Why the side gate is usually the weak point

Most British homes have one: a narrow path down the side, a gate at the end of it, and a lock that has seen better days. The front door gets the good hardware, the back door gets the bolts, and the side gate gets whatever was left in the shed. That is a shame, because it is often the easiest way into the back garden. Once someone is through it, they are out of sight of the street, with a whole fence line to work on and nothing but a patio door between them and the house. A properly hung, properly locked gate does not turn your home into a fortress. It simply turns the side path into a dead end rather than a corridor.

Sort the frame and posts before you buy a lock

A lock is only as good as the gate it is fitted to, and most gate failures are really frame failures. A sagging gate will not meet its latch, and one that rattles in the wind tells a visitor a great deal about it.

• Posts: use at least 100mm x 100mm timber, or a matching metal post, set into a hole around 600mm deep and concreted in. A post bedded into a bit of hardcore will work loose within a couple of winters.
• Construction: choose a framed, ledged and braced gate rather than a flat panel. The diagonal brace should run from the bottom of the hinge side up to the top of the shutting side, so the weight is carried down into the post.
• Clearances: aim for 15–20mm at the shutting edge and roughly 30mm under the gate. Enough to swing freely when the timber swells in winter, not enough to get a hand or a hook through.
• Wall fixings: if the gate hangs on the house or a brick pier, check the masonry first. Loose, hollow or frost-damaged bricks will pull out under load, however good your hinges are.

Hinges and fittings that resist tampering

Cranked band and gusset hinges are the traditional choice and they work well, but only if they are fixed properly. Screws can be undone in seconds, so bolt through the gate and post with coach bolts, dome head facing outwards, and cut off any thread sticking through on the inside.

• Security hinges: look for washered hinges or those with non-removable pins, so the gate cannot be lifted off its hinges once the gate is open.
• Hinge bolts: fit a pair on the shutting stile, top and bottom. They engage in the post when the gate closes and make levering it open far harder.
• Drop bolts: a bolt that drops into a ground socket, plus another at the top, spreads the load and stops the gate being sprung at the corners.
• Close the gap: a cover batten or draught strip on the shutting stile stops anyone reaching through the hinge gap with a bar or a hook.
• Metal gates: weld over screw heads, or use one-way security screws, so the fixings cannot simply be unscrewed.

Choosing and fitting the lock

For a timber gate, a key-operated mortice deadlock or a stout rim lock is a neat solution. A padbolt is perfectly acceptable if it is a good one — a shrouded hasp and staple with a closed-shackle padlock of hardened steel, rather than the cheap long-shackle version that can be cut with bolt croppers in a couple of seconds. On a metal gate, a welded lock box protects the padlock body from attack.

Position matters as much as the mechanism. Fit the lock high or low enough that it cannot be reached over the top of the gate or through a gap, and give it a weather cover if it faces the prevailing rain. Brass and stainless steel survive British weather far better than painted mild steel. Keep the mechanism working with a dry PTFE or silicone spray rather than a wet oil, which collects grit and turns into a grinding paste. Two squirts a year, ideally in autumn, will save you a lot of swearing in February.

Never lock yourself in

This is the part people forget. A gate that needs a key to open from the inside is a trap if it is the only way out of the back garden. In a fire, or a medical emergency, you need to be able to get out without hunting for keys in the dark.

• Use a lock with a thumb turn on the inside, or a night latch that opens freely from within.
• If you must have a key on both sides, keep a key on a hook beside the gate — close enough to reach quickly, high enough that nobody outside can grab it through a letter plate or gap.
• Check the gate opens one-handed, in the dark, without a torch.
• In rented property, remember that means of escape must stay clear and usable at all times.

The details that make the difference

Keep the gate to a sensible height. In most of the UK, fences, walls and gates up to two metres are permitted development, dropping to one metre where they adjoin a highway, so a 1.8m gate is usually fine at the side of the house — but check before you buy. Add a PIR light above the gate, and consider a gravel strip behind it, which is noisy underfoot and removes a hiding place.

Finally, keep the garden side tidy. A wheelie bin, a water butt or a shed placed against the gate makes a convenient step, and an overgrown hedge alongside it makes a ladder. Walk the boundary twice a year, in spring and autumn, and check the posts, the hinges and the lock at the same time. Ten minutes of attention now is worth far more than a new gate later.