them all day long.

The final decision you have to weigh up is whether each of the above is worth the extra cost that they would take. Taking all of the above into consideration should give you all the answers you need to select the right sized timber gate for your particular need.

Make sure you know what type of wood your gate is made from

Its not everyday you look into buying a gate so you may take some aspects for granted like what it’s made from. Wood is wood after all isn’t it? Absolutely not! As with any material there are different grades of quality and some types of wood are more suitable for gates than others. There are too many types of wood to mention hear to give a concise list of what is suitable and how much it would cost but just being aware should allow you to find out whether the price is reasonable or not. For instance you will pay a lot more for a hardwood gate than you would for a softwood gate simply for its durability.

Take the time to find out what depth the wood is that the gates are made out of

Another way of cost cutting is to make the wood that the gate is made out of thinner. Obviously your design aspect or gap requirements dictate the width and height of the gate so you will automatically look out for these dimensions but there is a third dimension to look out for too. The thinner the wood used for making the gate the less strength the gate will have so bear this in mind when deciding on the purpose of your gate.

What finish does the wooden gate come in?

There is nothing wrong with a gate coming with no coating just as long as you are aware that you need to coat the gate when it arrives. Presuming that a wooden gate comes with protection and sending it straight out into the harsh outside climate is only going to send it to an early grave.

Is your wooden gate really handmade?

If you’re paying for a handmade wooden gate you want to make sure it really is freshly carved! One way of making sure that a gate is handmade is by checking their contact details and searching on google maps for them. If their business address is on Google maps they will have had to verify this so if the area is in the middle of a built up area the chances are that it is simply a house address or an office address. If their address is a workshop then it is more likely they will actually be hand making the gates for you.

Some companies simply pretend to hand make wooden gates when the reality is they are just shipping them in from an Eastern European factory for cheap and passing them off as hand made. Most reputable companies will have a link on their website to their premises so it should be easy to check out.

Find out what comes with the gate

Not everyone who purchases a garden gate online wants the full monty, some simply require the gate and will attached it to a wall or fence. This usually means that the bottom line price shown on a website is for simply the gate on its own and gate posts and iron mongery will be extra. If you do want the gate posts you will also have to allow in your measurements for them too. The iron mongery usually consists of hinges brackets and latch which are all handy to have unless you are buying fancy versions separately.

Make sure there is a money back guarantee

A money back guarantee is always something to look out for when shopping online. This is more important when you are buying wooden gates which there is a slight chance may get damaged in transit. Hopefully the delivery company will hold up there end of the bargain and get the gate to you safely but if not it brings great piece of mind to know you can send it back with no fuss.

The most important feature to enhance the beauty of wooden garden gates is healthy green grass. The effect of a wooden gate is somewhat lost if it is surrounded by concrete or paving stones and so is a lot of the enjoyment of having a garden. A garden can soon become a mere back yard if the majority of it is a hard surface and especially for children this is no fun for playing around in in the summer. It may take a bit more effort looking after a garden but the advantages of a nice lawn by far make up for this.

The fencing or the boundary of the garden that wooden gates give an entrance too can have lots of different styles and still complement the wooden gates pleasantly. A rule of thumb for any wooden fencing that is attached to a wooden gate is make sure you varnish or paint them at the same time so that the shadings are very similar if not exact. If either the gate or fence are already painted or you cannot find the exact colour or do not wish to redo both it may be best to paint one of them in a contrasting colour for a bold effect.

If the boundary to the garden is a hedge or bushes make sure they are neatly pruned as an overgrown surrounding could even disguise the wooden gate from view totally. A plastic fence would not mix well with a wooden garden gate and no matter how expensive or luxury either item was the combination will just look cheap. However a combination of iron fencing and a rich coloured wooden gate can have a lovely effect that may even out class the view of a wooden fence and gate blend.

You cannot really fail with a brick wall bordering a wooden gate but there is a right and a wrong way to go about setting this theme for your garden. The easy way would be to hinge the gate onto pre-existing fittings on the wall which would probably save you some money. Although saving money the style would be totally ruined and I would definitely recommend purchasing the matching gate posts when buying a garden gate for this purpose. It is surprising how many people forget to allow space for the gate posts when measuring the gap for a garden gate so watch out for that little pit fall too!

On reflection I would say that wooden gates look most at home surrounded by a matching wooden fence and enclosing a garden with a well kept lawn. Once you have decided on your ideal setting for your wooden gate do not forget to regularly protect it with some sort of coating so that the look stays fresh and also so the wood is preserved for as long as possible.