We have a wooden deck out our back door and the traditional (wooden or plastic) gates do not work if they have to have tension at the bottom because the bottom of the openings in the deck are not even with the top. Not sure that even makes sense but basically what ends up happening is that it's taut at the top of the gate but loose at the bottom, therefore, the gate falls over and does not provide adequate cover. I guess maybe some type of one that you drill into one side and then pull shut to the other side would work? Suggestions?
Have you thought about just getting some lumber and building a door/gate with a latch to permanently go across the opening? My friend did this with her deck and it is great for her 1 year old!
I found an awesome gate that I love that retracts. We use our inside but maybe it will work for you. Everyone who visits comments about it. Here is a link to my blog with pictures of the gate and a link to the manufacturer:
http://www.mamabeartales.com/2009/06/products-i-love-retr...
We built our own out lumber and bought hinges and a latch from Home Depot. Works WONDERFUL and is MUCH sturdier than a regular baby gate.
If you have a gate that has a "swinging middle or a sliding middle"--the kind where you step on a release or press down and slide the gate---then you can always use a plastic cable tie to anchor the bottom. It may not be flush up against the wood, but at least it would keep the gate from falling down.
A cable tie is one of those plastic strips that you pull as tightly as needed, and then it "locks" into place. It can only be removed by cutting it off. This is what I plan to do to the gate I will be putting up for our grand-daughter. We have spindles at the top of our steps, and I don't want to drill into them for the gate. So I am going to cable tie the gate in all four corners. Then the gate can be removed when desired, and the bannister will remain intact.
We had a similar situation inside our house-we had an open basement with a very steep staircase-we used the basement as our "play" room-you know like the media area-so we did not want to close it completely yet we needed something. We took a solid door and cut it in half-yes and then put all the locking materials on the top where the kids could not get to it. This was wonderful for the years they were growing up and we never worried-this might be an adaptable effort for you to do for your porch area. We also had screen doors on our kids rooms so they could leave their room door open when they were playing and yet the cats could not go in their rooms. I never worried when they went down for a nap or in case the cats would push their doors as the cats could not do that to the screens as they opened out into the hall. I am sure there are many different designs of wood and/or porchy looks that are strong enough to hold and yet great to protect the kids.
My husband owns a remodeling company and made the most beautiful baby gate for our house... not sure it would work outside (you would have to ask him) .. looks like this: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kY5WNu7XcU8/SNK-vKUPR3I/AAAAAAA...
Call him for a free estimate: Moxley Home Repair & Remodeling: Kevin Moxley: ###-###-####
we had the same problem- we use a wood gate that you screw into one side, stained it to match the deck, and used wooded pieces/splints that you use for installing doors (sorry can't think of the proper name for them right now) on the side that we srewed into to deck post to square it up on the other side :)
hope this helps :)
We will have that problem next year. We're planning on building a gate like you would on a fence and just installing in permanently.
