Garden gate won't close properly? Four usual culprits

A garden gate has a hard life. Outside 24 hours a day, used ten times a day by dogs and postmen and kids, slammed once a week by the wind. It's the fitting on your property with the shortest expected life, and the one we all remember last.

Here's how to work out why yours isn't closing.

1. The post has leaned

Stand at the latch side and look up the gate. If the gate post is no longer vertical, everything else is downstream of that. Timber posts lean because the ground's moved or the post's rotted at ground level. Metal posts lean because the concrete base has cracked.

Quick check: grab the top of the post and push gently. If the whole post rocks at the base, the post is going, not just leaning. Time for a full replacement.

If the post is sound but leaning a few degrees because the soil's shifted, it's sometimes possible to straighten with postcrete and a temporary brace. Dig away the soil on one side, work the post upright, add postcrete to fill the hole, brace overnight, job done in a morning plus 24 hours.

2. The hinges have dropped

Look at the hinges. Three usual signs:

• A hinge screw has come loose and is hanging half out of its hole
• The gate has sagged so the latch side is lower than it used to be
• The top hinge has torn a chunk out of the post

Each has a fix.

Loose screws: tighten. If the hole's stripped, matchsticks and wood glue to pack, let dry, redrill pilot, fit a slightly longer screw.

Sagged gate: the top hinge is usually doing most of the work. A gate brace (a diagonal wire with a tensioner that runs corner-to-corner across the gate, costs £15) pulls the latch corner back up. 20 minutes to fit.

Torn hinge pocket in the post: if the timber's still mostly sound, you can chisel out the damaged area and glue in a hardwood patch. If it's more than cosmetic, the hinge wants moving to a sound bit of post. Half a day.

3. The latch is misaligned

If the gate closes, but doesn't click, the latch is missing the keeper. Usually one of:

• The keeper has moved. Post settled a few mm, keeper no longer lines up. Loosen the keeper screws, shift 2 or 3mm, refit.
• The latch has bent. Someone leaned on it, or the gate slammed hard in a storm. Metal latches bend back with patient levering. Replacement is £10 if it's past it.
• The latch catches on the keeper edge. Round the striking edge with a file. Thirty seconds.

4. The ground has shifted

Heavy clay in the Cotswolds moves. Summer shrink, winter swell. A gate that was level in June 2020 can be a quarter-inch out by July 2026 without anything else having happened. The fix here is usually re-hanging rather than rebuilding. Take the gate off, shim the hinges to match the new geometry, put it back.

The auto-close question

If you want the gate to close itself, there are two usual ways:

• Gate spring (£20) mounted on the hinge side, pulls the gate closed when you release it. Simple, reliable, a bit firm.
• Soft-close hinge (£40 a pair) with a built-in damper. More expensive, gentler, better for wooden gates that would otherwise slam.

Either works well. Test before fitting, make sure the gate actually catches the keeper when released from fully open.

A note for families with toddlers or dogs

If the gate is your main boundary against a road or a driveway, it needs to be actively reliable. "Usually closes" is not good enough. A self-closing spring plus a proper latch is the minimum. A magnetic catch (Magnalatch style, £30) is the belt-and-braces option.

What it costs

• Hinge tightening or latch adjustment: 30 minutes, usually rolled into a larger visit.
• Gate brace fitted: 45 minutes, around £35 plus £15 for the brace.
• Post replacement: 2 to 3 hours plus postcrete setting. £95 to £150 depending on access.
• Full new gate supplied and fitted: varies a lot with gate quality. Budget £250 to £500 installed.

The photos often tell me enough. Send them through and I'll tell you whether it's a morning's fiddle or an afternoon's proper job.