Wood expansion

[MiamiCuse]

I just finished a wood fence, using all pressure treated lumber. The gate is a double gate, five feet wide each side. There is a gap of about 1 inch between the two gates when closed. However it rained in the last few days in Miami, and I noticed the gates have expanded, so much so the two doors are not sort of fused together making it hard to open the gate. When it dries it wil shrink and back to original size.

I had no idea it could expand this much.

I would like to avoid taking it apart and widening the gap, as that means I need to redo the drop rod concrete block, as well as the latches etc...

When it becomes dry is there something I can spray of paint on the gate to make it not expand so much?

Thanks in advance,

MC

[David Nebenzahl]

On 6/20/2008 6:16 PM MiamiCuse spake thus:

Not really. Wood is hygroscopic.

[evodawg]

Do both gates have a rod? The only thing you can do is rip the one without the rod or rip both and redo the rods. Nothing will ever keep wood from expanding or shrinking.

Good luck with that!

[topservicepros]

Quote: MiamiCuse wrote on Fri, 20 June 2008 20:16

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It might be worth trying some deck weatherproofing/sealant.

-- Richard Thoms President - Top Service Pros, Inc. Connecting Homeowners and Local Service Professionals

[RicodJour]

Post a picture, including the fencing on either side of the gate. Expanding an inch in a couple of days seems like a lot - maybe there's something else going on.

R

[ransley]

PT is sold nearly soaking wet and takes weeks to months to dry out. You say you lost an inch, so the whole fence expanded, is it tighter at the top, could the posts have leaned with the weight. Why cant you just sand a bit where they meet together and wait till it realy cures out. In decking with PT you butt it tight and in 6 months you have a nice perfect gap inbetween every board, PT shrinks alot when it dries out fully, but with continual rain it will be a looong time

[Phisherman]

Wood expands and contracts a lot so there are gate (and door) designs to minimize the changes. Any finish will help, but the wood will still move.

[MiamiCuse]

Well it turns out I was not looking close enough in the rain yesterday, the wood frames of the gates did not expand into each other, I mean it did expand, but what made it much worse was the gate latch which is basically two "angles" which added another 3/8" to each side, the latch were locked into each other when the wood expanded.

So I will "notch" the wood a bit where the latch is attached tomorrow to recess it, that should fix it.

Thanks,

MC