Metal Side Gates Made to Your Opening in Finchley

1. 1. Check the opening

   Alley openings are rarely parallel, so both sides are measured top and bottom, and the paving fall under the gate is checked so the leaf clears through its whole swing.

2. 2. Fix to what is there

   Where there is sound masonry we resin fix, where there is not we concrete a steel post, and where the wall is failing we say so before it becomes our problem and yours.

3. 3. Ironmongery and closure

   Locks, keeps and self closers fitted and adjusted with the gate hung, then handed over working rather than working once it settles.

Typical width

800mm to 1200mm for a side return, wider where bins have to pass

Typical height

1800mm to 2100mm where the gate is also a security point

Infill

Vertical bar, mesh, or solid sheet where the gate needs to screen as well as close

Ironmongery

Galvanised hinges, keyed or thumb turn locks, self closers where a communal gate must not be left open

Posts

Steel posts set in concrete, or fixed to sound masonry with resin anchors

Side gates live in the wettest, least ventilated part of a property, so the galvanising matters more here than anywhere else on the boundary. Any cut edge from a site adjustment is treated before we leave.

• Side returns and alleys between houses, where an unsecured passage is the way in
• Bin stores and refuse access on flats and small blocks
• Communal entrances that must close behind whoever used them last
• Rented property where the landlord wants something that survives tenants and years

Is a landlord responsible for a communal side gate?

In most blocks the gate falls to the freeholder or the managing agent rather than an individual leaseholder, but it depends on the lease. We quote per gate and can invoice a managing agent directly.

What height should a side gate be?

1800mm is the usual minimum where the gate is part of the security line, and 2100mm where the passage is out of sight. Below about 1500mm it is a demarcation gate rather than a deterrent.

Can the gate be solid so people cannot see through?

Yes, a steel frame with sheet infill gives you a solid leaf that will not warp the way a boarded timber gate can in a wet passage.

Can a side gate be made to fit an out of square alley?

Yes, and it usually has to be. Openings between houses are rarely parallel, so we measure top and bottom on both sides and make the frame to those figures rather than trimming a stock gate.

Can you fit a self closing gate for a communal entrance?

Yes. Self closing hinges are the standard answer where a gate must not be left propped, and on communal work they are usually the difference between a boundary that stays secure and one that does not.

What do most Finchley customers ask you for on this?

Edwardian terraces in Church End, large semis around Hampstead Garden Suburb borders, and 1930s housing in Woodside Park shape most of it, so the common brief here is a run measured to an existing boundary rather than an off the shelf size. Tree-root activity in clay soil regularly lifts old fence runs — full re-set is the typical brief, and that shows up in the post work more than in the steel above it.