The Double Swing Gates of Hell!

Behold! The double swing gate from hell! Turned out pretty good actually!

When Galvanized steel posts fight back!

The title here might be a bit overly dramatic, but this one fought me hard... What was meant to be a routine 12-foot wood dog-ear double swing gate installation devolved into a multi-day slog of frustration. Right out of the gate (no pun intended), I picked up a nice little scratch while adjusting a post bracket. Nothing serious—but annoying enough that I eventually had to grab some scissors and trim off a flap of skin that kept catching on everything. A great start!

The first day, I had arrived a bit later in the afternoon after finishing another job. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. I pulled a line across the top and was taking extra care to make sure everything was level and properly aligned. A neighbor even noticed the attention to detail and stopped by to ask for our contact info, which felt like a small win. I proceeded to screw on the gate from and most of the pickets. Alas, the sun went down, and I decided to pack up and head home, thinking the hard part was behind me.

The following day, I figured I had maybe an hour of work left—just a few pickets to nail on and some gate hardware to install and adjust.

The universe had other plans...

Shortly after I arrived, the homeowner told me the neighbor was suddenly having trouble opening her gate. After a quick look, I realized the weight of the new gate had caused the shared post to shift about half an inch, binding up the neighbor’s latch. An easy fix in theory: a small notch and a longer striker bar. I even had a suitable striker bar on the truck.

Unfortunately, the neighbor wanted it exactly how it had been before. No notch. No new striker bar. No gap. No scratches. Her husband had built the fence 30 years ago, and she’d never had any issue until now. Which made things… challenging. It’s hard to fix a fence when you’re not allowed to fix the fence! I calmly listened to her frustrations and assured her I’d do everything in my power to resolve the issue in the least invasive way possible.  I should also note that the average life span of a well-built fence should be around 30-40+ years. So, this one was getting a little long in the tooth...

While I was contemplating my next move, the homeowner came out to check on his gate. Friendly guy—and as it turned out, full of good ideas. He suggested building a small 2x4 stand onto the gate to prop it up when closed, taking the weight off the shared post. I quickly turned it into a reality, and it worked perfectly. The neighbor’s post was restored to its original position without the need for any notches or bolt catches.

Disaster averted! Problem solved… almost.

Once the gate was propped up, the pickets no longer lined up. To make matters worse, one of the post brackets on the other side started slipping. I tried tightening and adjusting it, then reattaching it—but the screw stripped out. I swapped it for another screw, that stripped too. Then the hole in the bracket itself stripped.

Fantastic!

After a moment of reflection (and deep breathing), I grabbed a self-tapping screw and muscled the stubborn bracket back into place. With that sorted, I tightened the tension wire to raise the pickets on the right side to match the propped-up side.

Everything was just about level when the turnbuckle suddenly exploded! I threw my wrench in frustration!

Luckily, the homeowner didn’t see it (I hope...)—he’d been watching a little too closely all day. It’s amazing how many people come outside like it’s a live performance when a fence is being installed. Not sure what's so exciting about watching somebody digging holes and nailing things together but people seem to love it! I've had people sitting their literally eating popcorn before! That said, an audience is totally fine… until you’re one snapped piece of hardware away from losing your proverbial mind!!!

Thankfully, I had a spare turnbuckle in the truck. I installed it, finished the final picket rips, and made the last adjustments.

At long last, everything was looking great, and I was relieved that this nightmare of a project was coming to an end. Or so I thought...

Then the homeowner said, “That gap looks a little wide…”

The standard acceptable gap in the center of a double gate is about 1–2 inches. This one was closer to two—and yes, it did look a bit wide... Fortunately, I’d used adjustable hinges, so I started tweaking them and adjusting the outside gaps to split the difference. I even removed one of the rips in the middle and replaced it with a wider picket to dial it in properly.

But as the gaps improved, the alignment between the gates started shifting. One side crept higher than the other. The pickets were uneven and sloped upward on one side.

To hell with it!

I pulled another line and pulled all the pickets off one side and reinstalled them from scratch!

And that finally did the trick! Resulting in the beautifully crafted Jenga Tower... I mean gate! That you see in the image above! The lesson here is simple: even small projects can get complicated fast. Murphy's law is always present, but the real measure of good work isn’t how smoothly it goes—but how well it’s finished!