Build a wood garden gate

A 4 ft wood gate for an opening in an existing fence. Z-braced so it does not sag.

This fits in a car

About 77 lb of materials. Comfortably inside what a car carries (200 lb), so any shopper can take it.

Before you start

Wear safety glasses on the saw and cut on sawhorses, never on your knee. If a gate post leans, reset it first — a new gate on a bad post will sag in a month.

What to buy — untick anything you have

Lumber

2 Pressure-treated 2×4, 8 ft

Fencing

9 Dog-ear fence picket, 6 ftMatch the existing fence — cedar or pressure-treated, same height.

Hardware

1 Heavy-duty gate hinge set
1 Gravity gate latch
1 box of exterior screws, 2 1/2 in (1 lb)
1 box of exterior screws, 1 5/8 in (1 lb)

Tools — already ticked off, since most people have them

Tools

1 Circular saw· most people have this
1 Cordless drill· most people have this
1 Speed square· most people have this
1 Spirit level· most people have this
1 Safety glasses· most people have this

It lands in the shopping form, where you can edit anything and say what you think each thing costs. Nothing is ordered until you send it.

How it goes · about an afternoon · some experience

Measure the opening between the posts at the top and bottom, and make the gate 1 in narrower than the smaller number.
Cut the top and bottom rails to that width and lay them flat on the ground, parallel.
Screw the pickets across the rails with a scrap spacer between them, then check the frame is square.
Flip it over, lay the diagonal brace from the bottom on the hinge side up to the top on the latch side, mark it, cut it, and screw it in.
Hang the gate on the hinges with a block under it for clearance, then fit the latch so it drops in on its own.