Pacific palisades gate
Posted: July 25, 2010, 4:29 pm

I built these two gates on a property in Pacific Palisades, CA from scratch. They were expensive and time consuming but the homeowner was willing to pay for them and they certainly turned out nice. As you can see they really made and entrance for the front of the property (top gate) and an attractive side entrance as well (bottom).

The top gate I made out of cedar 2 x 12s that I cut the oval out of in two pieces and joined with biscuits. I then used biscuits to join the sides and bottom, which were 2 x 4s and finished by putting in all the spindles and using pocket screws to attach them. Fill, prime and paint and voila you have a beautiful unique front gate.

The bottom gate is built in my usual sandwich or laminate style. I used Hill & Dale for the center and cut patterns out of 1 x 12 for the in and outside top and bottom pieces using templates I drew up on construction paper. Using plenty of glue as well as stainless steal finish screws to hold it all together and making sure to caulk all places where water might get in, all that was needed was to prime and paint it and hang it on the side panels (or wings as I like to call them) complete with fluted posts and custom lattice work and you have a beautiful unique entrance.