Garden gate not closing properly any more: what has gone wrong

First work out exactly where the gate is dragging

Before touching anything, open and close the gate slowly and watch where it actually catches. A gate that scrapes the ground on the latch side has usually dropped at the hinges. One that scrapes evenly along its whole length, or has visibly pulled away from the post at the top, points to the post itself having moved.

It helps to check this against something level — a spirit level held against the gate frame, or simply standing back and comparing the top rail to the fence line either side. Photograph it if you can; it makes the difference between a sagging hinge and a leaning post much easier to see, and it is useful to have if you end up describing the problem to someone quoting on the repair.

A sagged hinge is the most common cause

Over a year or two, the weight of a metal gate works the hinge screws loose in the post, or wears the hinge pin itself, and the whole gate drops a few millimetres on the hinge side. This shows up as the latch no longer lining up and the bottom corner nearest the hinges scraping the ground or a path slab.

Check first whether the hinge screws or bolts have simply worked loose — tighten them and see whether the gate lifts back into place. If the screw holes have worn oversized in a wooden post, longer screws or a hardwood plug and re-drill will usually hold. On a worn pin-and-eye hinge, the play is in the metal itself and no amount of tightening fixes it; the hinge needs replacing.

This is straightforward work if the post underneath is sound. It falls under our metal fitting service, from 45 € per hour, and is usually a job of an hour or two including adjusting the latch afterwards to match.

A sunk post or a settled foundation

If the whole gate has dropped evenly, frame and all, and the gap along the top has widened while the bottom now sits on the ground, the post itself has moved rather than the hinges. This is common where a post was set in soil rather than a proper concrete footing, and Estonian frost heave over a winter or two can tilt or lower a post that was not set deep enough to begin with.

A post that has sunk a little can sometimes be lifted, packed, and re-set in fresh concrete around the base. A post that has visibly tilted, or where the concrete collar has cracked and come away from the post, usually needs digging out and resetting properly rather than propping. Pulling a leaning post back with a hinge adjustment alone does not last.

The lock or latch no longer catches

If the gate still hangs level and swings freely but the latch misses the striker plate or the lock will not turn, the problem is usually smaller than it looks. A little sag anywhere in the system — hinge, post, or frame — moves the latch tongue a few millimetres, which is often enough to miss the catch entirely.

Check whether the striker plate can be repositioned or the catch plate filed a little wider before assuming the lock itself is broken. Rust and dirt in a latch mechanism that has sat outside for a year or two also stiffens the action; a clean and a spray of dry lubricant, not household oil that attracts grit, often solves it on its own.

• Try tightening hinge screws or bolts first
• Check the gate against a level line, not just by eye
• Look for cracked or loose concrete around the post base
• Test whether the latch simply needs repositioning
• Clean and lubricate a stiff lock before assuming it is faulty
• Note whether the sag is even (post) or one-sided (hinge)

When you can sort it yourself and when to call someone

Tightening hinge screws, cleaning a latch, or adjusting a striker plate are all reasonable to try yourself with basic tools, and it is worth doing before booking anyone, since it costs nothing and sometimes solves the whole problem.

A warped or twisted metal frame, a post that needs resetting in concrete, or a hinge welded directly onto a metal post rather than screwed to a wooden one, is where it stops being a weekend job. Straightening a bent frame or rewelding a cracked hinge bracket needs the metal heated or clamped properly, and a home fix with a hammer usually just moves the problem rather than solving it.

What it usually costs to put right

A hinge adjustment or latch repair is typically an hour or two of metal fitting work, from 45 € per hour, including the call-out. Resetting a sunk post properly — digging it out, levelling, and setting fresh concrete — is a fence repair job, also from 45 € per hour, and the concrete needs a few days to cure before the gate takes weight again.

A cracked weld, a bent frame corner, or a hinge bracket that has torn away from the post needs welding rather than fitting, from 55 € per hour. For anything beyond a straightforward adjustment we give a fixed quote after seeing a photo or two, valid for 30 days, so you know the figure before work starts rather than after.