garden gate..air gap for windy days?

[steveo3002]

i need to make a gate for the side alley on our house , we get a fair bit of wind in the winter

im thinking just under 6 foot tall , but what sort of gaps should i consider between the planks , im thinking 1/2" so its fairly private from a distance but would that be enough ?

 

[Bobtail4x4]

why not use two layers of planks, as a hit and miss?

 

[BrokenBiker]

my father has a gate to the side entrance to his house that gets a lot of wind, he just has a bog standard wooden 6 foot gate, latch in the middle, bolt at top and bottom, never been blown down or damaged, even when the neighbours fence was completely ripped out by the wind, all 8 panels went donw

 

[steveo3002]

hmm yeah im wondering if theres any point in leaving a gap between the slats

 

[BrokenBiker]

as long as it is secure top and bottom on the non hinged side, and the hinges are spaced properly there shouldn't be an issue

 

[CompoSimmonite]

If you use tongue & groove ensure you don't butt them too close together during a hot, dry, spell as they will expand a little during damper periods and buckle. Simply slot together by hand rather than tapping with mallet is sufficient. I built a pair of 6' high x 8' wide gates for the end of my carport this way and no problem with hot or cold periods nor do they have any problems with the high winds we get here (800+ feet)

Paul H

 

[Jan]

Does it have to be wood? I recently cut a steel bed base to replace a rotten gate. Had I needed greater height I could have simply welded 2 such pieces, one on top of the other. As the base is of 2" wire mesh between thin box section wind is not a problem. However my new back garden fence is wood and I've built it from 2.4 metre lengths of thin planks, braced at the mid point between the posts and in the 'hit & miss' style.

 

[Kent]

Wind channels and force can be magnified many, many times on the pascal chart. I have seen large and very sturdy timber frame and fill gates busted on the main rails as wind cannot pass through. A lot depends on location and size of gate / span