Could do better

Our small wooden side gate had moved on from looking ‘shabby chic’, and was now looking like it was about to fall apart. It is a very heavy door, so Brian asked Chris, our Workaway, to give him a hand in taking it off its hinges to allow him to work on fixing the missing and rotten pieces of wood.

There were quite a few!

Last year we’d done a quick repair on it, with every intention to do more, however it did need a lot more, and Brian just didn’t find the time. We had used a filler to prevent any further collapse, and to stop the rain getting in, but it needed some love before it started falling apart again. With the skills he’d learnt on the bookcase he felt he could do better.

He was soon pulling bits off and cleaning the very decayed wood down. I think he really enjoys the process of dismantling the object first, and then looking at what he needs to do to fix it.

He got it down to what he felt was a good base.

Then it was time to trace out the first form and start the woodwork.

It wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed, as the piece needed to fit into the existing wood to lock it all in. A bit of effort later though and the first piece fitted.