What is a gate bolt?
A gate bolt is a sliding bolt: a bar that shoots into a keeper or striking plate. It is a piece of ironmongery and the most common fastening for garden gates and doors.
The construction is simple — a guide, a sliding bar and a handle — and that is exactly why it is dependable outdoors, where a lock quickly binds or seizes with rust.
Variants
- Surface-mounted bolt. Screwed to the face of the leaf; the most common type.
- Long throw gate bolt with an extended bar, so it can also be operated from the top of a tall gate.
- Drop bolt or ground bolt. The bar drops into a socket set in the paving. This is how you fix the passive leaf of a pair of gates so the active leaf has something to close against.
- Lockable versions, in which a padlock or cylinder can be passed through the guide and the bar.
Material and fixing
- Stainless steel (grade 316 near the coast) or hot-dip galvanised steel. Electroplated or painted steel rusts through outdoors within a few years.
- Use stainless fixings or through-bolts. A bolt screwed only into the end grain of a gate rail will pull out. On a timber gate, through-bolts with a washer on the back work best.
- Fix the keeper into the post or the stile, not into a thin board.
Practical points
- Clearance. A timber gate moves with the weather: it swells in winter. Leave a few millimetres of clearance between bar and keeper, or the bolt will bind for half the year.
- Drainage of the keeper. Fix the keeper so water cannot stand in it; that is the main cause of seizing.
- Security. A bolt on the outside face can be operated by anyone. To genuinely secure a side passage, fit the bolt on the inside with an access hole, or combine it with a lockable gate lock. For certified products, look for third-party tested ironmongery.
- Escape route. A gate on an escape route must open from the inside without a key.
- Lubrication. A drop of acid-free oil or a silicone spray each season keeps the bolt running for years.
Related terms
- Ironmongery
- Sliding bolt
- Garden gate
- Hinge
- Security rating
Want to learn more about construction terms? Visit our knowledge base at fredsdiyplans.com.