How to fit a gate latch or a shed bolt properly

January 29, 2025

Working out which latch or bolt you actually need

Half the hardware in a house is the stuff nobody looks at until it stops working, and a latch is the best example of it, because a gate that won't stay shut in a north wind or a shed door that swings open every time the dog leans on it is the sort of thing you walk past for about 6 months before you finally do something about it. The job itself takes 20 minutes. Picking the right bit of hardware is the part people get wrong, and that's what this one is about.

There are 4 families of this stuff, and once you know what each one is for, the choice pretty much makes itself.

The 4 families, and what each one is good at

Latches hold something closed with a lever or a thumb press, and they're what you want on a gate you go through every day, because you can work one handed while you're carrying something.
Bolts slide, and they're the stronger option, so a barrel bolt or a padbolt is what goes on a shed door, a back gate or a tool cupboard where you actually want it to stay put.
Catches use a magnet or a spring to hold a light door shut, and they belong on cupboards and cabinets rather than on anything living outside.
Hasps and staples are the ones that take a padlock, so if the real job is keeping somebody out rather than just keeping a door closed, that's what you reach for.

If it's going to live outside and cop the weather, go galvanised or stainless rather than plain zinc plated. Zinc looks fine for a year and then you're doing the job again, and that's the one part of this I'd spend the extra couple of dollars on.

4 questions before you buy anything

I'd rather you stood in front of the gate for 2 minutes than bought twice, so have a think about these first.

What's actually opening and closing? A chook pen door and a side gate are not the same problem.
Who's using it? If a little one needs to be kept on the right side of it, the latch goes high and it gets a bolt as well.
Does it need to lock, or does it just need to stay shut when it blows?
Is it in the weather? Sun and salt air both eat cheap hardware.

Fitting it without splitting the timber

Most of these follow the same pattern whatever you've bought, and the order matters more than the technique does.

Hold the hardware where it's going to sit, swing the gate or the door once by hand to check it lines up the whole way through, and then mark your screw holes in pencil.
Pre-drill, and don't skip it on hardwood or on anything recycled, because a split edge on a gate stile is a much bigger job than the one you started with.
Put one screw in, check the action again, and only then drive the rest.
Open and shut it 10 times. Timber moves with the seasons, so a latch that's tight in winter can be sloppy by summer, and you want to leave yourself a bit of adjustment.

If the latch and the keeper don't quite meet, a thin timber packer behind the keeper is the fix, and it's a lot less work than moving the whole latch. If a screw hole has gone loose in old timber, a couple of matches glued in and snapped off flush will give the screw something to bite on again.

Where each one earns its keep

Gates and fences. A D pattern gate latch for everyday use, with a padbolt underneath it if the gate is holding a dog in.
Sheds and tool cupboards. Barrel bolt or padbolt, galvanised, and a hasp and staple if it's taking a padlock.
Kitchen and bathroom cupboards. A magnetic catch or a mortice roller catch, and the double magnetic ones hold about 8kg, which is what you want if a door is heavy or has warped a bit.
Chook pens and animal runs. Cabin hooks and eyes, because they're easy for you and hard for a fox.

A couple of things I get asked in the shop

Can I reuse the old one?

If it still moves freely and it isn't pitted with rust, yes. Give it a scrub with steel wool and a drop of oil and it'll see out another few years, and there's nothing wrong with hardware that's got a bit of history on it.

Do I really have to pre-drill?

On hardwood or recycled timber, yes, every time. On soft pine you'll usually get away with it, and "usually" is doing a fair bit of work in that sentence.

What if it still doesn't line up?

Take the keeper off and move it rather than fighting the latch. Paint swells timber and hinges sag, so a gate that was square the day it was built often isn't square any more, and adjusting the easy half is the sensible answer.

Shop related products

Gate Latch, D-Pattern, Galvanised. The standard side gate latch, and the galvanised one is what you want if it lives outside.
Gate Latch, D-Pattern Dual Opening, Black. Opens from either side, which matters on a gate you come back through with your hands full.
Gate Hook and Eye 75mm, Light Duty Zinc Plated. Cheap, simple, and hard to beat on a chook pen or a light gate.
Romak Butt Hinge ZP 50 x 40mm. Worth doing the hinges at the same time if the door has dropped on you.

Did you know we also stock barrel bolts from 38mm up to 100mm, padbolts in galvanised, zinc plated, black and stainless up to 200mm, hasp and staple sets, cabinet magnetic catches and mortice roller catches in the shop. Most of that isn't on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.