Image of a finished product made by hand
A fence at the dacha requires the presence of a passage to the territory, and, if necessary, an entrance. And if the installation of a fence requires the correct choice of material for all its elements and the optimal arrangement of the base, then to install a wicket and gate you will need knowledge of the process of their manufacture, installation of opening mechanisms and the choice of types of structures.
We observe rules and harmony
An excellent installation option would be to install the entire fence at once. But this option is not always possible. More often it is necessary to install a new wicket and gate to the existing fence, since the wear of these structures is much higher than the wear of the fence.
The choice of material for the gate directly depends on the material of the fence. If, for example, the fence is lined with chain-link mesh, then against its background a forged wicket and gate will look, to put it mildly, out of place. And the supporting elements for such products will need more massive ones.
The optimal choice for many fencing designs at the dacha may be a welded gate, which will be made of a metal profile or corner. Such designs are suitable for any type of fence and gate, since a metal door can be sheathed with mesh, corrugated sheets, and even decorated with forging.
Setting up a back door garden fence is not as serious an undertaking as building a front gate. The principle of its manufacture is no different from the design of the main entrance. Therefore, we will consider one method that describes in detail how to make a gate for any location.
Selection of material
The appearance of the entrance group determines the choice of building materials for support pillars and lining of the panels. You can weld a gate from a round pipe, but it is inconvenient to attach hinges to it, and difficulties arise when connecting the corners of the frame. The square section avoids such difficulties.
The internal filling is made of mesh, artistic forging, this structure looks openwork and opens up an overview of the internal space of the yard. Corrugated sheeting is used more often due to the wide choice of colors and patterns to resemble stone and wood.
For the canvas, cellular or monolithic polycarbonate is used, and sandwich panels are installed. Sometimes forged elements are combined with wooden filling.
Characteristics of professional pipes
Profiles are pipes whose cross-section differs from round, for example, oval, rectangular, square. For gates, the last two types are used. The raw material is low-carbon steel (09G2S or St3Sp). There are options for stainless steel pipes.
Material characteristics:
- strength and durability;
- low cost;
- small mass.
Products are produced by cold and hot pressing of straight-seam electric-welded pipes of circular cross-section. After this, the products are subjected to control and heat treatment to eliminate internal stresses. They produce pipes with a cross section from 10x10 mm to 500x500 mm, the walls are made with a thickness of 1 - 22 mm. Sections 6 – 18 m long are available for sale.
Thorough preparation is half the success
Drawing indicating dimensions and material for do-it-yourself manufacturing
The metal gate is made according to a pre-prepared pattern using a welding machine. And as soon as the material is purchased, the workplace should be prepared.
Professional welders are well aware of how important and convenient a welding table is. Of course, his absence should not stop all work. You can replace a professional table with a spacious, flat surface on which you can build a similar structure with your own hands. The leveled stands are covered with a sheet of CSP (cement particle board). It will be convenient to make a drawing of the future design and carry out welding work on it.
Before starting work, you need to understand some points:
- when heated, the metal expands, and when cooled it contracts again, so the entire welding process requires constant measurements;
- if the gate is made with your own hands from rusty material, then before the welding process it is recommended to thoroughly clean it, this will allow you to make even and neat seams;
- Concern for the safety of welding work is not the least important.
We will assume that you already have skills in working with a welding machine, and we will not mention the choice of electrodes and current mode.
Direct assignment
An integral part of a reinforced fence is the construction of a strip or columnar foundation. The first option costs a lot of labor and money. A trench is dug along the perimeter of the site, which is subsequently filled with solution. It is prepared from M200 concrete or a higher grade. The dimensions of the foundation ditch depend not only on the weight of the entire structure, but also on the characteristics of the soil. The main thing is that it is deeper than the frozen layer. Otherwise, when the soil freezes, it expands, swells and pushes the concrete base upward.
