How do I hang a garden gate?

A gate is a fence panel that has to move, which makes the post that carries it the most heavily loaded post in the garden. Almost every gate that drags, drops or fails to latch does so because the hanging post was treated like an ordinary fence post.

What you'll need

• A hanging post — 100mm x 100mm minimum, 125mm for a heavy gate
• Hinges rated for the gate weight
• Concrete or postcrete
• Timber wedges and packers
• A spirit level and clamps

Step by step

1. Decide the swing before anything else.A gate that opens into the garden is safer on a path or pavement; one that opens outwards suits a slope rising away from the gate. It cannot swing over rising ground. Decide now — it determines which side the hanging post goes.
2. Oversize and over-set the hanging post.Use a bigger section than the fence posts, dig deeper — 750mm for a 1.8m gate post — and use a wider concrete collar. All the gate's weight and every slam is levered against this post.
3. Let the hanging post concrete cure fully.At least 24 hours for postcrete and several days for mixed concrete before hanging any weight. Hanging a gate on green concrete pulls the post out of plumb permanently.
4. Work out the clearances.About 10mm at the hinge stile, 10mm at the latch stile, and 40-50mm under the bottom rail so the gate clears grass, gravel and frost heave. Timber gates swell in winter — a tight summer fit will not close in January.
5. Prop the gate in position on packers.Wedges under the gate to set the bottom clearance, packers at the hinge side, and a clamp or a helper holding it. Check it is level across the top before marking anything.
6. Mark and fix the hinges.Mark through the hinge holes with the gate held in its final position. Pilot drill everything. Fit the top hinge first, check the gate swings, then fit the bottom hinge.
7. Set the latch post to the gate.With the gate hanging, swing it closed and mark where the latch post needs to be for a 10mm gap. Set that post to the gate, not to a measurement.
8. Fit the latch and a stop.A gate stop — a batten on the latch post, or a stop on the ground — stops the gate swinging past the closed position and taking the strain on the latch. Fit the latch last, with the gate in its resting position.

Tips

• Hang the gate before fitting the latch post, always. Setting both posts first and hoping the gate fits between them is how gates end up 15mm too wide.
• Two hinges are enough for most gates up to 1.2m. Above that, or for a heavy ledged and braced gate, use three.
• Galvanised or stainless hinges and screws only. Plain steel bleeds rust stains down the gate within a year.

Common mistakes

• Setting both posts before hanging the gate — Timber gates are rarely exactly their nominal size and the opening ends up too tight or too slack. Set the hanging post, hang the gate, then set the latch post to it.
• Using an ordinary fence post as the hanging post — It is carrying a cantilevered load and repeated impact. It works loose within a couple of years and the gate then drags.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask