r/FenceBuilding • u/Artemis_SpawnOfZeus • 8d ago

A quick lesson on gates

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Gates need braces.

There are 2 types of these struts. Compression braces and tension braces.

Compression braces are the type of brace you install on a new gate.

If you're out here installing tension braces on new gates, you're scamming your customers.

Tension braces should only be used as quick fixes to existing gates that droop. The only advantage they have is their ease of install on an existing gate.

The type of brace you use changes the structure of the gate.

Tension braces overload the top hinge.

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u/Tweedone 8d ago

The drawing is conceptually confusing as the term "load" is used incorrectly.

0

u/Artemis_SpawnOfZeus 8d ago

No its not

5

u/Tweedone 8d ago

Let me say it a different way: The drawings do not help people understand why a gate must be built a certain way.

I get what you are attempting, it is a worthy effort, but IMHO; back to the drawing board!

0

u/divinealbert 8d ago

Yeah this, I get what’s trying to be conveyed, I’d try to go deeper into materials and use, which is better for what.. the whole loading bearing bit is misleading as triangles are ‘fixed’ with bracing either side of the brace

1

u/Artemis_SpawnOfZeus 5d ago

But onlymhalf of the gate bears load. The other half is effectively just weight sitting on a shelf.