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Renovating Exterior

Seeking advises for a bad sliding gate job

2 years ago

Hi,

A tradie whom I hired to make a sliding door has made many mistakes, among these mistakes I discovered are the following:

1- The gate frame is made of heavy iron rather than aluminum which made it very heavy and would be difficult to install a motor because of the weight.

2- The under-roof garage is 2.8 meters wide while the gate is 4 meters which add to the weight.

3- the guy hired an excavator to dig a track path costing me a few hundred dollars and the path is like a channel that is ascending and its accumulating dirt and dangerous because I have a kid who might fall into it.

4- the chain gap is too small for a hand to go through.

5- He couldn't find a long upper rolls so he made a temporary solution>

So what's your advice regarding the work and is there any way to rectify it? Photos attached

Comments (7)

bigreader
2 years ago
1. It’s not Iron. Possible that aluminium wouldn’t be strong enough. Of course you can get a motor to suit, there are wider/heavier gates out there.
2. Yes a 4m wide gate is heavy. The width looks appropriate to me.
3. Supervise your child. The channel is wider than I would have thought but it looks neat and finished well.
4. Agree this is a problem. I’d asked for the metal framing to be removed, the hole resized and reframed.
5. What are the long upper rolls?
But a gate like at the front of your property would normally require a Council
Permit which would require plans. Do you have plans?

Even without a Council permit what did you quote specify? Did you specify what measurements etc you required?

I’d set aside your list and be checking that the size and construction of the wheels is adequate, and that the welded joins are complete and strong.
Duraid Fatouhi
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Thanks a lot for your reply, much appreciate it. The guy has been doing some work for me and he charges always reasonably so I don't ask for a quote from him. But for this work he said he will need a day and a half with his worker to finish the work and he said that the light frame I have for an internal fence would be good for the gate. Anyhow I was surprised when he constructed the current frame somewhere and brought it home and attached the wood to it. He didn't consult me regarding the new frame.

I realized earlier that he is facing difficulties with the work but he dismissed my thoughts and assured me he will manage the work.

I didn't discuss the width with him as the case with few jobs where I relied on his experience. Anyhow he got recently a contract for a big project and started delaying my work and I noticed some issues with another job I assigned him to do it because of lack of time.

I had to return the motor I bought back to Bunnings after he said to me that he will google how to install it and when I saw that he is having trouble installing the rollers and the one he bought were not long enough. See attached image, he bought the one to the left when he should buy the one to the right.

A friend of mine who is a builder examined the work and said there was no need to dig for a channel and it cold have been done without the channel by lifting the gate-guide and extending the length of the rollers or using larger rollers like the black one and he also said that the gate doesn't require such heavy frame.
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Duraid Fatouhi
Original Author
2 years ago
dreamer
2 years ago
The gate is made of zinc steel, which is a product that is easier to cut and weld. If your tradesman used aluminium, that requires a more specialised tradesperson to cut and weld. Hence, why I assume the tradesman went for the zinc steel. Maybe you gave him a project to do that was harder that his skill experience.
dreamer
2 years ago
The zinc steel is a normal product used for automatic gates. Motor for electric gates can move up to 500kg if required.
Ask a professional automatic gate builder to look at and see what needs to be done to complete this project so it works efficiently.
Duraid Fatouhi thanked dreamer
bigreader
2 years ago
Was it a handyman or a builder? You’ve given scant instructions and have a base level but functional job. The work that’s been done looks tidy and finished. As above get a professional to do the motorisation. And ask the current tradie to enlarge the hand hole and upgrade the rollers. Once you paint the gate and do the landscaping it will look fine.
Duraid Fatouhi thanked bigreader
Duraid Fatouhi
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Thanks for your reply. I have relied few times on his advises but he failed me this time because it was obvious he accepted a job that he has no experience in therefore he had to take the frame to other guy to do the wielding. Had he said he cant do it I would have assigned someone else. I waited three months for him to start the job. He says he used to be a builder but currently a handyman.

I will take your advice and have the job completed by someone else. Thanks a lot

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