Keep the dog in!
Whilst carrying out repairs to rotten windows on a property, the client asked us to look at their existing wooden gates with a view to repair.
The gates were in a very poor state, made of pine and had rotted badly in many areas. The posts were also loose and deteriorating. Because of this their wooden gates were not closing easily, which was causing security problems as they needed to keep in their grounds a rapidly growing Great Dane puppy called Blue.
After assessing the gates we advised the client that it would not be cost effective to repair them as so much work would be required. It was agreed to quote for new gates, the key points to bear in mind were minimal maintenance and longevity.
Beautiful Iroko
We chose to use Iroko as it’s incredibly durable, rot resistant timber, which would be ideal for joinery subjected to the weather. Iroko has nice colouring ranging from dark red through to golden orange, darker almost black patches can give almost flame like patterns within the grain. Once oiled the timber really comes alive.
The original gates were plain 5 bar gates, so we continued in this style, but in true Waterhall Joinery fashion, we didn’t want to just copy the original, we wanted to give the client something slightly different since they were new gates. We therefore decided to create arched tops to the hinge side styles, this added strength to the construction, but also added that bit of detail to lift the gates to another level.
Once manufactured the gates were finished in OSMO UV protection oil, which is a natural oil-based and microporous finish which does not crack, flake, peel or blister – so perfect for our job! The UV protection also inhibits the greying process which external timber is subject to by a factor of 12. With the addition of not requiring sanding between coats, this finish ticked the minimal maintenance box the clients were after.
The finished product really set off the entrance to their property nicely, the gates were now a feature rather than an eyesore, and more importantly, Blue was able to run around and meet and greet visitors safely!
If you would like us to create unique gates for your property, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss further.
Wooden gates with arched top detail