A gate I built in February shifted 3 inches by August - never expected that much movement

I put up a cedar gate near Portland last winter, thought I braced it solid, but by August the top rail was sagging a full three inches out of plumb... turns out the wet spring swelled the wood and then the dry summer shrunk it all wrong. Has anyone else dealt with post-season settling like this on wooden gates?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley_martin1mo ago

Oh man, that sounds like a classic Portland weather situation. The ground here practically breathes with all that moisture swing, so I'm not surprised you saw that much movement. If you build another one, maybe try using some adjustable brackets next time so you can tweak it as the seasons change without having to rebuild the whole thing.

samjohnson1mo ago

Yeah adjustable brackets saved my deck last spring.

andrew_rodriguez3d ago

Sam said "adjustable brackets saved my deck," but honestly I think they saved my sanity too. I had this one post that kept lifting every time the ground froze and thawed, real pain in the neck. Finally caved and got those brackets after my third time re-leveling the thing by hand. Now I just walk out there with a socket wrench twice a year (spring and fall) and give it a little tweak. @samjohnson is right, that little bit of adjustability makes a world of difference when the ground won't make up its mind.