After we completed the deck we were no longer happy with how our gate and fence looked. The gate itself was leaning now, there were gaps in the fence which we never took care of when we originally built the gate/fence and we just were not happy with how it looked from the deck. We decided it no longer functioned how we had intended and we knew it was time to remove and rebuild it completely. I took a few hours one day to carefully dismantle the fence and gate. I wanted to reuse as much as possible. To my complete shock when we started removing the posts from the ground they completely sheared off at the concrete footing. Each post had rotted through. We hadn't even built this fence that long ago and it was already being destroyed by Mother Nature. We assume when we originally built this we didn't buy pressure treated lumber. This would explain everything.
Once all the original fence was removed we began the rebuild. It took a bit more thought as to how we were going to layout the new fence and gate but we finally had a plan and started on it right away. Our neighbor Art had noticed us working on the rebuild and offered his help like he always does.
Soon we had the new posts set in concrete and we moved on to building the gate.
Dad and I created a frame out of 2x4's and attached the fence slats to this frame. We bought big bulky gate hinges and screwed those through the slats and 2x4's. We also cut the bottom of the gate to allow for a ramp that we are going to build and to make it level with the extended deck.
We also decided to extend the deck up to the fence and make extra room for using the gate and maybe to add storage areas.
I decided it would be a good idea to stain the fence and gate right away and it turned out great. I used the same waterproofing stain we used on the deck. I love the darker color. In these front view pictures you can see how we cut the gate for the eventual ramp. Hopefully we get to that sometime year next year.
Finishing the deck extension to the fence, adding the grilling area, and building the ramp are the next stages of this side yard.
