Gate posts & sloping road-best way to do this (2 pics)

[mart]

I am going to concrete a pair of (80mm box) posts in the ground at the end of my drive. Each post is 9 feet long, 2 feet of this will be in the ground leaving 7 feet above the ground. The road (and I guess my drive also) is sloping (right to left as you look at the pics).

What is the most appropriate way to make the finished job (with gates) appear aphetically pleasing considering the slope? If I cut a bit off the right hand post so that the tops appear level, how will this “shorter post” effect the appearance when the gates are hung? Criticisms, p*** taking & and advice great received.

Pic No2 make the slope look more steep than pic No1 for some reason.

 

[Justme]

Unless your concrete is a large block I think that 2 foot on a 7 foot post with big gates might be pushing it a bit. Will you tie it to the wall as well?

But then I am used to wooden posts / gates in soil.

 

[Landynut]

Level the posts in the ground so that the tops are level with each other and square. Then hang the gates making sure they are high enough to clear the highest spot on the drive. If you want to be really fussy you could re lay the drive so it is level. Hope you understand what I mean.

 

[Woody.v8]

As landynut says sink your posts level and make your gates allowing a 3-4" gap off the ground.
If you find that the gates hit the incline of the driveway fabricate a rising hinge set up.
If you have a search on the forum this has been asked before

 

[the snooper]

If you find that the gates hit the incline of the driveway fabricate a rising hinge set up.

i agree completely with the above fabricate rise and fall hinges its as simple as a pice of tubing cut diagonally with a pin in the middle see very basic diagram below

 

[Hitch]

Posts need to be level, and the gates the same size, nice and square to make it look right imo.

Somewhere on here is the design for a lower hinge with a moving pivot. As you open it, the hinge pivot point moves, kicking the end up in the air.

 

[Welderpaul]

Fall doesnt look too excessive. Keep the tops of both posts level, keep the distance between the underside of the gate and the ground at the high side as tight as possible, without scraping the ground in the closed position, or as it opens, and have the opposite leaf the same.
Stick a plank across with a level on it to judge what the gap will be.

You can taper the bottoms of the gates, but its excessivly complicated.

 

[gordon stephenson]

Hello Mart.
I don't exactely understand,I know the drive slopes from side to side but does the drive rise towards the house requiring the gate to rise to clear it?
I have got round similar problems in the past by making an off-set hinge for the bottom of the gate that needs to rise. Google search for Rising gate hinges and make something along the same lines.

 

[oz.]

i have seen a few gates where they have a piece on the bottom with a wheel attached. Theis piece on the bottom is hinged to the bottom of the gate to move up and down with the rise and fall of the ground giving you a constant gap everywhere it goes

 

[mart]

Hello Mart.
I don't exactely understand,I know the drive slopes from side to side but does the drive rise towards the house requiring the gate to rise to clear it?
I have got round similar problems in the past by making an off-set hinge for the bottom of the gate that needs to rise. Google search for Rising gate hinges and make something along the same lines.

Hi Gordon,

No, not really. I guess that is also what others were thinking i meant. My only concern was that the right post looks longer than the left due to the fact that the ground slopes downwards from right to left. As Welderpaul commented, it is not excessive, but i don`t want it to look odd when the job is done. I was wondering if i should shorten the right post a little, but that would maybe not look right once the gates were hung. There would not be a problem with the opening & closing-its just what they could end up looking like.

 

[gordon stephenson]

Hello Mart,
what you really need is a design that fools the eye, Maybe you should be asking artists and not welders for any tricks that do this.

 

[mart]

An optical illusion-right?

 

[busa]

We made a set of gates recently for a driveway with a fall across the opening and a slight inward rise, the customer wanted the bottom of the gates tapered to suit the fall. Posts are set level at the top and the lower hinges adjusted accordingly. Posts were set in three foot holes and also bolted to existing walls The inward rise on the driveway caused a bit of a headache, using rising hinges can only give so much rise before the leaf becomes difficult to open and offset hinges cause the gate to hang off plumb when open. The only way to make these work to the customer's satifaction was to increase the ground clearance when closed. Surprisingly, they didn't look too bad when finished. The pic was taken during fitting, latch and drop bolts not fitted at this point.

 

[Welderpaul]

Does the road slope too, or do the post lean?

 

[busa]

Does the road slope too, or do the post lean?

Road slopes Paul, quite steep right to left in shot, posts are actually plumb, not a great pic, taken on the phone.

 

[Coo]

Our gates are similar to busa's post....
Can't find a great picture at the moment, must get some done though...

The road slopes right to left, downhill, and the gate rises into the driveway no the right hand side..

Posts are different heights, and the bottoms are uniform above the ground.
The middle of the gate is horizontal, and that's what fools the eye into thinking it's all square. I'll get some pics of it closed tonight...

 

[mart]

You succeeded in originality there, thanks for posting the pics.

 

[Coo]

As said, here are photos of it closed

 

[busa]

Coo
In your pics I notice that the middle leaf has a cranked heel pin on the bottom, effectively causing the end of the leaf to rise as it opens?

 

[Coo]

Yes, the driveway slopes down to the road.

Oh, and the drive ending has sunk a bit with use.

I do have to say, I only paid for and painted the gates :lol:
They were made up in Angus, friend of my father-in-law.

I really need to get them powder coated.