Last spring I made improvements on the South Gate by replacing the Cedar 4x4 posts with pressure treated Pine 6x6 posts. This greatly improved the mounting points for the gate, but the gate itself is still the tired 25 year old Cedar. It is very buggy, devoured by bugs...
Something happened recently to motivate me to repair this part of the fence. It is the oldest, and most venerable part of the fence at the moment. I had a Rabbit incursion, and the Rabbits were eating my Chile plants. Yeah... Last Straw...
Else where I have installed Dog Boards, or in this case Rabbit Boards to keep curious critters from burrowing under my fence. The critters are very persistent especially if they know there are delicious nomnoms inside.
I start by peeling away the layers of rotted Cedar. This stuff is 25 years old so it is crumbling as I pull it apart. I try to scavenge the nails out of the boards. Some of the boards can be partially salvaged for rustic projects. A lot of it is too rotted to save.
Here I am down to the original frame rails. The lower one is mostly rotted away, and the upper two are in better shape, but I want to replace all of this. When I did the South Gate I replaced the posts of the gate frame, and added a middle support post. The post on the right is old, and I will add another mid post on the right side.
The new frame rails are pressure treated pine. On the bottom are two 2x6 pieces for the Critter Boards, and the other frame rails are 2x4s. I'm using 3 1/2 in. Deck Screws to secure the frame rails to the posts. The original frame rails were not level, so I am making the new construction level.
Part of replacing the frame rails was undoing the hinges for the gate. My next project will be replacing the gate itself, but for this project I want to keep the gate right where it is. So, I made a brace to hold the hinge side of the gate in order to release the post side of the hinge mount. The frame rails also hold the hinge mount. This way the lag screws for the hinge are biting into new wood. Once the lag screws for the hinges are in we can release the brace holding the hinge side of the gate, and be able to use the gate again.
Adding the new Cedar pickets on a nice sturdy frame made of pressure treated wood is easy. All that framing stuff is done, and this is just the facia. It certainly looks better than that old rotted Cedar. I'm not quite happy with the way the pickets line up. I'll fix that when I make the new gate.
OK, looks pretty good. The new gate will make it looks better. Inside looks good too...
