What To Do - Gate Posts

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Bought a house which has old gate posts and old gate with fence panel screwed to the top (makeshit privacy barrier I guess).

What would you do with these posts? I want the posts to be fixed so a normal gate fits between and there are no gaps. As you can see at the minute there are gaps.

I want everything 'tight' and because the posts look quite old, I assume I need to cut/break the old posts out, and set new 2 posts slightly closer together so a normal gate fits perfectly?

Advice welcome.
IMG-20200607-160219.jpg


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Quite a mess, that one!
If the posts are set into a concrete slab, it could be easier to jack the old posts out, replace with identical sized ones, and then plant on timber to the sides of them to accommodate a new gate.
I’d consider making a bespoke gate to fit the gap though. Just a consideration or two!
John :)
 
Quite a mess, that one!
If the posts are set into a concrete slab, it could be easier to jack the old posts out, replace with identical sized ones, and then plant on timber to the sides of them to accommodate a new gate.
I’d consider making a bespoke gate to fit the gap though. Just a consideration or two!
John :)

Yes, that was one thing I was considering.... However another barrier is I'd want a 6ft high gate. In my head. I saw the top of the existing pyramid posts, get matching size fence post, cut and put on top of existing fence post using lots of gorilla glue.... Then get the custom gate to go in the gap.

Does that all sound feasible?

It's just whether I want to do that hash, versus spending money on doing it proper, which I guess is going to cost me at least a day in labour for a pro, maybe 2....
 
A bucketful of Gorilla glue will not hold one post to the top of another. If you want to extend the height of a post then you need to joint it properly to avoid injuey to anyone entering/leaving through the gate.
Better to play safe and completely replace the existing posts with new ones.
As Burnerman says, jack out the original post and fit the same dimension new ones and then add infills, securely fixed with coach bolts, to the new posts. To jack out the old ones rock them from side to side to loosen them first. This will help to ease them out as you jack them up.
 
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That is a real mess.
First thing is to measure the gap between the posts and see if the posts are worth saving. If they are ok, then you could possibly bolt new timber posts to the existing ones. If they have had it, they need to come out and be replaced

Some companies will make bespoke gates based on the next size up, a cheaper alternative is a wickes/b&q self assembly that relies on you assembling slates with a gap. You could always add something to help with privacy.
 
What are we thinking labour taken to remove fence posts and reset new ones with normal gate? Assume a pro can do it in under a day? Haven't got a jack and hire coming in at like 50gbp for a day, might be best for me to defer to an expert.

Posts are quite old, the one on the right had a bit of wobble already, so may be best to do it properly now instead of fudge and re-do in another year or whatever.
 
New posts for sure......if you could give us a view of things from further back we could maybe see if there's anything to tie on to.....I notice that one bit of the concrete slab has a crack.
Two vertical posts plus a header will keep things square.
To shift the original posts, I drill a large hole right through, shove a length of steel bar in that sticks out and put a trolley jack on each end......never fails!
John :)
 
I would have thought a day would do it.
Jacks are cheap ( £20 tops) or borrow one from a mate/neighbour.
You can screw bits of timber to the old post and jack up, or organise a pile of stones to act as a fulcrum and fix a lever to the post
 
Thanks for all the comments. Even when I get the posts out, if I want a normal 3ft gate to fit, then I'll need to drill closer in one of the post holes by however many cm to make the fit right................ Unless I go for made for measure....

Also you may see the gate is set at an angle, and when the gate opens, I don't get much swing etc. So I could look to set the right hand post so its in line with the left hand post - so would need a custom hole drilled down, correct? Is there any other benefit for having things straight like this, other than it looks a bit better?
 

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