Adding a (stair/baby) gate without facing walls

Question

This is a little hard to describe; I've added a diagram to (hopefully) make it easier to understand, but apologies if it doesn't make sense.

I'm looking to add a stair gate at the top of my stairs. The problem I'm having is that the wall on one side of the stairs finished much earlier than the other, and at the end of the top stair, there is only a wall on one side.

It seems that I have two options, either get a tall gate and install it where the walls are parallel, leaving one step to fall, or affix some sort of post to the shorter wall so that I can attach the gate to that. Neither seems particularly ideal and I'm not sure the second is really viable, but am I missing something quite obvious, or is there perhaps a known and advised way of solving this problem?

Any help would be very much appreciated!

Answer 1

They make a variety of gates for just this kind of thing. They typically have 3 segments with adjustable angles.

For example at Amazon:

That middle segment is the normal gate, but the whole thing can swing/fold if needed.

Answer 2

I would get two Evenflo wooden baby gates. I suggest this model for its proven, simple design and wooden construction.

Then do this:

Shorten the second gate

1. Separate the mounted and sliding panels of one gate assembly. You can probably just bend the slide brackets as you won't be reusing them. Set the sliding panel aside, as you won't reuse that either.
2. Remove the the slide brackets from the mounted panel. I suspect that these are simply screwed on, but grinding of rivets may be necessary.
3. Cut the top and bottom rails of the mounted panel to the dimension where they'd intersect the gate that will come across the head of the stairs at 90 degrees. Don't cut too close to a vertical baluster to avoid weakening the panel. Use a miter saw if available, and bevel the cut corners slightly so they're gentle on skin.

Connect the two gates

Using new hardware of suitable size, connect the mounting brackets of the intact gate to the cut ends of the shortened gate. You'll want to drill and use secure bolts to so so. Don't rely on short wood screws. Sleeve bolts would give a nice appearance, but nylon-insert nuts on regular bolts would work.

Mount both gates to the wall

You now have essentially created an extended, articulating gate. Using the same procedure outlined in the product instructions, mount the shortened gate to the wall corner along the stairs, and the spring clip receivers to the wall parallel to the stairs.

________ ▼-- spring clips           ▼-------- intact gate's mounting hinges
       | ____________________________ _
       | __|______________________|__| | ◄-- connection with new bolts
 wall  |      intact gate            | | 
       |__________________________   | | ◄-- shortened gate
       |                          |  | | 
       |                          |  |_| ◄-- mounting hinges OR spring clips
       |        stairs            |__|_|_______________
       |__________________________|          ▲-- wall
       |                          |

Benefits and options

• Clean, simple, inexpensive. Only modest woodworking skills required.

• You can swing the gate to the reverse side when it's not needed since the gate-gate connection is hinged.

• Of course, you could use the sliding panel for the shortened gate, with its spring clips, and the entire thing would be easily removable.

• The entire thing is mounted with a few screws and is therefore removable when baby reaches a suitable age (and reinstalled when s/he becomes a teenager).

Stability concerns

If you find that the assembly wants to sag at the corner, you could do one of two things:

• Add a wooden "leg" or small wheel for support.
• Rigidly connect the two panels of the intact gate so they act as a shear plane with one screw in each of the top and bottom rails. This would require you to move the entire assembly when opening and closing the gate, which could wear the carpet unless you use a slider foot. This would also resolve the problem of baby lifting the gate.

Answer 3

I would put a false wall or barrier as shown in red for the gate to latch to, see image.

Answer 4

What about a custom L-shaped gate that would fit around the contour of the top stair, mounted on the corner near the top stair on the right side of your diagram? It would need a lot of space to swing open on the upstairs landing, and lock to the wall on the left side of your diagram.

There are also configurable gates with joints that allow some of this flexibility, but you'll want to ensure that they've been JPMA certified. Most of these that I've seen are for keeping pets out of rooms.

Answer 5

Don't put a gate there, it is unsafe. Mount the gate farther up the hallway, or in a bedroom door.

Pressure-mounted gates simply press on opposing walls. They should be used only where falling isn't a hazard, such as between two rooms or to discourage your little explorer from climbing up stairs. Pressure-mounted gates are not secure enough to use at the top of stairs, so never use them that way, no matter how much you want to avoid drilling holes into your walls. Avoid accordion-style gates without a top filler bar and gates with horizontal slats or tempting footholds. Source