May 16th, 2012
If you’re a joiner (or other occupation that works with timber), then getting a wooden splinter is an occupational hazard. If you leave the splinter and do nothing, then it will eventually become infected and may become uncomfortable, if not painful. How soon it becomes infected depends on a lot of things, from the type of timber the splinter is from (the timber Greenheart, for instance, can become infected quite quickly resulting in blood posioning, as well as the Greenheart splinter wound turning septic, there is also risk of secondary infections due to fungi and bacteria) to how clean the timber you were using is. So here we look at a couple of ways of removing a splinter. Continue reading “Removing a splinter”
Tags: how to, splinters
Posted in Tips and tricks | 2 Comments »
April 30th, 2012
Ever get annoyed when callers to your home leave your gates swinging in the wind, leaving them to slam shut with a thud that can damage the gates? You could put a ‘please close the gate’ sign upon the entrance way but let’s face it, it will probably be ignored! So what’s the answer?
Continue reading “What is a gate closer and why would you need one?”
Tags: gate closers, gates, guestblogs
Posted in Guestblog | No Comments »
April 20th, 2012
An article caught my eye this week in our local daily newspaper, The Daily Post. It seems that recently, metal thieves have moved on from targetting lead on roofs to stealing people’s metal gates in the Denbighshire area, no doubt in order to take them to scrapyards to weigh in for cash?
In Rhyl alone, four pairs of cast iron gates were stolen in one night…………..
Continue reading “Wooden gates to deter Denbighshire metal thieves?”
Tags: Denbighshire, gate hinges
Posted in News | No Comments »
February 28th, 2012
Recently, we’ve had a lot more enquiries for gate automation kits, for use both with our gates and with other people’s gates, and we’ve had to tell people we do not supply them either individually or with our gates. A lot of the time this is met with ‘I’ll go and get my gates (or doors) from somebody else who is willing to sell me the gate automation kit…’. Are you sure this is the right attitude? Read on…
Continue reading “Why we do not supply gate automation kits”
Tags: automated gates, electric gates, gate automation, gatesafe, Wooden gates
Posted in News | No Comments »
January 31st, 2012
If you’ve visted our main site homepage recently, you may well have seen a new logo at the top of the page and you may be wondering what the logo that says ‘BWF approved’ actually means. Who or what is the BWF? This blog post will tell you who the BWF are, what they do and what it means for us and our customers.
BWF stands for the British Woodworking Federation and we are pleased to annouce that we have recently become members.
Continue reading “We’re now BWF Code of Conduct assured”
Tags: British Woodworking Federation, bwf, code of conduct assured
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January 13th, 2012
We are here to follow on from part one of our look at some bespoke wooden Victorian gates we manufactured. If you’ve not seen the first part of the post, then it can be found here wooden victorian gates.
Once the framework of the gates has been put together ‘dry’ with no glue, we can then work out all the sizes of the infill timbers; in the case of the Victorian gates, there are three different infill sections. The bottom section of the gates contain shaped panels, the middle section has rectangular panels and the top section boasts the more complex turned spindles (these are turned on a lathe). Below, some of the infill timbers are shown, the image shows the turned spindles whereas, below, these are the shaped panels for the lower section of the gates. (I’ve not shown the infill for the middle section of the gates as these are just rectangular timbers!).
Continue reading “Victorian gates – how they turned out”
Tags: bespoke gates, gate video, Victorian gates
Posted in Wooden gates | No Comments »
January 4th, 2012
We’ve recently started to use social media at work; Twitter and Facebook; I must say to begin with I was sceptical of its uses to us and how it could be used to help our business, especially considering all the hype that surrounds it. At times, it can seem just one more thing to have to do, that adds to an ever increasing list of things needing time and attention!
Recently, we were looking for a joiner’s mate to assist in our busy workshops. As normal, when we started looking for a new employee, we used the traditional method of advertising through the job centre and gave no other avenue of advertising the job vacancy any thought.
Continue reading “Social media for a joinery business?”
Tags: facebook, social media, twitter
Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »
December 23rd, 2011
As well as our range of standard designs of wooden gates which we make to measure, we also manufacture bespoke gates, i.e. gates made to your own designs. Usually, these are based on sketches or pictures that are sent in to us.These can be to suit existing gates our customers already have when they want something that matches, or they’ve seen something they like elsewhere and would like something similar, or for people in period properties that want something sympathetic to the style of house they live in. Here we look at some wooden Victorian gates we recently manufactured.
Continue reading “Wooden Victorian gates”
Tags: bespoke gates, Victorian gates
Posted in Wooden gates | No Comments »
November 30th, 2011
We are pleased to annouce The Nannerch gate as the latest exclusive addition to our extensive range of wooden gates. The Nannerch is now available as either a pair of driveway gates or a single pedestrian gate and features an exquisite diminishing gunstock head, which reduces the height by 2 3/4″ (70mm) from the tallest point of the gate.
Continue reading “Introducing our Nannerch gunstock gates”
Tags: gunstock, nannerch gates, Wooden gates
Posted in News | No Comments »
November 18th, 2011
You may or may not be aware that UK law will shortly be changing to include the new EU Timber Regulations that come into force on 3rd March 2013.
What are the new EU Timber Regulations 2013?
