Emboldened (definitely is a word) by a number of successfully completed jobs in the house and garage, on the boat, and at a friend’s house, I girded my loins this weekend and tackled something that’s been getting on my nerves for the last few years. We have double gates on the drive. Each is constructed from timber with some reinforcing, and measures 2m tall and 1.5m wide. The whole ensemble isn’t totally dissimilar to this, but a bit wider:
Each is, obviously, heavy. And not in a ‘hey man, where’s my drugs?’ kind of way.
Anyway.
I’m on a long path of beefing up security around the house and grounds, and the next job on my list was to put some extra heft behind these gates. But the left-hand gate hangs low at the non-hinge end. Maybe as much as 6cm low, and before I can put additional security on the gates, I needed to level them up. This meant removing the left-hand hinge screws, hoiking (that’s definitely a word) the non-hinge end of the gate into a better position, fixing it there temporarily, drilling guide holes, refixing the hinge, and unhoiking (not sure about that one) the gate so that it hangs perfectly positioned.
I did that on Saturday. Then, because I’m me, I did it again on Sunday because I had made insufficient allowance for the amount of play in the gate hinge and, to my head, the gate hung offensively low at the non-hinge end even after my remedial action. Perhaps 3cm low, but even though that’s halfway better than it was, it was not good enough for me. So on Sunday the job got redux.
After Sunday’s efforts I’m happy with it. But of course (and you knew this was coming), the rehung gate now highlights how poorly the other gate is hung. It’s only a couple of centimetres out of alignment, but that’s enough to trouble my head.
Ahh yes, the ol’ garden gate problem.
Similarly, ours is out of alignment and needs to be re-hung (definitely a word).
Something that I plan to do next year.
I’ve been saying that since 2016.
After the gates and security I will be building a log store. And then I need to replace some fence panels with some 6×6 panels. And then I need to build a coal store. I think you need to crack on with your gates. Time is money, y’know.