So I own a Spanish Revival style home with stucco walls, red clay tile roof….and a courtyard cordoned off in my front yard walking up to the house. Nice feature for hanging outside but a bit of a nightmare at night because it provides great opportunities for an intruder to hide, sight unseen from the street. I would like to secure this at night and have a gate lock question.
There are two entrances into the courtyard, as I live on a corner, a small gate coming into the front (which I can lock fairly easily) and larger gate on the side that comes in off the circle drive that's to the side of the home. The issue is the little slide bolt isn't long enough. I can put a combination lock holding it in place but that doesn't do a damn thing when simply pushing the gate forward allows it to open. I've attached pictures….for the life of me I can't think of a simple solution although I know there has to be one. Excuse the un-maintained yard….it's been a rough winter for Houston standards.
Best Answer
I think the neatest and most secure lock would be a large barrel bolt. You would need to weld or bolt two iron pipes to the middle horizontal gate bars, and pass a steel bar through both pipes, like this:
Bend one end of the bar into a short L-shaped stop, and drill the other end for your padlock.
Remove the old latch, but leave the plate as a place to hang the padlock when the gate is unlocked.