Gate maintenance - hinges, drop, latch and paint

What actually goes wrong with a gate

A residential gate has three failure modes, and they show up in this order:

1. Hinge loading - the gate has a natural tendency to sag away from the post, and every open-close cycle puts stress on the top hinge in particular. Over 3-5 years, hinge screws work loose, or the timber they screw into softens.
2. Post lean - the gate post takes uneven load (weight on the hinge side, nothing on the latch side), and slowly leans into the swing arc, which pulls the gate out of square.
3. Timber movement - the gate itself expands, contracts, cups and warps with the weather. A gate that closes cleanly in July binds against the latch in November.

Any of these three, left alone, ends in "gate drop" - the gate no longer closes without lifting. That is when most homeowners phone. The good news is all three are cheaper to prevent than to fix, and 15 minutes twice a year does the whole job.

Spring check - hinges and latch

First warm weekend. Open the gate half-way, hold it at the far edge, and lift it gently. If the far edge lifts more than 5mm, the top hinge is either loose or its screws have pulled through the timber. Tighten the visible screws. If a screw spins in the hole, that hinge needs backing out and a slightly longer, slightly fatter replacement screw put in the same hole.

Latch - open and close it 5 times. It should catch cleanly every time. If it needs a lift-and-drop, the gate is already dropping. Repositioning the latch keeper 5mm upward on the post is a two-minute fix that buys another year before a proper realignment is needed.

Autumn - the finish and the drop

Before the wet season. Two coats of matched treatment or paint on any bare timber. Focus on the top edge of the gate frame (where rain sits), the bottom edge (where splashback rots), and the mortice joints (where the frame meets stiles).

While you have the coating out, take another look at the drop. If the gate is now catching on the ground at the latch corner, the fix is either (a) lift the gate on the hinges by adjusting the hinge stiles slightly, (b) shim the hinge post at the base if it has leaned, or (c) plane a millimetre off the bottom of the latch-side stile. In that order. Planing timber off is the last resort and it changes the gate permanently.

Every 3-4 years - the post itself

The hinge post takes the load, and if you can rock the hinge post independently of the gate, it is time for a proper reseat. That means digging the concrete plug out at the base and either re-concreting with a bigger plug, or - the better answer here - swapping to a concrete post so the load is on something that doesn't move.

What we do on a gate callout

Standard gate service is £60-£120 depending on hinge access. That covers:

• Hinges tightened, re-screwed or replaced as needed
• Latch keeper repositioned
• Post plumb-checked and reseated if it has leaned
• Frame alignment tuned so the gate closes clean
• One coat of matched treatment on bare or worn timber areas

A gate that has been serviced twice a year rarely needs anything else for 10 years. A gate that has never been touched will need a full frame rebuild inside 6 years. The maintenance economics are straightforward here.

When to give up on a gate

If the frame has separated at the mortice-and-tenon joints (not just loose - actually separated), or the stiles have cupped enough that the gate is visibly twisted, or the hinge post has leaned past reseating - it is a new gate conversation. Timber gates are £180-£400 to replace like-for-like, less than most people expect. We will tell you honestly if that is where you are.