How to fix gate not latching?

[sophmacks]

Hi there, 

The latch on the gate to our  house is not latching any more. Is there a good solution to this?

[MitchellMc]

That's a bit of an unusual one, @sophmacks. The latch is not only positioned too low, but it's also not extending out far enough. I see you have rendered walls on either side. I suspect that there's been quite a bit of movement in the walls to create this issue.

Provided the post on the side that the gate is mounted onto to still solidly attached to the wall, then the easiest option would be to remove the metal pole on the opposite side, pack it out and reinstall it so the latch aligns with the striker plate. The only issue you might encounter is that due to it only needing to be moved down a little bit, you'd likely have to relocate the mounting holes in the metal post so you are drilling back into fresh material.

Let me tag @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their thoughts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Nailbag]

Hi @sophmacks 

I think the solution @MitchellMc has suggested is a great solution to close the gap in the gate, but as he highlighted it still leaves the issue of the misaligned striker plate.

A few months back I had to resolve a similar issue which I had fabricated a 6mm thicker and taller metal packing plate with a rectangular cut out to match the striker plate and 4 pre-drilled holes

I screwed the original striker plate to the packing plate through the inner two holes. Then positioned this central to the gate latch and marked the top and bottom holes. After drilling pilot holes I used countersunk self-drilling metal screws to fix the plate the gate frame. It didn’t bring in the gate but still solved the issue of both the gap and misalignment. 

I was fortunate to have an engineering mate make the packing plate. But we have someone in the community @Noyade who may be able to make you one up. I’ve seen his custom metal workmanship on some other tricky fixes

regards Nailbag

[sophmacks]

Thank you and @MitchellMc ! I'm not sure how much I'd be able to do myself since I have limited knowledge of how hinges and latches work. I should have mentioned, we are at a rental property so I am unsure as to how much could be changed of the gate. 

Thank you though, I really appreciate it.

[MitchellMc]

Hi @sophmacks,

I'd advise letting your property manager know of the issue. The gate not functioning correctly could be a security issue, and they might like to have it fixed. I wouldn't suggest you go about any repairs until you've informed the owner and received their permission.

Mitchell

[Dave-1]

Evening @sophmacks 

A pain I know too well, @MitchellMc  and @Nailbag's ideas are the same as mine 😕 As soon as I saw the gate with the latch I knew a wall had drifted away. I have the same issue with my gate but the problem is its closing so I cant get the gate to close lol (Temp fixed mine for now tho)

For your gate I would def contact the owner, they need to have the yard secured so I would be reluctant to touch it before you see their response.

If nothing can be done with the owner I would actually have a look at the striker plate (That curved piece the door latch goes into) It may be able to be adjusted downwards? or removed and the underneath hole enlarged but as Mitchel and Nailbag has mentioned the hole to reatatch may be an issue. Its a steel frame so you could be lucky but I would investigate first and post back up here and we may be able to help some more.

Dave

[Nailbag]

Definitely contact your rental property manager @sophmacks  The gate I fixed was on behalf of one to

Nailbag.