Reversing opening direction of gates - advice sought

[ph0u203d]

Hello everyone.

I'm new to the forum & am looking for a bit of advice on how to reverse the direction that a set of double gates opens.

Hopefully the pictures on my Photobucket.com site should help you understand the current layout...

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v457/ph0u203d/

Basically, the gates currently open outwards & I'd like them to open inwards instead.

I've thought of simply moving the hinges to the back of the posts & re-fitting the gates to them, but I'm concerned there won't be enough space for them to open, as it looks like the cross-beams would hit the wall/fence pretty soon after the gates were opened.

Can anyone think of an easy way to do this?

 

[Trazor]

What is the purpose of the 2nd cross bars, which are between your posts ?

 

[breezer]

What is the purpose of the 2nd cross bars, which are between your posts ?

hold the blue string up i guess.

no, really i bet its to keep them shut, bit like they do to old doors in castles in the movies

 

[Thermo]

for the gates to open inwards the hinges will nedd to sit on the back of the posts or at the rear of the inside of the posts. If you do that your going to need to reduce them in size as they will be sitting inside the frame, rather like a door as opposed to sitting across the face as they are now.

 

[Trazor]

If my eyes don,t deceive me, it looks as if they are separate and fixed to each gate, could be wrong though.

If they or it can be dispensed with, then there is no reason why the hinges cannot be moved to the inside of the gates. Provided you have sufficient ground clearance at the back.

If they are an integral part of the gate, then the hinges must be fixed to the 2 nd crossbar, Which will push your gate outwards, leaving a gap between the gates and the gate posts, which will look awful.......

 

[Thermo]

could do with a pic from the front and rear of the gates really.

 

[Trazor]

for the gates to open inwards the hinges will nedd to sit on the back of the posts or at the rear of the inside of the posts. If you do that your going to need to reduce them in size as they will be sitting inside the frame, rather like a door as opposed to sitting across the face as they are now.

There is no reason to cut the gates down to fit inside the frame.

If the hinges are just swapped to the inside, and fitted so both hinge plates butt to each other when the gates are open, using c'sk screws.
All that will happen, is that the majority of the gate will go inside the posts, when the gates are opened, and the part of the gate overlapping the gate posts, will swing to the outside.

 

[Thermo]

may be the way im looking at the picture but the gates appear to be as wide as the opening and the frame. If you put the gates on the inside face of the frame then the hinges will need to go on the face of the gates and the hinges on the outside faces of the posts. They will then bind on themselves as they close, unless you trim down the gates so they are fitted as they should be.

 

[Trazor]

may be the way im looking at the picture but the gates appear to be as wide as the opening and the frame. If you put the gates on the inside face of the frame then the hinges will need to go on the face of the gates and the hinges on the outside faces of the posts. They will then bind on themselves as they close, unless you trim down the gates so they are fitted as they should be.

I agree entirely.

But by leaving the gates exactly where they are, and just moving the hinges inside the posts, the gates will work as I described.
May need to trim the edges of the gates where they meet to prevent any binding.

 

[ph0u203d]

for the gates to open inwards the hinges will nedd to sit on the back of the posts or at the rear of the inside of the posts. If you do that your going to need to reduce them in size as they will be sitting inside the frame, rather like a door as opposed to sitting across the face as they are now.

There is no reason to cut the gates down to fit inside the frame.

If the hinges are just swapped to the inside, and fitted so both hinge plates butt to each other when the gates are open, using c'sk screws.
All that will happen, is that the majority of the gate will go inside the posts, when the gates are opened, and the part of the gate overlapping the gate posts, will swing to the outside.

Thanks for your suggestions everyone.

Trazor, do you mean something like this...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/ph0u203d/9.gif

 

[Trazor]

Yes that is exactly what I meant.
The only downside is that once the hinge plates touch each other, the gates will not swing open that bit further to go slightly behind your posts.

My method is just the easy option. The method Thermo suggested is the best method, but requires more work on your part, cutting the gates down Etc.

Do check the clearance behind your gates, you would not be the first person to do this, and find that your gates jam on a rising slope....

 

[ph0u203d]

I will do, thanks a lot for taking the time to think of a possible solution.

I'll see if I can get away with the easy option first.

Thanks again.