Make a $5 Baby or Dog Gate

Do you need a quick, easy, and cheap baby or dog gate as in my case?

A single sheet of hardboard is $8.00. It's typically 1/8" thick, 4'x8'. Many home improvement stores will cut the boards to specified dimensions.

The inside dimension of my door frame is 32", so I cut the hardboard to a 32.25" dimension. The extra length allows for a tension fit and the doorstop will hold the hardboard in place if a baby or dog pushes against it.

The bow in the board creates tension to hold it in place.

The door stops keep the gate in place.

For fewer cuts, you can keep it 4' tall and get 2 gates out of one board. That's a lot cheaper than buying an adjustable baby gate, and you may already have hard board on hand like I did.

It's light weight gate and stores completely flat.