I had a pair of wooden gates made by a 'so called' Joiner. The gates are about 7ft wide by 6ft high and made from T&G panels (which I think could be floor boards). He has then made a Z shaped brace at the back of them for support and strength and hung them with heavy duty hinges. As soon as they were finished I gave them a few coats of Ronseal woodstain all over including bottoms to protect them. After a month the gates became more aukward to open in the middle, it was like the gates had grown a couple of mm's?? It is about two months ago since they were finished and the gates are getting more aukward to open and close! It seems to be when it rains?? Is there anything that can be done?
All that has happened is that the timber in the gates has expanded, it maybe that they will shrink abit but unlikley. Your joiner has probably not done anything wrong, give him a call and explain the problem, the gates just need a bit of easing. I notice that used a woodstain, was it simply a wood stain or was it a a coloured varnish. If the former then the wood has no protection, it needs varnishing or oiling.
It was just a woodstain that was used on the gates. The first coat was put on by the joiner so I applied another couple of coats. It says on the tin that it is for bare wood.
When making things for outside use out of dry wood, you should allow for quite a bit of 'expanding through moisture absorption'(on 7' you should expect over ½" swelling). Needs planing down to allow more gap. (This is assuming hinges etc are soundly holding) Mr. HandyAndy - really
Deccy, check the tin if its only stain, get some varnish or oil suitable for external use. HA is right there should been a suitable allowance or the design should take into movement into account
Thanks for the replies guys. The stain used is Ronseal 5 year Woodstain 3 coats all over it says on the tin suitable for bare wood.
Depends if the wood has been preserved at all before making the gate. On all gates i make, i dip the timber in a tank full to timber preservative for 3minutes. And usually they are finished in sadolins fenceguard or a primer. Ronseal can be used but needs to be for bare wood used outside. Get the joiner to come back and adjust the gates again so they work nicely, but make sure right treatment's used this time.
just thought i'd add..... if the gates been made properly all the tongues and grooves would have been painted/ stained/ treated before being put together.
Hi, You need at least 15 -20 mm between the two leaves and a minimumof 5-10 mm at the sides, the gap which should be covered by a clapping strip. If the boarding is more than 15mm thick then the gates will probably start dropping in the middle as it is far too heavy. If the Ronseal is micro porous then the boards will begin to shrink and twist. Sorry this is all bad news I see this so often. If you have word with the guys at * and send them some photographs they may be able to help you with some good advice. Mark it for the attention of Pete after selecting the "help guide" and select ask a question Edited by Screwfix.Peter
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