For many people, life on the road in a recreational vehicle is a dream for retirement.  The kids are gone, the bills are paid, and the open road awaits.  But, most RV owners still have a home-base that they return to when the vacation is over.  One of the biggest investments you will make, outside of the RV itself, is the gate that you will use when bringing your vehicle in.  Unfortunately, time and weather can conspire against you to make these gates start to wear out and need replacing.  That’s why it is important to do a routine check on your gate.  Here are some things to look for:

• Probably the most obvious problem that people will notice with their gate is a misalignment either between the two halves of the gate door or with the fence itself.  Your gate is exposed to the elements at all times, so eventually the weather will cause some wear and tear and sagging can become noticeable.  If the gate “catches” or sticks on itself as it is being opened or closed, then it may be time to do replace the gate, possibly with a Barcelona style gate which is very regal and attention-grabbing.
• Another major issue that goes hand in hand with this misalignment problem is when the closing mechanism or lock begins to go bad.  Again, this is a problem caused by general wear-and-tear, overuse, and the weather.  You do not want to leave such a valuable investment as your RV open to theft, so it is important that these locking mechanisms work perfectly and are replaced if they do go bad.  Replacing the entire gate may be preferable and replacing it with something like this Naples style design is certainly a classy option.
• Finally, a major concern that may be harder to notice is wood deterioration.  As years go by, wood needs to be properly treated to keep it from aging too much.  Fortunately, there are three options to fixing this.  If you have a wooden RV gate, you can simply refinish it every couple of years to keep the wood looking fresh and new.  Another option is a composite wood gate, which uses an artificial wood product that requires less annual maintenance.  Finally, upgrading to an all iron gate, particularly one that is powder-coated, completely removes this problem.  Products that are powder-coated are best in this regard, so you may want to look at a new gate such as this Sicilian style.

With all of these problems, a key component is the quality of the material that is used in the initial building of the gate.  If you make sure to invest in quality products and materials at the onset, you will still one day have to replace the gate.  But that day will be much farther in the future.