My wood gate has gone gray and started to sag. Can it be refinished, or does it need to be replaced?

Why gates age faster than the fence around them

A gate is the only part of a fence that moves, and every swing and slam works on its joints. It also hangs from one side, so gravity pulls the latch corner down a little more each year. Add coastal fog that keeps the end grain damp and sun that bakes one face, and a gate often looks ten years older than the fence it sits in.

The good news is that most of that age is in the surface and the joinery, not in the wood itself. A gate that is gray, rattly and dragging on the ground is usually a candidate for restoration if the wood probes solid.

Fix the sag before you touch the finish

Finishing a crooked gate locks in the crooked. We start by taking the gate off its hinges and laying it on sawhorses. Then we check three things.

If the frame is sound, we pull the joints tight with clamps, add exterior glue and stainless screws or through-bolts where the original fasteners have worked loose, and install a proper diagonal brace running from the bottom hinge corner up to the top latch corner. A brace in the other direction does nothing. A turnbuckle cable kit is a reasonable option on a gate that cannot be rebuilt, but a wood brace in compression is the traditional fix and it lasts.

• The joints. Press the corners and twist the frame. If the joints rack easily, the fasteners have loosened or the wood around them has crushed.
• The hinge post. Sight down it from the side. A post that leans toward the gate opening has either rotted at grade or was never set deep enough, and no gate repair will hold until the post is sound.
• The hardware. Bent strap hinges, short screws and rusted-through bolts are common on older gates. Heavier stainless or hot-dipped hardware with long screws into solid wood makes a surprising difference.

Refinishing the wood

With the gate square and the hardware off, the refinishing is the same sequence we use on a gray fence or deck. A percarbonate cleaner lifts the gray fibers and mildew, an oxalic acid brightener brings the natural color back and removes the rust stains around old screws, and then the gate dries for a couple of clear days.

We sand the faces lightly to knock down raised grain and ease any splinters along the edges, and we pay particular attention to the end grain at the top of each board, which is where water enters. Those ends get an extra coat of whatever finish the gate receives.

For the finish itself, a penetrating oil or semi-transparent stain is our usual choice on a cedar or redwood gate, because it can be recoated without stripping and it moves with the wood. A painted gate on a painted fence gets a bonding primer on bare spots and two coats of acrylic. Because a gate is handled every day, we also seal the edges around the latch and pull, where hands and keys wear the finish first.

When replacement is the better answer

A gate is worth replacing when the stiles or rails are soft at the joints, when the bottom rail has rotted from sitting in wet soil or sprinkler spray, or when the gate was built too light for its width and has racked beyond what a brace can hold. Wide single gates, anything over about four feet, are prone to this and are often better rebuilt as a pair or with a steel frame under the wood.

If the posts are rotted at grade, the gate itself may be fine but it is coming down anyway while the posts are replaced, which is the perfect moment to rebuild or refinish it on the bench.

Keeping a gate looking good

A restored gate wants a few minutes of attention a year. Tighten the hinge screws, check that the latch still catches without lifting, keep sprinklers off it, and recoat the top edges and the sunny face when they start to look dry, which is typically every year or two near the coast. The brace and hardware do the heavy lifting; the finish just has to keep up.

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