Baby Gate Installation

Nadine Hartman Bourne
by Nadine Hartman Bourne
2 Materials
$3
30 Minutes
Easy

Years ago when my granddaughter was starting to crawl, I bought a baby gate. These are wonderful things not just for babies. It was up for years and kind of in my way, I had to open and close it every time I vacuumed and the wall it was on, it stuck out like a sore thumb. My granddaughter is now 11 and the gate really wasn't needed. I wanted to paint the living room and hall so I removed it and put it in storage. I filled in the holes and painted and that was that.... Not LOL I got a couple of puppies a few moths ago and they keep going to that end of the house and piddling on the floor. So I got out the old baby gate... problem is I had lost the installation instructions so I had to wing it. This time from experience I knew I wanted it on the heater wall so it didn't get bumped into and I wanted it high enough that the vacuum could pass under it to clean against the wall.

Gather your supplies. The gate and hardware, Drill and bits, wall anchors, level, marker, and the 2X4 is for the height.

I wanted the vacuum to be able to go under while it was open to I set the gate on the 2X4 a height I knew was acceptable because I set it next to the vacuum.

Those bent angles go into the plastic bits, so hold the plastic to the wall and use a marker to mark where the holes will go.

Usually the packaging for the wall anchors tells you what size drill bit you will need. This one did not so it was trial and error. This is what happens if your hole is too small, the anchor will bend and not fit. Sometimes you can reshape it with pliers. If you pushed it too hard then it will mush too much and you have to throw it away. Pull it out and select a larger drill bit.

Here the holes are nice and flush with the wall. You want to be able to push them in with just a little pressure. If they slide in too easy they will not hold what you are installing.

Now move on to the bottom of the gate. I used a level to be sure it was aligned with the top . Mark the placement and drill and install the anchors as before. Once the screws are in, place the gate and slide the covers on. This side is now done.

Now for the latch side. I tried to use the level to make sure it was straight with the other side but that didn't really help so I just kind of eyeballed it until I was satisfied with how it looked. There really was no way to measure for distance as one wall is longer and the doors there aren't directly across from each other.

Now mark, drill and install the anchors on the other side. Screw in the latch. and the pic on the right is the bottom of the side that opens

It didn't quite meet up so I got out the wrenches and gave the nut a few turns.

The Su-purr-visors.

Cleaning up the plaster mess. Vacuum glides under perfectly. And you can see it is now on the heater wall so I won't keep banging into as I walk by

Here we have a couple of kitties trying to figure out why I penned them in. No worries they hopped right over.

My 2 reasons why I needed the gate. They rarely sit still unless they are asleep it's hard to get a non blurry photo

And Denied.. no more peeing on my bathroom rug.

Suggested materials:
  • Baby gate   (Already had)
  • Wall anchors   (Lowe's or Home depot)
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