Gate Tale

After getting quotes from several people to redo our 'too small' RV gates, Ron decided he could handle this himself. It didn't hurt that the neighbor two doors down has welding equipment and offered to help.

First Ron bought and painted 4" square iron posts and dug really deep holes to set them in.


It might have gone faster if he hadn't used a soup ladle. (Seriously, he used a post hole digger. The ladle was just for the finishing touches at the bottom.)


He measured and leveled and braced the posts in place and put 2 1/2 bags of concrete in one hole where he had run into foundation for the wall. He was thinking he could return some of the 5 1/2 bags he had left, but used all of it in the second hole. That post will be there 100 years from now.


He even raked the stones away and did some regrading of the area. (I did help some with that.)


Then Charlie stepped in and welded a new section on each gate half. He did it so quickly I didn't get a picture, but Ron looks pleased.


Next was the painting. We bought two cans - one for each gate - then had to go back for four more.


Then the original boards went back on. I know Ron likes a good puzzle, so I was surprised that he had numbered them when he removed them. That could have been fun finding which board went in each spot. Although you can't really see it in these pictures, the bars are not evenly spaced.


Finally he cut and mounted five new boards in the added sections. Just as a comparison, here's the original gate.


And here's the new and improved 30" wider gate. We figure those new boards will blend right in after one 120 degree summer in Arizona.

Please notice the most amazing thing. In every picture, Ron is smiling! The guy is really having fun with this. As you can see, all I do is take pictures.