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How To Install A Gate Latch On A Wood Fence

Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links, which means I may make a commission if yous determine to make a purchase through one of my links, at no price to you.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored project/product by National Hardware, but my opinions are, as ever, 100% my own.

My lawn gate: it was i of the first projects ever completed at the house. And then, of course, it's also one of the get-go things to interruption.

Twice. Or maybe 3 times. I've lost count.

broken fence latch

The first fourth dimension, I don't fifty-fifty know what happened to go far break. I just came domicile to missing parts. Only, the latch had also originally been installed on the wrong side of the fence (in that information technology was on the front of the gate instead of behind it). So when I did the last ready, I simply flipped the replacement around, only didn't really remember it through. The problem, as y'all tin run across above, was that I didn't retrieve to install it along the back up of the gate and instead fastened it to i of the fence pickets, just as information technology originally had on the other side. Information technology worked for a while, but a windy storm this past winter separate the picket downwardly the middle, and off came the hardware along with it.

broken gate and fence

The last fourth dimension it broke, I was able to fix the malfunction with a zip tie. Only now that the other side bankrupt off completely, I decided that it was finally time to upgrade and put the hardware in the correct spot.

old hardware

Luckily enough for me, National Hardware reached out and asked if I'd similar to work on a few projects with them this twelvemonth. Uh, duh. I have like 30 things on my to-practise list that could use some hardware, so this was a perfect match. I described what I needed, and they immediately sent me a heavy duty latch:

national hardware heavy duty gate latch

Not simply was it stronger, but twice as broad (insert dirty joke). The reason for this being that the original iv-inch latch needed only to span the distance from the post to the first picket; just because there was existing hardware attached to the end of the gate support, the new latch would demand to fit on the other side while still reaching beyond to the same spot on the post. If that sounded like consummate gibberish, permit's try a visual demonstration:

To do this project, you lot'll need (affiliate links):

  • gate hardware
  • Phillips head drill bit
  • 3/32″ pilot hole drill bit
  • 3/viii″ hex nut driver bit
  • optional: magnetic scrap holder (extends the scrap length)
  • marking/pen
  • drill/driver

As well optional: your curious fur helper who just wants to bark at flying flower tufts floating in the air.

Charlie 2022

Step one: remove the old hardware and toss it in the garbage.

remove old hardware

This includes the rusty old screws of the watch nonetheless stuck to the gate.

remove old screws

The but catchy part about installing a new latch is remembering what goes where. For instance, there is a piece that gets screwed into the post (the "strike", A in the photo below) and a piece with a long arm that gets screwed directly onto the gate (B). I wanted to spiral the post side in from the left rather than the right, so it required unscrewing the bolt that held the strike in place (the part that catches the arm when endmost the gate). This could all be washed by hand, and I was able to flip the mechanics of the go on around by simply turning it upside downwardly and tightening the commodities back down.

flip hardware to other side

As ever, drilling pilot holes will keep the screws from slipping away from you and help the installation go much faster. In one case y'all've lined up where the new hardware is going to be, mark the holes with a pen, then use a bit that is slightly narrower than the width of the screw to create your pilot holes (using an exact width will prevent the threads on the spiral from catching in the wood).

mark pilot holes

I chose to outset with the gate side because that seemed easier (attaching the latch arm side, so using that as a guide for figuring out where the strike needed to be on the left in club to catch it).

drill pilot holes

Different the previous hardware I'd installed, this set came with lag screws (or lag bolts, whatever yous prefer), so I had to apply a different chip on the end of my drill (the instructions say to use a wrench, just this also works!).

hex nut driver bit and lag bolt

Even though I have lots of bit sets, this was definitely not a fleck I get to use very oftentimes, so the novelty of it was actually kinda fun.

screw lag bolts with hex nut driver

For the last spiral, thread the adjustable arm through the hole on the right and tighten the commodities downward similar the others, merely exit a fiddling wiggle room then that the arm can move up and downwardly like and then:

adjusting gate latch arm

And before ya know it, my heavy duty gate latch was in place, looking spiffy and solid:

new hardware on gate

Another thing I made sure of with the new latch was that information technology yet had the same adjusting feature of the former one. Over time, fences settle and motility effectually a little, and so information technology's better to spend a few extra bucks and buy a latch that tin handle a slight shifting every now and and then (on this particular model, this feature is called "Adjust O-Matic", which makes me think of those funny infomercials for kitchen appliances that dice onions or peel boiled eggs). This new hardware can adjust on both sides. On the left (the function that was screwed into the post), the screw holes are taller than needed for a single spiral to fit. This longer notch means that if the fence ever settles more than and the latch slice could stand to shift downward by a  quarter of an inch or so, I tin hands reach this by unscrewing it slightly, moving the hardware down slightly, and tightening the screws again — no new pilot or screw holes needed.

screws left side

On the right, the screw that holds the arm of the latch in place is a lilliputian loose, so it has a modest range of motility that helps it move up or downwardly every bit needed to catch itself on the other side. This ways that if it too ever needs a slight adjustment, I won't have to interruption out my tools again.

adjusting gate latch arm

With the new hardware in place, I could at present unscrew the old, dissever sentry and supersede it with an equally old ane that I simply happened to nevertheless have left over from this project and this project (which were leftover scrap projects of their ain!). Done!

new gate hardware 2

how to install self adjusting gate hardware

how to install automatic adjusting gate hardware

how to install an adjustable arm gate latch

Source: https://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/self-adjusting-gate-latch/

Posted by: kettnerhent1962.blogspot.com

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