Busy Weekend

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I have been fucking with the gate to the side yard for several years now.

I even built and replaced one side of it myseof out of frustration a couple years ago.

It got so bad I basically had to jam the two panels together and then push them shut to get to close at all for the last year.

I was bitching about it to my younger brother a while back and he volunteered to come replace it last week.

All I had to do was buy the materials and he did the rest. he is a retired union carpenter so he has skills I do not and never will posess.

It took 2 long days and 4 trips total to Lowes but he knocked it out nicely.

We rent this joint and I complained about it last year when they did their annual inspection but from past experience, they will only fix anything when it finally reaches the point of total failure.

They are due to come do their inspection sometime this month and theyare going to be in for a surprise. I don’t give a shit what it cost, I just wanted a damn gate that worked. My brother delivered. he worked his ass off in 95 degree weather until almost dark both days.

I helped here and there and even that kicked my ass. My lower back and right leg were killing me all day yesterday but I did whatever was needed to help. It turned out pretty good. keep in mind my brother is 4 years younger and about 100 pounds heavier.

The fence posts were solid but one leaned North and in while the other leaned South so he had to bolt 2X4’s to them to get a straight framing surface to build on first.

He had to build it by measuring and building it just by eye.

There are some metal brackets that I had to clean, straighten and in 2 cases, weld up that go in the corners and they gave him some trouble but he knocked that bitch out of the park in my opinion.

He was beat by the end of it and so was I. I took a shower and went to bed early last night and now I have to go to work today. Since he is retired, he can relax and recover.

I couldn’t thank him enough for doing that for me. he said he was glad to do and it and pay me back for all the times I have wrenched on his shit in the past. It works for me.

21 thoughts on “Busy Weekend”

  1. Sweet job! The two of you def have skills that will be in dire need when the world grinds to an halt!

  2. Your landlord had better appreciate you taking extremely good care of the property. Hope you can get reimbursed for the materials at least.

    • I doubt it, and if they do, they will jack up his rent to recover the costs plus any fees they can dream up. With my luck they would jack up the rent because I made improvements. Have I ever mentioned I despise most landlords?

  3. Good onyer brother. I used to be that guy for my brother. The other day he asked if I wanted to paint his house. I told him no, that last project refinishing his wood floors a few years ago liked ta killed me and I can’t do those projects any more.

  9. Great idea to add the lintel on the top of the gate posts to keep them parallel. That’s an installation that will last a long time.

      • The physics of the your proposition does not work out unless the diagonal is in-compressible. This would require a large diagonal. The added member would be in compression. The first stated solution puts the added member in tension. If this was a cable with a central turnbuckle, then it can be easily “tuned” to make the gate swing correctly again. It would also be lighter.

        Spin

        BSME plus I also have a Little Bro that is a master carpenter, prosthetic designer, sculptor and artist.

        • I thought I detected some Structural Engineering advice, Spin. Keep it up!
          (Did you go through Statics & Dynamics and Finite Element Analysis courses in College? Just curious, because I had to go through them even though I was going for an Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering degree(s)…)

  11. Crikey! I would bill the landlord for the job, at the very least all materials if not labor.

  12. Yah. Bill to the landlord. Here in Florida, shit like taht you can knock off the monthly rent if you had submitted a request to get it fixed and they ignored it.

    Lil Bro is a heavier balder version of you I see LOL
    Good on ya both!

  15. Fixing fence is in my blood. And my blood is on some fence, too! But my #3 Son worked with his FILaw doing tract house wood fencing. Of course my flatbed was used to haul the loads. They treated it right because it lasted 369,000 miles!
    Kudos to you & your Bro for a job well done.
    I’ll have one of the tavern’s Free Beer Tomorrow for ya!

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