How and Why we Repaired the PVC Circle gate

DIY PVC Pipe Gate FIX...What Went Wrong?

10/21/2020

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It doesn't happen very often, but we sometimes have to revisit a project. This time, we had to tweak the PVC pipe gate due to damage it sustained.

With few exceptions, there are very few unannounced visitors to Steph's backyard, but recently there have been a few neighbors back there. It was nothing bad, they had come into the yard to look for their cat. Unfortunately, the gate was broken in the process. You see, the gate opens inward, but the neighbors pulled it out causing damage. The damage was extensive enough that we had to take it down to make repairs.

Here's the worst of the damage to the PVC circle garden gate.

Pulling the gate in the opposite direction caused the decorative panel on the left to completely separate from the support post.

Accessing the damage to the PVC garden gate.

Once inside, we removed the hinges as they will be placed in a different place once the gate goes back up.

The unsealed PVC connections collected water.

Whoops! We discovered the gate had been holding water! We didn't seal the connections so water was getting into the pipes and since there were no drainage holes, the water had no place to go.

We used a plastic scraper tool to remove the old construction adhesive.

The first step in making the repairs was to remove the old construction adhesive. This was a simple process with the use of our favorite plastic scraper tool.

We used Gorilla Heavy Duty construction adhesive to connect the PVC parts. .

Once the old construction adhesive was removed, it was time to start the reassembly. We used clamps to hold the pieces while the new adhesive dried.

Drilling drainage holes in the bottom of the PVC gate.

To deal with the water issue, we drilled a number of drainage holes in the bottom piece of pipe with Bosch Daredevil bits.

We also added a third hinge to add even more support and to prevent sagging.

We changed the hinges so that the gate now opens out rather than in. We also added a third hinge for even more support and to prevent sagging.

Making repairs to the PVC and strengthening the hinges.

We added some larger screws to the hinges and added screws to each of the connectors in the top of the gate to keep them from pulling apart.

And so there is no question about how to open the gate, Steph added the word "PULL!"

We are hopeful that the new repairs will prevent any further damage. In hindsight, we realized we should have used the third hinge from the beginning and should have used screws on all the connections. The water collection was a surprise, so we would never have thought to put those in originally.

Please note: This is not a sponsored post.

FYI: We are not professionals, and we don't claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first!

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