Squeaky pool fence gate or gate not closing properly? Your glass pool fence gate is one of the most important parts of your entire pool fence, because if it is not properly taken care of, it won’t just be irritating, it will be dangerous and unsafe.
If you have had Absolut Custom Glass or another Gold Coast Pool fencing company put in a Glass pool fence for you in the past, then you hopefully have been shown how you can take care of it. If not, well we want to help guide you through some quite simple tips to maintain your pool fence gate hinges and keep your pool fence safe.
We were just recently called out to a job in Burleigh on the Gold Coast to make a few basic adjustments to a squeaky pool fence gate that was not closing as it should. To the casual onlooker, one might have just thought the hinges needed to be ‘oiled’ to fix the squeaky pool fence gate, and to close quicker. Thankfully we could help out, because while some people’s instincts may be to oil a hinge, a pool fence hinge needs to be tensioned.
The pool fence in question was only a little, single sided fence covering a lovely pool in a duplex townhouse. It was a modest area, but the owners had done a remarkable job at taking advantage of the space for this particular Gold Coast property. When we came in the very first thing we did was open the gate and wait for it to close naturally by itself. A pool Fence Gate Hinge is a specially tensioned, self-closing product that will generally prefer to remain in a closed position. This is important because if a gate won’t self-close, then anyone might be able to get in the pool area, and this is particularly hazardous if you have kids.
In Queensland, Pool Fencing laws state that you need to have a gate which can self-close from any open placement, even something as little as 1 cm. This means there has to be a remarkable amount of tension and force that the hinge can exhibit to be able to close without the momentum that it would typically get from a more open setting. If a gate can not close from this distance, then it needs to be adjusted.
This is a very uncomplicated process that calls for a quite small Allen key or Hex key, and a bit of patience.
Simply look at the hinge and search for a set of horizontal, evenly spaced dots or holes. You then should place the Allen key or Hex Key in the left-most notch, and use the tool to rotate that section of the joint anti-clockwise. Once you do this, you will find a small metal pin in one of the holes to the left.
You will need to extract that pin from the opening it is in, and relocate to a hole even more to the left.
This is practically adding tension to the hinge, and you have to repeat the process of rotating the hinge section with the allen tool, pulling out the pin, and moving the pin. Repeat this until you get a firm pressure on the glass pool gate. Remember, move the allen key anticlockwise so that you can then be moving the pin in a clockwise direction.
You will have to make certain that the lower hinge is also similarly tensioned, and you will then be ready to test the gate’s reaction.
Don’t panic if it slams too hard, you won’t damage the glass. But if it is too fast and too loud, simply reverse the method, and move the pin counter-clockwise and the allen key clockwise.
Still unsure? Don’t worry, we have created a short video clip to help you discover how to adjust your pool fence gate so it self closes.
If you have a squeaky pool fence gate, or gate hinge or other maintenance issues, please feel free to give us a call at Absolut Custom Glass on 1300 937 902 and we can talk you through our tips, recommendations, and possible options for you and your Gold Coast Pool Fence. Visit our contact page for more options.