Welcome visitors and vehicles with the gate of your dreams
Fences secure your home, offer privacy, and help you welcome visitors. Want to open your home’s proverbial arms wide? Try building an attractive double fence gate that swings open and stays shut when you want it to. Double fence gates have two panes that each swing out from the center, creating a wider opening than a standard single gate. They’re often chosen for driveways to accommodate cars or larger farming equipment. Building a double gate requires more hardware than a single gate, making it hard to navigate without proper instruction. So, let’s dive into how to build a double fence gate.
Some construction projects require permits, even on your own property. The first thing you should do before building your double fence gate is get any permits for your home project squared away with your local government.
Another important preparatory step is to ensure that you know exactly where your property lines are to make sure there won’t be any potential disagreements with neighbors or your local municipality.
Use your measuring tape to identify where exactly you want your double fence gate to go. Make your postholes even with the rest of the fence to ensure the gate fits properly. Mark where each post will go by hammering a short wooden stake into the ground in its place, then tie string between each one to connect them, making sure to space them evenly and that your measurements are correct.
This is where much of the heavy lifting comes in. So, take out the stakes and get to digging. The hole depth depends on how tall your double fence gate is, but it should be at least a third of the depth of your post.
For a 4x4 post, the hole must be 36 inches deep. You can go old school and dig with a shovel or use a power auger to make the work go by faster. These are drills made specifically for boring deep, even holes into the ground in construction and yard projects. You can rent one from your hardware store for the day if you don't own an auger.
Your posts must be well-anchored and even, which means having more weight at the bottom than simply soil. Pour at least 6 inches of gravel into each posthole (or more, depending on the height of the fence gate or its posts).
Having a friend around to help is useful because this part can be tricky. Hold your level parallel to the post as you set it in place to ensure it’s as straight as possible. When the post is in place, drill short braces at the bottom of each post below the ground level to keep them firmly positioned.
Now that you’ve got your posts in place, you’re ready to mount the gate. That’s easier if there are two scrapboards in place where the gate will go—one near the top and one near the bottom, but neither too close to an edge.
Screw these scrapboards across the width of the space where the gate will go so that it’s screwed to each post on either side. Basically, you’re giving yourself something to attach the gate’s panels to. Then, when it’s time to complete the project, you can take them down.
Raise your fence gate panels and nail them in place against the scrapboards so that they meet the posts where they should. You may have just one fence gate that you need to saw in half. Now would be a good time to get that done.
Drill your gate’s hinges on each side of the panels. It should be pretty obvious where they go (one near the top and one near the bottom on either side of the gate to help the panels swing out), but make sure they’re evenly spaced by using your level and measuring tape. You don’t want to end up with offset hinges because the gates won’t open properly. Stainless steel hinges are often best for handling outdoor weather and resisting rust.
If you’re adding a handle, gate latch, or other hardware, attach those now, as their weight could affect the construction of your gate.
Now it’s time to remove the scrapboards and see if all your careful measuring worked out. Remove the scrapboards by taking out their screws and seeing if your hinges and posts hold the gate up properly. Test it by using the gate a few times and seeing how it swings. Does it sag? Does it stay level? Are all the screws tight? If not, that’s okay! You can always go back a few steps and try again.
This is a rather complex project that’s best reserved for experienced DIYers. If you hire a local fence and gate professional, you’ll want to work with someone experienced in installing, customizing, and removing fencing.
On average, the cost to install a fence ranges from $1,775 to $4,500, but a gate is a smaller project, so its installation will be on the low end. Those with the experience and tools to build their own double fence gate can save a lot of money going the DIY route, but it’s not for everyone.
Double gates come with the same gaps as single gates, with hinges taking up a quarter of an inch of space. The difference is that double fence gates also have a center gap, which needs a little more clearance. Space the center gap at half an inch instead of the usual three-eighths of an inch for a single gate.
If you only use your gate as a pedestrian, walking through without a vehicle, you’re fine to stick with a single fence gate. If your fence opening needs to accommodate vehicles of any kind, from cars to trucks to 4-wheelers, then a double fence gate will suit the space much better and give you more freedom.
