Improper Gate installation

[Donald]

So our HOA had a pair of swing gates installed about 2 years ago. New gates and new gate posts. I think the bill for the gates was $8000. Each gate was 10' wide.

Recently some tree branches fell on one gate and it's now hanging lower than the other. After some inspection we determined the for 1 of 4 hinges the gate company cut the 'U' shaped gate attachment part of the hinge to be 'L' shaped and used the piece of the hinge they cut off as a shim. So the hinge was screwed to the side and back of the gate. Not the two sides of the hinge like the hinge is designed. They should have used through bolts on all the hinges from side to side. Instead they used self taping bolts. Gate is aluminum.

By using a shim on the side attachment means the largest threads of the self taping bolt are in the shim not the gate.

No idea why they did what they did. They installed the gate post and supplied the gate. If either was not perfect they should have fixed it rather than jury rigged a hinge.

As far as I can tell the problem is the one hinge is no longer in tight contact with the hinge. The gate does not look bent.

I contacted the gate company asking them to replace the jury rigged hinge with a new one. They got pissed off saying they know how to install gates and have been doing so for 20 years.

 

[GON]

Sorry that happened. Workmanship and pride seem to be a thing that started to die off in the last century.

I'll take the company's response as lack of competition. I suspect that business is a very niche/ specialty business with very few competitors. If I could do my life again, a business of that nature might be one I would consider, along with well drilling.

Might be reasonable to assume most of the customers for private gate companies are not concerned about a budget, and don't have a clue when it comes to quality of install. OTOH, typicaly customer of private gates need one thing- gate must always work.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Pride in work went out the window with customer service. Don't let them just blow you off. Send them pictures of the questionable work and tell them you just want the hinge installed as designed which is what you paid for. Don't start off by ripping on their work. I like to atleast tell them the issue and allow them to correct it before saying they are lazy, incompetent or just trying to rip me off. Plenty of time for that

 

[Donald]

The only thing I said was one hinge was jury rigged. Which it is. That was as negative as my email got.

We did not notice this when the gate was installed. They got paid. And it worked for two years. But when a few branches fell on the gate the weak way the jury rigged hinge was attached to the gate loosened up.

There are a ton of fence companies that install basic homeowner fences as lots of houses being thrown up in Delaware these days. But not many that install large swing gates. And then there are different companies that install the gate openers. We had one that really overcharged us and another one that could not fix the gate opener. I became a gate opener technician.

I doubt this company wants to fix the gate properly. I am going to talk to another gate company for the swing gate at my HOA and for some fence work at my house.

 

[mk378]

Anything falling on it really isn't normal wear and tear.

The hinge you posted is "tailored for residential use" i.e. it is going to be relatively light duty.

Can't the screws just be replaced with thru-bolts as you describe?

 

[Donald]

Anything falling on it really isn't normal wear and tear.

The hinge you posted is "tailored for residential use" i.e. it is going to be relatively light duty.

Can't the screws just be replaced with thru-bolts as you describe?

The jury rigged hinge only touches the side and back of gate frame. They cut off the part of the hinge that would touch the other side. If we replace the jury rigged hinge with a new hinge then yes should be able to run through bolts and should be really strong.

But I am still not sure why they jury rigged the hinge in the first place. I am guessing if I get a new hinge I will find out. Maybe the post is not perfectly straight. That's my guess. But they installed the post. Should have gotten the post perfectly straight rather than jury rigging a hinge to compensate.

And I agree these hinges look to be more decorative that strong. They have made noise since the day the gate was installed. We have squireid lots of oil on the hinge to quiet it.

I would have preferred a heavier duty hinge.

 

[CarbonToast]

I dont see how the installer has any obligation. Its been 2 years and there were no functional problems.

Something to consider - If you make the hinges super strong then the gate breaks which is harder and more expense to fix vs. putting a new hinge on.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

The only thing I said was one hinge was jury rigged. Which it is. That was as negative as my email got.

We did not notice this when the gate was installed. They got paid. And it worked for two years. But when a few branches fell on the gate the weak way the jury rigged hinge was attached to the gate loosened up.

There are a ton of fence companies that install basic homeowner fences as lots of houses being thrown up in Delaware these days. But not many that install large swing gates. And then there are different companies that install the gate openers. We had one that really overcharged us and another one that could not fix the gate opener. I became a gate opener technician.

I doubt this company wants to fix the gate properly. I am going to talk to another gate company for the swing gate at my HOA and for some fence work at my house.

Well, you started with an insult, they blew you off and you moved on. Fail. Not sure what you want. Just call someone else and watch them install it, I guess.