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.

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.

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.

Will a metal gate rust in a damp side passage?

Not if it is galvanised before it is coated. Side returns are the dampest part of most properties, which is exactly why we do not fit painted bare steel there.

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.

Is access a problem for side gates and pedestrian gates around AL1?

It is planned rather than discovered. Deliveries come in off A1081 / A414, and where a street near St Albans City (Thameslink) is tight we arrange the offload and the carry before the start date so nobody spends the morning blocking a road.

Side and pedestrian gates in St Albans

St Albans Side Return and Communal Gates

The gate that gets used forty times a day: side returns, alleys, bin access and communal entrances.

A side gate is the hardest working thing on a boundary. It gets opened with an elbow, kicked shut, leaned on with a bin in one hand, and left swinging in the wind, and it does that several times a day for years.

Which is why the specification is about use rather than looks. Frame stiffness, hinge quality, where the lock sits, whether it self closes, and how the gate behaves when the ground under it moves are the questions that decide whether you are happy with it in five years.

Steel side gates suit alleys and side returns particularly well because the opening is often narrow, damp and awkward, and a timber gate in that position swells, drops and eventually catches on the paving.

Specification at a glance

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.

Local notes for St Albans

Extensive conservation areas mean fence heights and materials need to match the streetscape, which is why the post fixing on a side gate here gets decided on the visit. Resin into sound brickwork where the passage has it, concreted steel where it does not.

Side returns are the most common gate job we do in St Albans, because Victorian terraces, Edwardian villas in Marshalswick, and Tudor / Georgian properties near the cathedral nearly always have a narrow passage down one side and that passage is how a garden gets entered.

Openings on these streets are rarely square. Mature gardens, often with established hedging that needs lifting before fencing goes in and settlement over a century mean we measure both jambs top and bottom, then make the frame to those figures rather than packing out a standard gate on the day.

Who buys this and why

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

A side gate on its own does not secure a boundary. If the fence either side of it is a rotten timber run that can be pushed over, the gate is decoration. We will quote the gate and tell you plainly that the fence beside it is the weak point rather than take the easy order.

Side Gates and Pedestrian Gates fitted in St Albans, AL1 (1)

Side Gates and Pedestrian Gates fitted in St Albans, AL1 (2)

Side Gates and Pedestrian Gates fitted in St Albans, AL1 (3)

From visit to handover

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. 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. 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.

Before you buy, the usual questions

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.
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.
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.
Will a metal gate rust in a damp side passage?: Not if it is galvanised before it is coated. Side returns are the dampest part of most properties, which is exactly why we do not fit painted bare steel there.
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.
Is access a problem for side gates and pedestrian gates around AL1?: It is planned rather than discovered. Deliveries come in off A1081 / A414, and where a street near St Albans City (Thameslink) is tight we arrange the offload and the carry before the start date so nobody spends the morning blocking a road.