The bottom of the dug trench is covered with sand, which is generously moistened and compacted. Formwork is installed, which can be boards or sheets of any flat material. It is fixed with spacers. The supporting pillars are installed strictly vertically and secured with a reinforcing frame before pouring the solution.
The process of installing a fence from reinforcement
Then reinforcement is made: long horizontal rods are welded to short rods installed vertically along the entire length of the trench. This is where reinforcement is used for its functional purpose - to strengthen concrete. This role is performed more effectively if it is not smooth, but grooved, 8–14 mm in diameter. It is not always possible to fill a long tape without interruptions. Then this is done layer by layer.
Time intervals are needed for each horizontal layer to set. The concrete finally hardens in about a week.
The second type of foundation for fencing is pit-columnar. It is much cheaper than tape. Installation takes less time. Only the underground support of each pillar is concreted, and not the entire perimeter of the site. Here reinforcement is not used at all.
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Blanks for the frame
Diagram of one of the options for making a gate with your own hands
First of all, you need to prepare drawings that will indicate all the dimensions of the structure. Thanks to the drawings, it will be easy to navigate by the number and size of parts. The best option for a drawing would be to create it in full size, with all the additional elements. But you can get by with a scale drawing.
The existing material (metal pipe of square or round cross-section, corner) should be marked, and after marking, all parts should be cut with a grinder or grinding machine. The standard width of a garden gate does not exceed 1 m, and the height – 2 m. These sizes allow you to easily enter the territory even in winter clothes.
If you decide to build a gate of non-standard sizes with your own hands, then you should definitely take into account the problems that may arise during the operational period. For example, a large gate guarantees an increase in its mass, and at the same time wear and tear on the hinges and locks. And if it is higher than two meters, then you need to take care of an additional top crossbar. Its presence will reduce the load on the support.
The cut frame parts must be folded before welding and ensure that they are cut correctly. It is better to remove existing errors immediately. If, after measuring the angles and diagonals, no defects are found, then the edges can be prepared for welding.
Tools required for work
Tools for installing a gate
For excavation work, use a bayonet shovel or crowbar. Sand, crushed stone, and cement are transported using stretchers or buckets and mixed in a concrete mixer. A small volume of the mixture can be prepared manually in a trough, stirred with shovels. To weld a gate from a profile, welding is required; consumables are purchased for it.
Other tools:
- tamper for crushed stone, sand, electric vibrator for concrete;
- grinder with a grinding and cutting wheel for metal;
- electric screwdriver and drill;
- level, square, plumb line, 5 m tape measure, core.
An angle grinder (grinder) is used to cut off the parts of the frame and diagonals, and using a grinding wheel to clean the welds from scale. In different cases, you may need other tools, such as an ax, to cut roots in the ground.
Welding does not like to rush
Preparing metal door parts for welding work
To obtain a neat frame, you need to connect all the parts with clamps before welding or grab them by welding in different places. After this, measurements should be taken again on all parameters.
Next, it is advisable to weld the seams with short stops so that they have time to cool. This trick is needed to prevent the frame from moving. When the corners are welded and checked for defects, you can begin welding the stiffeners. Their number and location depend on the size of the structure and the cladding material. The last stage of welding can be considered welding the hinges onto the frame of the gate and onto the support post. This process, like all previous ones, is done with mandatory measurements and markings.
Upon completion of all welding work, you need to carefully process all the seams - remove scale, clean out irregularities, and make sure the seams are neat. Only after cleaning can protective work such as priming and painting be carried out.
We figured out how to make a gate, all that remains is to figure out how to install the gate with your own hands.
Wicket made of corrugated sheets photo
You can make a gate from corrugated sheets with your own hands in several versions. For example, designs are made in the same style as the fence or, conversely, contrast with it. The gate looks great in combination with brickwork or wide pillars made of light stone. You can decorate it using a canopy over the opening, forged edging and other elements, or even hang a mailbox. Using your imagination, it’s easy to create a gate that has a strict, solid or, on the contrary, a bright and fresh look
Installation stages
The process of installing a metal door frame on brick support pillars
The installation diagram for all types is identical, not counting the structures built into the gates. One of the stages is to cover the frame with the selected material, but first, you need to take care of the lock or bolt. To install the lock on the frame, you need to weld a plate, and the bolt can be welded or screwed in any convenient place.
