Homax 80099 No-Sag Bracket Kit: Easy Installation for Your Gate

Frank Schaefer: This is a pretty decent gate framing kit if you like a primarily wood gate, with any metal gate framing visually unobtrusive. I'm not familiar enough with weld joints to judge the quality of the welding, but it's pretty easy to build your 2x4 frame around the brackets such that the weld joints are not the primary structural joints. The brackets also seem to be reasonably square, such that I didn't have to use any shims or spacers to get the 2x4 framing to mount square. The instructions are all but nonexistent, but assembly is easy enough just from the box art if you're reasonably handy with a drill and screwdriver. One warning, though: not all 2x4s are created equal. This kit is designed to mount with the 2x4 sizes used for framing studs in walls, which are usually whitewood and do not weather well. Cedar 2x4s used for high-quality fencing are a little thicker/wider; they will *mostly* fit, except that you will probably have to carve or rip-cut a bit of width off one board for the hinge plates to fit.

I do have to take off a star for the screws included in the kit, though. They're all flat-head screws, which are really only appropriate for the hinge plates. The other screw...

United States on Sep 06, 2017

Michael RedmanMichael Redman: Good quality product. Measure carefully when installing or building your gate. Pre-drill pilot holes for the screws that are included, as some of the screw hole positions are close to the edge of the 2x4's. I also angled the pilot holes slightly away from the edges to prevent the screws from possibly splitting the wood.

Be careful to use the bevel head screws for the hinge areas as if you use the pan head screws the hinges may not fully close and you'll have to take it all apart. Using an impact screw gun is very helpful also.

I'm not sure of the quality of screws that are provided in how they will hold up being used in treated lumber over the long term. Some of the screws are already beginning to rust and have only been out in the weather for about 60 days at this point (see photos). You can easily use your own provided screws that are the correct size and are rated for use with treated lumber.

I found that the hinge side brackets were just about 1/8" too narrow to fit a standard 2x4, and I had to notch out the 2x4 to allow the brackets to fit properly- not a huge issue but might cause someone frustration if they only have a circular saw to work with... I...

United States on Dec 26, 2016

KengineerKengineer: Nice kit with a couple of caveats. I ordered three of these kits for three gates. The first annoying thing was that two of the kits had Phillips head screws and one had Torx screws. The other annoying thing was that you must cut off a small amount of the corner of the wood mating to the hinged corners to allow room for the welds on these for the gate to be truly square (see picture). I didn't realize this until I finished my first gate and had to go back and redo it. It's not a big deal but some mention of this in the manual would have been helpful. The third issue I had was getting the wood to fit in the slots. I used pressure treated 2x4's and 2x6's which were a bit wet and swollen (I live in Seattle) and getting them in was a bit difficult. To help with this I used ratchet straps to cinch the wood into the slots and hold them until I screwed everything down.

These issues aside these made pretty nice gates that should hold up well.

United States on Oct 11, 2016

Anna Tschursin: I first got this product a few years ago from a home improvement store, and used it to make a gate in a fence I had built. the fence had several other gates for which I used other kits, and this one held up the best. so when it came time to replace the other gates, I wanted to use the same product that held up so well, but it was no longer available at the home improvement store near me. I even looked at several other stores and still could not find it. fortunately, it was available on amazon, and I bought two. My son and I used the kits to build the two additional gates, so now I have three gates made using this kit.

It is fairly easy to build a gate using this kit, and it's definitely sturdy. the down side is that the gate is quite heavy, and eventually it did sag a bit, so I have to lift the gate a bit to get it to match up with the latching mechanism. but that's not a huge problem, and worth it to me, since the strength of the gate was the more important issue in my situation. these gates needed to hold in a very, very large and powerful dog, and they do.

United States on Dec 01, 2015