Parts for gate: glue up or solid wood?

[Jay Aubuchon]

I am making a garden gate, 42" wide by 72" tall, from white oak. Most of the parts will be 1 1/2" or 1 5/8" thick. Because of the premium price for 8/4 oak, I am considering gluing up pieces to get the desired thickness. I would use West System epoxy. Will I regret this? Should I bite the bullet and pay for the 8/4? (Let's assume that I will be satisfied with the appearance of the glued-up parts.)

You can see the design in my previous thread Design for a large garden gateway.

[Mel Fulks]

I would not even think of gluing for thickness unless I already had the thinner material. Even then I would be inclined toward buying the 8/4. You might take some rationalization by remembering that many times the thicker material is cut from better stuff.

[Jamie Buxton]

You're going to invest a lot of hours in building this project. Don't cheap out on the materials.

[Andrew Hughes]

I agree with Useing 8/4 go with rift or Quarterd.The epoxy may show up darker than the oak that would be a bummer to have witness lines on the faces.it would bug me.

[Davis Young]

Having torn down a patio cover or two in my day, I found that the greatest rot and damage was from two boards sistered together. The rain wicks right in there and then cannot dry out thus resulting in moisture related damage. Epoxy might serve to forestall this, but eventually, left exposed to the sun, it will fail. I agree with the others to go with 8/4.

[John TenEyck]

Solid wood w/o question. But do you really want white oak? It's very rot resistant but will turn grey/black unless you do frequent cleaning, staining, etc. I'd pony up for Ipe' and be done with it. It will look good for 70 years w/o much attention.

John

[Peter Quinn]

White oak moves a lot. I'm not sure how much I trust that type of lamination over the long haul. For a gate that size exterior I'd be inclined to increase the thickness to 2 1/4" frame, and make it from 10/4 mahogany, will resist warping better. This you should be able to source in 10/4. Cedar might also be a good choice though harder to source on the east coast. White oak doesn't dry well due to its cellular structure, it's costly due to more time in the kiln, and much above 8/4 it can easily get checked or case hardened which is bad. I laminated a bunch of cypress for knee braces that hold up a small roof a few years back using urethane glue, titebond version, those have been fine, still look like a single board, but they were rather old and quartersawn.


On the design front if make sure you have minimum 6'8" head room at the low point of your arched head piece, and I'd be inclined to flash both the top of the gate and the top of the head with 20oz copper, this will add considerable longevity to the hardest working parts of the structure. The sun will destroy the wood, the water just comes in to finish the job, flashing short circuits both.

[Mel Fulks]

Good point from Peter on the height to springline. Things like that project need some height to make any kind of show and proclaim they are custom. Some of the old prints and paintings show people walking through garden trellis work two or three times their height.

[Mike Schuch]

Wow, I guess I am in the minority here! I have found that a good laminated plank will almost always outperform a solid plank of equal size when it comes to strength, rigidity and stability. Sistered boards in exterior construction ARE a bad idea and will wick moisture between them but that is completely different than a laminated beam! If it were me I would go the laminated route.

[Chris Padilla]

I'd vote for Cedar for the gate. It will be so much lighter although, I have to admit, it is a soft wood...dings easily. And definitely go 8/4...just seems right.

Cedar also smells so good while milling it.

[Brian Holcombe]

I vote for cedar or mahogany. I have had scraps or cedar and mahogany that I used to stand up some trees I planted. They're a year in the ground and haven't rotted.

[Jay Aubuchon]

Design:

I currently have 6' 6" head room at the low point of the arch. I'll push that up another 2 - 4".

I will have to follow up with Peter regarding flashing. I had never considered that, and I'm not quite sure how to go about it.


Material:

The strong consensus is to go with solid wood. I think I was secretly hoping that you would talk me out of my penny-pinching ways, and you have. I'll go with solid wood. On the other hand, the non-profit I am making this for has little money for this project. My family will probably cover much of the cost, so it is not as if price is no object.

This gate will be in a public place, with lots of kids in and out. So it seemed best to avoid anything too soft. Am I giving this concern too much weight?

I was originally going to use cypress. I moved away from that because multiple sources suggested that the young-growth cypress that is typically available is not nearly so rot-resistant as old growth. Also, it is on the soft side (right?).

I settled on white oak because it is very rot-resistant, durable, and a good local, central-Pennsylvania material. But your point about how it will look as it ages is well-taken. And I can guarantee that it will not get any regular cleaning or staining.

I guess I'm going to have to take a trip to my lumber source in Picture Rocks and look long and hard at what they have (or can procure) that won't break the bank. They do have ipe and mahogany. I understand that various species are sold as mahogany. Any suggestions as to which to look for and which to avoid?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Our cedar gate is going on 30 years old and needs replaced.
I can assure you if the replacement lasts that long, it's going to be someone else's problem not mine

I vote go cedar..

[John Goodin]

If you are considering ipe look a deck supply companies (if you have them) in you area. They carry it, usually at a good price, and oftentimes have drops and other material they will to sell a a major discount.