Continue reading “EU Timber Regulations 2013″
Tags: EU Timber Regulations 2013, Lacey Act 2008
Posted in News | No Comments »
October 8th, 2011
Carpentry and Joinery Glossary V-Z
Welcome back to our final look at Carpentry and Joinery terminology. This last part looks at all the terms from V through to Z. Want to be able to point to your weep hole or be able to spot a wobble saw at twenty paces? Then read on for more interesting and informative terminology! Knowledge is power!
Continue reading “Carpentry and joinery glossary Part 11″
Tags: carpentry, Carpentry and Joinery Glossary, Joinery
Posted in Carpentry and Joinery Glossary | No Comments »
July 29th, 2011
Carpentry and Joinery Glossary T-U
A warm welcome back to our penultimate look at Carpentry and Joinery terminology. This time, we take a magical mystery tour through letters T through to U, so if you’ve ever wondered what on earth a tease tenon is or how wood can be unsorted or upset, read on…you may learn something quite interesting! We think Mr Stephen Fry would certainly be intrigued by this collection!
Continue reading “Carpentry and Joinery glossary A-Z Part 10″
Tags: carpentry, Carpentry and Joinery Glossary, Joinery, timber, wood
Posted in Carpentry and Joinery Glossary | No Comments »
July 11th, 2011
Idigbo shortages continue to bite in the UK, despite the lifting of EU sanctions against the country of origin – The Ivory Coast. Despite the sanctions coming into force earlier this year, we’ve managed to continue manufacturing our products in Idigbo by running down our stock, which is now all but exhausted.
Continue reading “Idigbo shortage continues to bite”
Tags: Cote D'Ivoire, hardwood, Idigbo, Ivory Coast, timber
Posted in News | No Comments »
June 28th, 2011
This is a bit of a different post for us this time; we’ve been busy getting into the wonderful world of video here at Gate Expectations and we have a new two part video on manufacturing bespoke gates to your own designs. We think you’ll like this! It was certainly fun and interesting to make. Continue reading “Gonna make you a (bespoke gates making) star!”
Tags: bespoke gates, video, Wooden gates
Posted in Wooden gates | No Comments »
May 25th, 2011
We are pleased to announce another new arrival to our range of our made to measure wooden garage doors. The Brenig, shown left in Scandinavian Redwood, which we hope will prove as popular as our recently introduced Aber garage doors, are available in smooth-planed Hardwoods (European Oak, Meranti, Idigbo) and Softwood (Scandinavian Redwood) in sizes to suit your own requirements.
Continue reading “New addition to our made to measure garage doors”
Tags: garage doors, made to measure, side hung garage doors, wooden garage doors
Posted in wooden garage doors | 2 Comments »
April 29th, 2011
I don’t know about you, but it seems these days you cannot switch on the television or open up a newspaper without seeing or reading more scare stories about cowboy tradespeople. In truth, the vast majority of tradespeople are reliable and good at their job; a very small minority let the assorted trades down and this small minority grab all the headlines. So how do you avoid a cowboy?
Continue reading “Avoiding cowboy builders & rogue traders”
Tags: cowboy builders, rogue traders, tradesmen, tradesperson
Posted in Tips and tricks | 2 Comments »
March 28th, 2011
We are pleased to announce that from today, we will be re-introducing beautiful kiln dried European Oak into all of our products, due to increased demand from our customers. We are really excited about the possibilities this affords us, as we’re sure you will be too.
Continue reading “European Oak now available”
Tags: European Oak, wooden garage doors, Wooden gates
Posted in News | No Comments »
February 24th, 2011
Welcome to the next installment of our fantastic look at all things wooden. This time, we’ll help you to learn lots of interesting things about Skeleton Steps, Spars and Spurs as we look at the most exciting letter yet, S; so much so, you’ll be able to impress all your friends and family with your S-related knowledge. Read on for more exciting S-related terms…I’ve certainly learnt something new this time, I hope you will too!
As always, if you have any comments or think we should add something, please get in touch.
Continue reading “Carpentry and Joinery glossary A-Z Part 9″
Tags: carpentry, Carpentry and Joinery Glossary, Joinery, timber, wood, wooden, Woodwork
Posted in Carpentry and Joinery Glossary | No Comments »
January 17th, 2011
We’re extemely pleased to announce the latest addition to our unique range of wooden pedestrian gates; the Gothic Arched pedestrian gate. This is lovingly manufactured to the same high standards you’ve come to expect from a Gate Expectations gate and is sure not to disappoint even the most discerning of customers. The gothic arched gate is based on our usual solid through wedged morticed and tenon jointed frame for strength and durability and like all of our products, is a made to measure gate in both height and width. This new design is based on a equilateral arch and would look just right on any home or castle! We’re sure you’ll love this new design, even if you’ve never read or seen a gothic tale in your life!
If you would like to find out more information or view some more of our stunning gate pictures, please see our main website Gothic Arched gate. If you’re certain that this is the gate for you, please contact us direct for a full personalised costing to suit your requirements.
Tags: arch, garden gates, gothic arch, hardwood gates, made to measure, pedestrian gates, Wooden gates
Posted in Wooden gates | No Comments »
December 16th, 2010
So, you know the style or shape of gate you are interested in, you’ve decided between made to measure or standard sizes and have made the decision between hardwood and softwood. What about gate construction?
There are many different ways of manufacturing gates, from ledged gates to morticed and tenon jointed gates, what’s the difference? Read on to find out more!
Continue reading “Choosing the right wooden gates Part 2″
Tags: bespoke, gates, hardwood, made to measure, softwood, timber gates, Wooden gates
Posted in Wooden gates | No Comments »
