Patio gate not at right angle to the house

Question

I am currently building a fenced in patio, and the entrance gate will not be at a right angle to the corner of the house. My question: should I angle the post that sits beside the house to be square with the gate, or square with the house? Quick sketch

I intend to have a header above the gate. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Plumb is plumb. It relates only to the Earth. Please revise to clarify. Do you mean the rotation of the post? If so, you're asking about `parallel` or `square`, not plumb (vertical). — isherwood, Jul 31 '19 at 17:11
Sorry, plumb is the wrong term. I am reffering to the rotation orientation of the post beside the house. I will also add that the gate will latch on the post beside the house.. — Dunner84, Jul 31 '19 at 17:28
cut the house-side post lenghtwise so that it has a triangular cross section ... put the hinges on the other post — jsotola, Jul 31 '19 at 18:58
Which side are the hinges for the gate? I would give a different answer depending which side they are. — Notts90, Aug 01 '19 at 16:28

score 18 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 31 '19 at 18:57

18

you should angle the post that's by the house. It will increase the functionality of the gate hardware.

If you're worried about looks, you can always take a piece of fence plank and install it from the post corner over to the house wall.

answered Jul 31 '19 at 18:57

JACK

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Yes, this. Install the posts square with the gate. Then hide the triangular gaps between post and house with planks. It's easy to plane the edge of a plank at an angle to fit snugly. You may want some 1x1 or similar small section attached to the house wall and/or posts onto which you can screw or nail the planks. – nigel222 Aug 01 '19 at 12:01
unless the hinges are on the post by the house and the latch is on the other one. Then the hinged post can be in whatever orientation (within reason) – Brad Aug 01 '19 at 20:01

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 31 '19 at 19:32

10

I had a similar issue but a small angle so it wasn't worth bothering to fix it.

I think you definitely have to go with the second orientation. (square up the gate opening)

Are you using 4x4 or 6x6 posts?

Maybe get a 4x8 or 6x12 post for the house side.

Then cut a complimentary angle to the house so that you don't have just a point touching your house.

This can help if you're going to lag bolt it to the house.

answered Jul 31 '19 at 19:32

Fredo Corleone

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Of the two, the gate opening should be square with the gate. If for no other reason than the gate needs the mechanical support and rigidity of being mounted flush and square. With the fence, you can take some liberties because it's not under stress. – Clinton Pierce Aug 01 '19 at 14:01

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 01 '19 at 07:02

8

Something that might be an alternative option: don't use square gate posts, but triangular ones, or octagonal ones or whatever shape you need to get the angle right.

answered Aug 01 '19 at 07:02

Nzall

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Round (cylindrical) posts would work at any angle. – wumpus D'00m Aug 01 '19 at 12:12
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Round posts are cool, but much more difficult to install the gate hardware to. Also, it's much more difficult to tell if they're facing the right way when you put them in the hole... :) – FreeMan Aug 01 '19 at 18:10
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@FreeMan you put the long end into the ground, duh – Sam Aug 01 '19 at 20:42

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 01 '19 at 14:39

If a square post is set close to the house wall, it will look wrong unless it is parallel with the wall. If doesn't matter if the gate itself is at an angle. Gates can be at any angle when they are half open, and nobody thinks they look "wrong."

But since we don't have a complete plan, I would question why the gate needs to be at an angle anyway. Building an extra two or three feet of fence might be a neater way to solve the problem.

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 02 '19 at 08:58

You did not show in your pencil-drawn plan which side the gate hinge is on and which way the gate is intended to open. So here's something to think about.

             *  B
            /
           /
          *  A
------------
           |
           |

(Apologies for ASCII diagram..)

If the hinge of the gate is meant to be at point "A", and it intended for the gate to open to the left in this diagram, double check the size of the hinge. If you go with a post that is square to the gate, you might find the gate does not open flush against the wall of your house due to the post blocking it from opening the whole way. In this case, you'd definitely want the post square with the house, not the gate.

Scenario: Post square to gate
Outcome: Gate does not open flush with wall of house

            *  B
      \      
        \   
          *  A
------------
           |
           |

Compared to:

Scenario: Post square to house
Outcome: Gate does open flush with wall of house

            *  B

     _____        
          *  A
------------
           |
           |

(If the gate is hinging on point "A" and is meant to open to the right, double check once again that your choice of post orientation allows the gate to open flush against the house)

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 02 '19 at 12:17

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The gate latch hardware won't work unless it's square with the gate in the closed position.

So if the gate hinge is on the outer/farther post, you can't make it square with the house.

answered Aug 02 '19 at 12:17

Harper - Reinstate Monica

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Patio gate not at right angle to the house

6 Answers6