Latch and Catch Adjustment

Two components decide whether a gate closes, and only one of them is usually at fault. The diagnostic order kept at Gate Maintenance Mount Pleasant, SC thetaxpayers puts the latch last rather than first, because on most Mount Pleasant gates that will not catch, the latch is working perfectly and the leaf is no longer arriving where it used to.

Check the Geometry First

Close the gate slowly by hand and watch where the tongue meets the keeper. If it lands low, the leaf has dropped and the cause is a hinge or a post. If it lands short, the post has moved or the frame has racked. Adjusting the keeper to meet it in either case hides the fault and it will move again.

Adjusting the Keeper Correctly

Once the geometry is confirmed sound, the keeper is adjusted for engagement depth and for a small amount of positive pressure. The tongue should seat fully with a definite sound and the leaf should not rattle in the keeper. Too tight and the mechanism wears fast and the gate needs a push. Too loose and wind moves the leaf against the tongue all night.

Coastal Latch Failures

Salt gets into a latch faster than into anything else on the gate because the mechanism is open at both ends and sits at hand height where it gets touched. A sticky latch is usually salt and grit, not wear. Flush it with fresh water, dry it, then use a dry film lubricant rather than grease, which would hold the next batch of grit in place.

The Drop Rod Interaction

On a double gate the latch only works if the inactive leaf is genuinely fixed. A drop rod sitting in a partly filled ground sleeve lets that leaf move an inch, and the latch on the active leaf then engages inconsistently. Clear the sleeve before condemning the latch.

Automated Gates

An electric strike or a magnetic lock has its own alignment window, usually a few millimetres, and it is far less forgiving than a mechanical latch. On those, the same rule holds harder: fix the leaf position, then set the lock, never the other way round.