If the dacha already has a fence and gate, then supporting elements for the gate do not need to be installed. Everything, of course, depends on what kind of fence and gate supports are present. For example, if the supports are brick, then they must have embedded elements on which the gate hinges are mounted. If there are none, then you will have to take care of this as well.
In this case, profile pipes are attached to the brick supports of the fence and gate with anchors or dowels, hinges will be welded to one of them, and a groove will be drilled on the other for the lock response mechanism (if provided). More often at the dacha, a regular gate valve is installed on the gate.
Well, all other fittings are installed at the request of the owner. The main aspects of manufacturing have already been discussed, so you can safely start manufacturing. Maybe for some this is the first serious product, then it is advisable that all actions are controlled by a specialist.
Manufacturing of forged metal structures
The most beautiful pattern can be made on the entrance street doors using forging elements. Custom assembly is very expensive, and making it yourself will require some experience and forging equipment. But often home craftsmen purchase decorative blanks of various monograms or simply make them using cold forging.
Metal and brick
Machines for the production of forged elements
You can forge simple monograms yourself if you buy one of the following machines:
- Torsion bar – helical twisting of rods, production of various decorative elements from volumetric spirals.
- Twisters twist thin-section iron rods. You can also prepare templates in the form of narrow heart-shaped spirals.
- Bending – production of spirals, zigzags, rings.
- Stamping-inertial - flattens the ends of the rods into tips. It is possible to produce fastening clamps and stamp waves like corrugations.
Fence gate
You should not purchase machines for the production of several decorative elements. The required machine can be rented.
Manufacturing of forged products
It is advisable for novice craftsmen to choose the simplest forging elements. Even when the product mainly contains smooth vertical rods made of ordinary iron, a few monograms will add “softness” and attractiveness to the overall entrance structure of the street door.
Forged metal door
Taking into account the drawing, calculations are performed. To manufacture a standard entrance door design you will need:
- steel strip 14x8 mm thick;
- rods 14x14 mm;
- professional pipe 35x25 mm.
To determine the size of the strip that is required to make one monogram, you need to draw a sketch on a scale of 1:1. The pattern is made with chalk on the floor, and the measurement is taken with a ruler.
This result must be multiplied by 10 (the standard number of monograms on the front door).
Wrought iron gate with door
Step-by-step manufacturing process:
- Weld a frame from a 40-20 mm corrugated pipe.
- Cut steel strips according to the pattern and weld them to the frame.
- Using a twister machine, bend the rods.
- Place the frame horizontally and try on the monograms.
- Mark the joining areas on the frame and weld the joints.
- Clean weld seams and sand.
- Weld the hinges onto the door leaf and supporting pipes. Clean the welding areas and paint the structure.
Beautiful metal gate
The cost of simple models of forged entrance gates ranges from 3.5 to 10 thousand rubles per 1 m². Complex models – up to 60 thousand rubles.
Additional benefits
In addition to being cheap and durable, a fence made from welded reinforcing bars has other advantages. For example, it can be successfully integrated into the overall ensemble of the estate with similar rods near the balcony, window bars, and porch railings. For the same purpose, a decorative technique such as a single color scheme is used. A metal fence is easy to paint and fits well into the overall color of the design. The color can be chosen to match the facade of the house or the metal roof tiles. But not necessarily. For example, the patina on metal parts gives the fence a special charm.
This is what a fence decorated with patina looks like.
If the architecture of the house has arched window shapes and semicircular balconies, then such lines can be repeated in the design of the fence. It’s not easy, but what a wide field for creativity and manifestation of the owner’s wonderful taste. Together with a thoughtful landscape design, everything can be decorated, for example, in the style of the Middle Ages. It's very fashionable now.
