I am currently building a fenced in patio, and the entrance gate will not be at a right angle to the corner of the house. My question: should I angle the post that sits beside the house to be square with the gate, or square with the house?
I intend to have a header above the gate. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
you should angle the post that's by the house. It will increase the functionality of the gate hardware.
If you're worried about looks, you can always take a piece of fence plank and install it from the post corner over to the house wall.
I had a similar issue but a small angle so it wasn't worth bothering to fix it.
I think you definitely have to go with the second orientation. (square up the gate opening)
Are you using 4x4 or 6x6 posts?
Maybe get a 4x8 or 6x12 post for the house side.
Then cut a complimentary angle to the house so that you don't have just a point touching your house.
This can help if you're going to lag bolt it to the house.
Something that might be an alternative option: don't use square gate posts, but triangular ones, or octagonal ones or whatever shape you need to get the angle right.
If a square post is set close to the house wall, it will look wrong unless it is parallel with the wall. If doesn't matter if the gate itself is at an angle. Gates can be at any angle when they are half open, and nobody thinks they look "wrong."
But since we don't have a complete plan, I would question why the gate needs to be at an angle anyway. Building an extra two or three feet of fence might be a neater way to solve the problem.
You did not show in your pencil-drawn plan which side the gate hinge is on and which way the gate is intended to open. So here's something to think about.
* B
/
/
* A
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(Apologies for ASCII diagram..)
If the hinge of the gate is meant to be at point "A", and it intended for the gate to open to the left in this diagram, double check the size of the hinge. If you go with a post that is square to the gate, you might find the gate does not open flush against the wall of your house due to the post blocking it from opening the whole way. In this case, you'd definitely want the post square with the house, not the gate.
Scenario: Post square to gate
Outcome: Gate does not open flush with wall of house
* B
\
\
* A
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Compared to:
Scenario: Post square to house
Outcome: Gate does open flush with wall of house
* B
_____
* A
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(If the gate is hinging on point "A" and is meant to open to the right, double check once again that your choice of post orientation allows the gate to open flush against the house)
The gate latch hardware won't work unless it's square with the gate in the closed position.
So if the gate hinge is on the outer/farther post, you can't make it square with the house.
