Custom Baby Gate HOW TO

Custom Baby Gate How To.

Welcome TLC Party People.  :)

This is strictly a guide to how we constructed our custom baby gate.  If you would like to see more photos of the finished product, they can be viewed in THIS POST.    :)

Materials:

 24 inch x 48 inch x 1 inch woodworkers panel  (found in the trim/moldings aisle) at Lowe's. 

Also seen, the baby to be gated.  :)

One 4 inch x 1 inch x 4 ft board

One 3 inch x 1 inch x 8 ft board

One 1.5 inch x 1 inch x 8 ft board

We also used several small pieces of bender board left over from the Board and Batten project found HERE.

Brandon placed the 3 inch wide board on top of the 4 inch wide board to create the stacked look that the hinges are attached to.   Below you can see a dry run we did, with the hinges and the main door panel, done to make sure everything was aligning correctly.   We also used this chance to trace the outline of the steps, which would need to be cut so that the gate could pass freely over.

Below is a close up shot of the boards used to hold the hinges.  You can see how the stacked the 3 inch and 4 inch boards are arranged, as previously described.  We needed the 2 inch thickness, and could have just used two 4 inch pieces, but we felt this looked better.  We were left with recessed screw holes, which I then filled with wood filler.

I tend to overfill and sand off any excess later.  

I took this photo to show you how Brandon measured the center of each trim piece as a guide before nailing on, but I'm posting it because it just looks so funny.  I know it is just the perspective and because he is such a tall guy, but his legs look so little here!  ha!  He looks like he's in a fun house mirror.  :)

The leftover 3 inch board that was not used as part of the hinge contraption was nailed to the top of the gate.  We used the 1.5 inch trim piece for the bottom of the gate, and the side. 

We spaced out the bender board to an eye pleasing look, and then measured and cut to fit.

Since the bender boards are 1/4 inch thick, and we used them on the front and on the back of the gate, our 1.5 inch piece on the bottom fit flush with the edges of the bender boards.  We used the liquid nails to attach the bender board pieces.

Here it is primed and ready for paint.

3 coats later (ugh! ha!), it was time to attach the caster.  We attached it to the edge farthest from the hinges in order to help with the weight load. 

The receiving end of the gate latch was attached first.

After attaching the gate to the wall with the hinges, we attached the gate pin, ensuring it fit correctly into the gate latch.

Done!

The gate took about 5 hours to build and assemble, and we couldn't be happier with the finished product.

And, just for convenience, here is the LINK to the post with more finished photos.

Thanks for reading!

:) Courtney