Timber and gates

[StevieB]

I have spent the last 3 months, on and off, doing some work for a friend of SWMBO's. The latest job was to install 2 6ft x 6ft metal gates to form a new driveway entrance. These were old and the standard curly scrollwork stuff that was standard fare at one time so fairly flimsy. Said friend has limited cash so I was really just helping out as and when, this is not a paying job. She is happy with the gates, but wanted to know if they could be clad in timber so that people could not see through them. They have a metal strip top and bottom I could screw through so this is feasible, but I am concerned by the weight - the gates themselves are only 15mm thick and held on 2 hinges each with eye bolts over a standard hinge pin. That pin is 13mm - I cannot go wider (to a standard 19mm pin) as the gate is too narrow for a wider eye bolt and I am not about to start messing with welding on extra supports etc. So my question is - how would you clad these gates, keeping weight (and cost) to a minimum? Couple of options:

Plywood sheet - looks naff, will delaminate and quite heavy but relatively cheap
Composite plastic decking - expensive, may look naff, rarely reversible and may be ribbed
Hardwood decking strips - current front runner, but need smooth planed both sides ideally and also weighty and relatively expensive but will give the best overall look I think
wood effect plastic wall panels - light but likely to look like what it is, so very naff and possibly white on the reverse!

Or something else? Any suggestions welcome, I am out of ideas here and desperately trying to avoid being cornered into doing an entire new driveway behind the gates as well.....

 

[Mike G]

Maybe twitch on some willow panels, or cane screening (which you can find in garden centres at the right time of year). Cheap, light, and easily replaceable.

 

[novocaine]

Plastic cladding. Weighs nothing, looks like wood (from a afar), comes in ship lap.

 

[Cabinetman]

A few years ago I saw an advert for exactly that, but can’t remember if it was plastic or Aluminium. Sure you will find it on the web.

 

[StevieB]

Thanks chaps. This is one of those jobs that one wishes one had never offered to help out on! Bamboo/willow is the option I am pushing for, but is likely to be vetoed on the grounds it can still be seen through (I would double thickness it personally). I have looked at PVC cladding e.g.

https://www.pvccladding.com/composite-p ... ECO3600SO/

but pricey for what it is at about £80 per sq m in the example above. I looked at wall panels for showers etc but these seemed very flimsy and are not coloured both sides, the best 'good' option I can identify is a budget composite decking - no maintenance, range of colours and easy to fit I think:

https://neotimber.com/decking/composite ... essential/

Still pricy at approx £50 per sq m but cheaper than hardwood decking. I shall keep searching!

 

[AndyP]

The bamboo screening I have seen here would be impossible to see through unless your nose was pushed up hard against the canes. What are they hiding.
I am looking at putting some around my outlaws first floor terrace. 1m high around the railing and 2m at each end.

 

[novocaine]

House near us has the entire perimeter of there chunk of land surrounded with a fine plastic mesh, from anything more than a metre away it's impossible to see them banging in the garden.

Within a metre on the other hand..... imagine a walrus and a yeti

Note: er so I'm told :lol: .


https://www.wirefence.co.uk/plastic-mesh/privacy-mesh/

 

[StevieB]

Thanks for that - both the mental image (I think!) and the link. 95% visibility reduction would be fine I would think, much appreciated!

Steve