Explanation of vinyl gates
For gates that match the Crossbuck style, skip to here.
Vinyl gates are available in 50" and 100" wide only, as assembled gates. The 50" wide is a single leaf and the 100" wide is a double. The actual opening size is 51-1/2" between posts and 102-1/4" respectively. Enter them in the calculator as a 4' single gate or an 8' double gate.
You can make odd size widths by purchasing a "gate kit" and one section for each gate leaf. A gate leaf is one gate, set of hinges and latch. A double gate is two leaves, two sets of hinges, latch and a "drop pin kit". The drop pin kit is the center drop rod assembly required when using two gate leaves.
If you choose a 4' single gate or an 8' double gate, the calculator will use pre-assembled gates, which are cheaper and you do not have to put them together when you receive your order. For any other width gates, the calculator will assume one gate kit per leaf and a section, since the gate kit doesn't include the section in the kit. It will add a drop pin kit for a double gate. In short, you will get everything you need, including instructions, to assemble your custom width gate. You are better off to use the pre-assembled gates, but you are not limited to those.
Making wide gates is discouraged. Picket fence styles can be up to the 6' section width per gate leaf. Other styles should not use widths wider than the standard pre-assembled widths. The reason is simple. 100% vinyl gates have a tendency to sag without steel or aluminum frames. For those customers who must have wider gates, we offer aluminum gate frames and custom built gates. These can be quite a bit more expensive than the standard gates. The aluminum is welded at all joints except for some bolted connections. They are quite strong and will not sag. These gates are outside the scope of this calculator. Write or call us for serious inquiries.
The gate kits are easy to assemble and can be done successfully by do-it-yourself homeowners. The pre-assembled gates only require hinges and latch to be installed after setting the gate posts.
There are not many pictures of the gates. They look just like the sections except they have a vinyl diagonal to keep them from sagging. All hardware is black.
The vinyl gates for the Crossbuck style of vinyl fence come in an 8' standard width. When purchasing a Crossbuck gate a gate kit and the rails must be ordered individually. The gates do not come pre-assembled. Assembly instructions, all other parts besides the rails themselves and hardware to hang the gate are included in a gate kit.
You can make odd sized gates such as 3' and 4' wide etc. but some modifications are necessary to the components in the gate kit. The modification involved has to do with the two crossed rails. They slip into provided uprights that make up the gate frame and changing the angle of the gate width will have an effect on the size hole required for the rails to slide in since the angle changes. It usually is very simple to make this adjustment, but you need to be don't want you to be surprised by it.
Double gates for the Crossbuck vinyl style are practical. They require two gate kits, the necessary rails and drop pin kits for the center (2 recommended per double gate). These are figured into the drawing calculator program on our site.