How to Make a Gate With Chicken Wire

Sketch the gate, including dimensions. You will use the sketch as a reference when cutting the framing members and assembling the gate. Draw the gate so its corners are mitered like a picture frame. The stiles (vertical framing members) will be cut to the height of the gate. The rails (horizontal framing members) will be cut to the width of the gate. The framing members are cut with their four-inch edges horizontal. The gate frame will be approximately two inches thick.

Set the chop saw to make 45-degree cuts. Trim off one end of a 2-by-4. Measure and mark the plank on its longest side to the length of a rail. Position the trimmed plank on the saw table with its two-inch edge against the guide fence. Cut the rail on the mark so the cuts on opposite ends of the rail are convergent, not parallel. Repeat to measure, mark and cut a second rail, the same length as the first.

Refer to your sketch to measure and mark the first rail. Cut the rail to length. Repeat to cut a second rail.

Assemble your gate frame on a flat surface, like a picture frame. Join the corners of the frame by positioning L-shaped steel braces on all outside corners of the frame and attaching them to the framing members. Use four screws and a drill with a driving bit to attach each brace. Designate and mark one side of the gate as the hinge side and the other as the open side. Place a carpenter's square on a corner of the frame, aligned to the edges of the framing members. Adjust the relative positions of the rails and stiles, if necessary, until the corner joint is perpendicular. Repeat to square the three remailing corners.

Lay a 1-inch-by-4-inch plank diagonally across the squared frame so one end overlays the lower hinge side of the frame and the other end is over the upper open side of the frame. This wooden brace must be oriented so it crosses both stiles of the frame. Use the straight edge of the carpenter's square and pencil to scribe a diagonal line across each end of the brace where it crosses the outer edges of the stiles. Cut the plank on the lines to form the brace.

Reposition the brace on the gate frame, aligning the cut edges of the brace with the outer edges of the stiles. Attach the brace to the frame, with four evenly spaced screws on each end. Turn the frame over to attach the chicken wire infill.

Drape a section of chicken wire over the frame. Use wire cutters to cut the wire slightly larger than the frame. Precise cutting is not necessary. Once the wire is attached to the frame, excess material may be trimmed with wire cutters.

Attach the chicken wire to one stile by positioning staples diagonally across intersections of the wire in the infill material and hammering the staples into the stile. The diagonal orientation of the staples will prevent the infill material from shifting. Once the chicken wire is securely attached to one stile, stretch is across the frame so the wire is taut and attach it to the opposite stile. Stretch and staple the wire infill to the rails.

Trim excess chicken wire from the gate, using wire cutters. The finished gate is ready for installation, using appropriate mounting hardware.