Spent all weekend fixing a crooked gate with a $2 washer trick

My gate was sagging so bad it wouldn't even latch anymore. I kept adjusting the hinges but nothing worked until my neighbor came over and showed me this simple fix. He slipped a thick flat washer behind the top hinge on the gate side and it lifted the whole thing up by maybe a quarter inch. Took me 5 minutes and now it swings perfect and latches first try every time. Has anyone else fixed a sag with just washers or is there a better way to do it?

2 comments

2 Comments

harper_wright1mo ago

Well I'll be, I remember reading about this exact trick in an old handyman magazine my dad had. Makes total sense though, a little shim behind the hinge can change the whole angle. I tried something similar on a fence gate once with a stack of playing cards, but it didn't hold up in the rain. Washers would definitely last longer than cardboard or a stack of cards, that's for sure. Good to know it worked, I might try it on my garden gate that's started dragging.

ericb6629d ago

Playing cards in the rain - that's rough. @harper_wright convinced me this washer trick actually works.