Sagging wooden gate

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TheAggiesAreWe03
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9:09a, 10/21/25
AG
I had this gate installed about a year ago...sagging has gotten bad over the last few months, probably escalated with the lack of rain in the area. It's to the point where it can't be closed. I guess I should've expected this to happen with the heavy frame they used. Anyway, I'm no fence/gate expert, but what would you suggest I can try to fix this? (you can speak to me like I'm 5)

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Jason_Roofer
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9:30a, 10/21/25
The first thing I do for things like this is put a 4' level on everything and figure out what has moved. At first glance it looks like your house side post has heaved and the gate isn't sagging at all. But the photo from the back looks like it shows a shim of some kind that lifts that horizontal board up. I don't know what that is about. Either way, metal square frames like that can't really sag unless they have pulled the hinge post, and the corner post crooked, but it looks like those are tied in well. Are these leaning? Are they at least 24-30" in the ground? Any adjustment you make to the gate alone is going to move the gaps around. If you don't care about appearances, then I would probably remove that house side shim, level out that horizontal board, and then I would just move the latch or the catch pin one way or the other until it works.

For what it's worth, as a roofer that has gone through hundreds of these a year, maybe 10% of them still operate as they should. Part of the reason for this is that the wood just warps. But also, many installers don't add appropriate gaps for things to move. That may be why that shim thing is on your house side post. The tolerances on that gate look tight. I like a full inch of gap everywhere if I can get away with it. It allows the wood to swell and setlle and also allows some room for adjustment down the road.

The other thing you can do is loosen the bottom hinge on your gate, and put a jack or have someone hold UP the latch side of the gate about 1/2" higher than the what is needed, the retighten down the hinge and see if it settles down to the proper position. With the metal gate frame, this might not be possible.
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dubi
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12:06p, 10/21/25
AG
Easy fix is to move the gate hardware on the right down 2 inches. Best fix is to read @jason_roofer's post.

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RogerFurlong
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In reply to dubi • 2:01p, 10/21/25
dubi said:
Easy fix is to move the gate hardware on the right down 2 inches. Best fix is to read @jason_roofer's post.


Don't forget to dig down into the ground on that side so it doesn't drag. Also a good place to collect some water.
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tgivaughn
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4:56p, 10/21/25
AG
The only thoughts left now are
Problem: post hole was not dug deep enough, so will always be affected by its upper flanking soil "anchor" to expand/contract with surface moisture ....
Solution: re-dig deep into moisture-constant soils (even in drought), replace/re-use leaning post(s)

The cowboy way (haha): brace top of problem leaning post against house brick veneer and hope the brick wall doesn't move with such a force (not recommended).

If two posts are replaced correctly, then belt/suspenders mitigate future movements with cross wire buckle tight bracing as one sees at fence corners. I X I
Gotta draw since me got no grammar
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ABATTBQ11
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5:07p, 10/21/25
AG
It looks like sagging to me based on the pic from the front.

Drill through the hinge side under the middle cross bar and secure an eye bolt through it. Do the same on the bottom in the opposite corner, next to the non-hinge side. Get some aircraft cabling and a turnbuckle from eye bolt to eye bolt. Tighten the turn buckle until it it's square again. Leave it all in place to prevent further sagging, though you'll have to tighten it on occasion as the aircraft cable stretches.
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javajaws
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5:11p, 10/21/25
AG
Either the metal frame itself sagged and got out of square or that single latch post got raised up (frost heave from being next to the gutter spout?). It sort of looks like it got pulled/pushed up out of the ground. Could be a combination of both. Use a square on one of the metal frame corners to see if its still square.
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maddiedou
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In reply to TheAggiesAreWe03 • 8:38p, 10/21/25
AG
Are you in BCS if not Pm me or text me tomorrow
maddiedou
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jaggiemaggie
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11:15p, 10/21/25
AG
I know this doesn't really help you because you have a metal frame but typically putting a compression brace helps.

https://share.google/xmskosW52VjRG0ndS
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RoyVal
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In reply to ABATTBQ11 • 8:49a, 10/22/25
AG
ABATTBQ11 said:
It looks like sagging to me based on the pic from the front.

Drill through the hinge side under the middle cross bar and secure an eye bolt through it. Do the same on the bottom in the opposite corner, next to the non-hinge side. Get some aircraft cabling and a turnbuckle from eye bolt to eye bolt. Tighten the turn buckle until it it's square again. Leave it all in place to prevent further sagging, though you'll have to tighten it on occasion as the aircraft cable stretches.

this is the best advice right here. Looks like it's sagging to me as well.
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Tango.Mike
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In reply to RoyVal • 10:12a, 10/22/25
RoyVal said:
ABATTBQ11 said:
It looks like sagging to me based on the pic from the front.

Drill through the hinge side under the middle cross bar and secure an eye bolt through it. Do the same on the bottom in the opposite corner, next to the non-hinge side. Get some aircraft cabling and a turnbuckle from eye bolt to eye bolt. Tighten the turn buckle until it it's square again. Leave it all in place to prevent further sagging, though you'll have to tighten it on occasion as the aircraft cable stretches.

this is the best advice right here. Looks like it's sagging to me as well.


It will not be possible to adjust a welded square tubing frame with aircraft cable and a turnbuckle. Yes, the gate looks like it's sagging from the front, but that welded frame will not deflect unless the welds are just tack welds, which the pictures do not support.

OP- has that top board always been there? Can you put a level on the top of the gate frame, the hinge-side post, and the latch-side post and let us know what they say?
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ABATTBQ11
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In reply to Tango.Mike • 3:08p, 10/22/25
AG
If the frame can sag out of square, it can be pulled straight. The underlying problem here is that there's no diagonal bracing anywhere. He might need a larger diameter cable and large turn buckle, but it can be done.

ETA There are other options as well. He could take the boards off, notch a 90 into 2 chunks of 4x4, put those on opposing corners, get a chain around it from corner to corner, and use a come along to pull it into square. If he had something strong enough to use as a level or a jack with enough clearance, he could also get under the latch side and push it up. Then he could cable it after that to get it square. Regardless, that's the long term solution and what he needs to do.
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Kenneth_2003
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6:41a, 10/24/25
AG
Unrelated to the change in square...

Get rid of that ridiculous top rail!
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Buck Compton
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In reply to ABATTBQ11 • 7:15a, 10/24/25
AG
I'd bet a decent amount of money that that gate is still square. Nothing to "pull straight". Diagonal bracing isn't nearly as needed at that size of metal tubing.

First thought is the post near the house has heaved up (especially with that gap to the house). Otherwise the hinges could be the issue.

If there was sagging to that degree, there would be dragging.
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AgFan247
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In reply to tgivaughn • 9:28a, 10/24/25
AG
had same thing and found out my sprinkler system wasnt working right. Got it fixed and got the water content back to normal in the soil and now my gate no longer sags and snaps right into the clasp.
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ABATTBQ11
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In reply to Buck Compton • 1:56p, 10/24/25
AG
It sure seems out of alignment with the fence from the front. Look at how the top of the fence on the left makes a straight line to the top of the post on the right. Hard to tell from the back because it's partially open, but the latch side is practically scraping the ground in that pic. My Mk I Eyeball says something is up with it.
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