Gates finally staying put after a week of head-scratching

Just finished a job where the client's double gate on a slope kept sagging a few days after install, no matter how perfect the posts looked at first. Drove me nuts because the ground seemed solid. I ended up mixing a small extra bag of concrete with way less water than normal, almost a dry pack, and tamped it in around the base after jacking the post back to plumb. To buy it time to really set, I built a couple of temporary cross-braces from scrap 2x4s in an 'X' shape, wedged between the posts and some stakes I drove in further up the hill. Left it all for a full 48 hours before even touching the hinges. Came back today, pulled the braces, and it's rock solid. Felt good to solve it without having to dig the whole thing out again. Sometimes the simple fixes are the hardest to see, you know?

3 comments

3 Comments

paul_fisher194d ago

Those temporary braces just mask the problem and dry pack concrete can crack with frost heave. You'll probably be back out there in a year digging it all up anyway.

joseph4916d ago

Your gate saga is a perfect example of life's annoying habit of hiding simple fixes.

clark.viola6d ago

How did I miss that the latch was just stuck on some paint? @joseph491, you're right, it's wild how the answer was right in front of my face the whole time. I must have stared at that stupid gate for an hour, getting more and more worked up. The fix literally took two seconds once I saw it. It's so frustrating when the solution is that simple but you just can't see it. Life really does like to play those little tricks, and it's brutal.