How to Make a French Double Gate

Measure the height of the gated area. Subtract at least 6 inches for ground clearance and use this number as the length of your 1/2-inch thick boards. Measure the width of the gated area. Subtract 1 inch for the hinges and divide the resulting number in half. Make this the length of your 1-inch boards.

Position a number of 1-by-6-by-half-gate-width boards next to each other with their large face on the ground and their long, thin sides touching. Use as many boards as necessary for their widths to add up to roughly the desired gate height. Set two 1/2-by-4-by-gate-height boards on top of the gate boards, evenly spaced and perpendicular to the gate boards. Drill two holes through these boards, which are the support boards, and into each gate board. Attach the support boards to the gate boards with 1-inch galvanized wood screws. Repeat to create a second, identical gate.

Set the doors upright within the gate opening and position two hinges between each door and the gate post or fence that it attaches to. Mark the hinge screw holes on the gate and attachment surface and drill out each hole. Attach the hinges to the gate with 1-inch galvanized screws and to the attachment surface with 2-inch galvanized screws.

Position a central latch between the two gate doors and mark the screw holes. Drill out each hole and attach each latch section to a gate using 1-inch galvanized wood screws.