I’ve never been a fan of swinging deck gates; they take up too much room and they always wind up sagging no matter how well they are built and supported. So since we extended our deck last summer I’ve been looking into different options for configuring a rolling deck gate. I looked at several options for constructing my own wheels, or using one of the kits with a track system but I couldn’t come up with any options that I really liked.

A few weeks ago I stumbled on the Pyrex sliding gate kit and it looked like it was close enough to what I wanted to build so I decided to give it a try.

I wanted to keep the design of the gate similar to the design of the rails, but since the wheels of the gate raise the bottom rail to four inches off of the deck, I had to wind up cutting all of my balusters down two inches (I needed them 24″ long and they are only available in 26″ or 30″ lengths). Not a problem though, I just picked up a standard $15 pipe cutter from Home Depot and had the balusters cut down to 24″ in no time. I debated on using a hacksaw since I already had one, but the pipe cutter was the better choice. Clean cuts, and I know they are done at 90 degrees.

Once my basic gate was built, I added the corner brackets and wheels that were included in the sliding gate kit. This is when I also started thinking about how I was going to modify the installation of the upper and lower guides since I knew they wouldn’t work out of the box with my current rail design.

I made a few changes to the way the instructions stated to install them, which included some modifications to my deck rails and some additional pieces affixed to the bottom of my rolling deck gate. Check out my complete review of Pylex Sliding Gate Kit review for more details on those modifications and my thoughts on the Pyrex kit overall.

I also had to install the new post next to the wall of the house to provide something for the latch to attach to when the gate is closed. Not a problem though, I simply used a drill and a jigsaw to cut a 3.5″x3.5″ hole where I needed the post to go and then attached it to the joists underneath the deck with some 3/8″ lag screws. Once that post was in it was just a matter of screwing in the latch post and strike plate.

When it was all said and done, including figuring out the modifications, this rolling deck gate build took me a little over one afternoon to build and install. That’s not too bad for a functional gate that isn’t as obtrusive as a swinging gate, and it shouldn’t have any of the sag issues either. I’ll have to keep my eye on the gate kit hardware, as it is already showing some rust, but if it gets any worse I may just need to sand it and spray paint it.

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