# Gate across garage door?



## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

EDIT - problem solved! See update post downthread.

OK, this is a tricky one.

My shop is in a detached garage. I think the door is about 10 feet across, though I'll have to check.

The garage sits facing a paved area next to our house, which has become our son's play area. He is one year old. Here's a photo of the area:










Not this summer, but in future summers when he is 2, 3 and maybe 4, I would like to be able to work on quiet things in my shop (bench work, scroll saw, mini lathe) with the door open watching him play, but without letting him get into the shop. So I'd like to put some kind of removable fence across the doorway. It would need to secure to the wood on either side of the door (there is room for permanent fixtures on the garage door surround, on the outside of the door). It would need to not fall over if he leaned on the middle of it. It would need to either be Oregon weatherproof, or easily removed and stored every time I am done using it. And if it were semipermanent and weatherproof, then in the event I need to get something large into or out of the shop it would need to be occasionally removable. It wouldn't need to be terribly high, maybe three feet - just a deterrent for rambunctious preschoolers with poor impulse control and probably the occasional rolling ball that gets away.

I don't want to drill holes in the concrete if I can avoid it.

So this is a call for brainstorming. What would you consider in trying to solve this problem?


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

I'm semiconsidering one of those driveway barriers, of this style:










..but am not sure of the best way to attach, considering they work by putting poles into pipes sunk into the dirt on either side of the driveway. I'm also not sure they would survive a leaning.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

And this would be awesome if it were wide enough:

http://www.retract-a-gate.com/


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## hobby1 (Feb 10, 2012)

one way could be, to take the plastic fence (shown in the picture) and attach two posts, 2"x2", on the ends of the fence, and on the outside of these posts put in some screw eyes, and on the door frame put some eye hooks, to connect to the screw eyes, so the fence can be detachable and roled up when not in use, the eye hooks can remain on the door frame.

Make the fence length short enough to give it some stretch when putting it up, to make it stiff when its in place.


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## RHolcomb (Mar 23, 2010)

If you went with that style of barrier, why couldn't you attach a piece of PVC pipe to a 2×6 board with short lag screws and epoxy making sure the inside of the pipe remained open for the barrier pipe to slide into and then screw the boards into each side of the garage door frame. You could even paint them to match the color of your garage.


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## brtech (May 26, 2010)

If it's really in the range of 10', I think I would get a couple of 10' pressure treated 2×4s and build a frame, probably with stringers every 2' or 3', cover the frame with net or mesh and build some brackets to drop it into. That would be light enough for you to handle by yourself. You could remove it and lean it up vertically outside if you needed to get stuff in and out. I'd probably find a place to hold it up on the ceiling in the shop for the winter.

If that seems unweildy to you, you could hinge it in the middle with the hinges on the outside, so leaning wouldn't allow it to bend at the hinge.

Another thought is that you could pretty easily drill smaller holes in the driveway to drop an iron rod (rebar) to anchor it into the ground. Do something like a door bolt with a couple of C-clips on a stringer on the frame. If you put one in the middle, that would significantly increase the leaning resistance.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

A frame is probably my best bet so far. I could maybe lean it against the inside of the garage door when it's winter.

Rob I am not sure that would work. I haven't seen the driveway barrier in person but I think the rod that would need to slide into the PVC is actually underneath the barrier part. I'd need to sink the PVC into the ground to have it flush with the floor. Though maybe I could cut the rods off and devise some kind of mount for the two ends…


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## bold1 (May 5, 2013)

Plastic mesh fence for construction site safety barriers. Strong, easily screwed fast, roll up to store. Can see and buy at most lumber supplies. May have to settle for safety orange color.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Hm. There's a thought. Attach to a length of PVC at either end, drop into a lower bracket and clip into an upper one?

Safety orange is not a problem.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Some one makes a screen door for the front of your garage door, so you can open the door
and not let the bugs in and you'll have a visual as well.

I'll see if I can locate a link.
http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/outdoor-grounds-maintenance/tarps-canopies/greenhouses/16-feet-x8-feet-garage-screens-with-roll-up-pipe?utm_source=google_pr&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Garages-Cars-Boats-RVs-google_pr&infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=COGO58HL0LcCFSeCQgodiSgAHg

HTH


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## JustJoe (Oct 26, 2012)

Fence schmence. You build walls, he'll just want to climb them. A couple hours with one of these and he'll be trained not to leave the workshop until he's in his thirties:

http://store.petsafe.net/stubborn-dog-in-ground-fence


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Waho, I had actually thought about one of those a few years ago, and have it bookmarked still…but I think it's loose on the bottom and he'd just wriggle underneath.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)




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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

The underground pet fence should do the trick ;-)) ;-))

You could make a folding gate that looks like crossed lattice when it is open. WE had a small one for our kids in the house. Sorry I don't have a picture or plan.


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## Ply (Mar 21, 2013)

Volleyball net?


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## MisterBill (Mar 27, 2012)

Pool Fence? Just Google it….........


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## UpstateNYdude (Dec 20, 2012)

Matthias builds just about anything you can think of and fairly cheap too, you can probably just scale this up in size and it should have your desired effect.

http://woodgears.ca/home/baby_gate.html


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

Cannot find the picture now, but there is a gentleman on here with a shop and two dogs, that the school
kids like to visit with as they go by, so he built a big child gate that keeps the dogs in the shop and kids 
outside as they walk by, but everyone gets to enjoy. Maybe he will see this, or someone else will remember.
Hope you and your son enjoy your shop.


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## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

Years ago , back when I was on the farm, we strung a wire about a foot of the ground, electrified…..........ah to inhumane ! OF COURSE I'm Joking !


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

A number of options here:

http://www.lkgoodwin.com/more_info/guards_and_barriers_all_types/safety_gates/safety_gates.shtml

One advantage of a full-sized accordion gate is that you could lock it if you were going to be in your house for a while and still get some air circulation without worrying about your tools walking off.


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## kizerpea (Dec 2, 2011)

how about a livestock gate


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Garage is now toddlerproofed! Here's what I ended up doing, with a $20 secondhand baby play yard from Craigslist and some leftover hardware:


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## RaggedKerf (Aug 5, 2012)

Nicely done. We have one those picked up at a garage sale to cordon off the large fireplace in our basement and keep the munchkins from getting crispy. My son is 4 and my daughter 2 and it's held up for over a year so far.


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