About this job
This side yard sits between a brick house and a white modern home, with a flagstone path running through it and a black iron fence on one side. We closed it off with a cedar fence panel and a gate that clears the path when it opens.
The beam across the top gives the opening a solid look, and it does a real job too.
The challenge
Gates sag when their posts lean, and a wide gate over a stone path has very little room to drop before it starts to scrape.
What we did
We tied the two gate posts together with a beam overhead so they can’t pull toward each other, and added a diagonal brace to hold the gate square. The bottom sits clear of the flagstones, so it swings without catching.
What this means for homes around the GTA
Narrow side yards like this are common where newer infill houses have gone up beside older bungalows, which you see a lot in North York and Etobicoke. A side yard is also the route for materials on most jobs, so a gate that opens wide helps later too. Our guide on why fences lean after winter explains what frost does to gate posts.
The finished work
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