Different types of Gate Latches
When you’re looking for a means of securing your gates, you’ll definitely want to get yourself some latches. However, you’ll have to take a lot of factors into consideration before you finally settle on one. The main factors you’d have to know about the latches include security level, the material from which they’re made, how they work and how much they’ll cost you. The one factor among this that you need to give the most thought is how much security the gate latch give you. The rest of the considerations should come afterwards. This way, you’ll ensure that you end up with a gate latch that’s secure and meets your goals. Here are the four main types of gate latches that you’ll need to look at:
Thumb Latches
This is a two-way latch. The thumb latch has a decorative plate on the street-side (outside) that has a thumb compressor. When the thumb depressor is pressed, the gate is allowed to open by the lifting of a latch arm that’s located on the inside of the gate. When the gate needs to be closed, the latch-arm is made to hit the strike. This, in turn, causes the strike to rise and on its own, fall into the catch since it’s a form of a gravity latch. This type of latches is often double-sided and is often installed on swinging gates only. In this category, some latches aren’t lockable but others are.
Ring Latches
This is a gate latch that’s two-sided. It can, therefore, be operated from both the gate’s two sides. A backplate that has a ring on it is located on the gate’s street-side. The garden-side, on the other hand, has a second backplate which also has a ring on it. The difference is that the garden-side backplate ring is used for attaching to a latch-arm. The can is opened by turning the ring from either of the two sides. It does this by lifting the arm of the latch out of the catch. Depending on the specific manufacturer of the ring latch, it can either be spring-loaded or gravity-assisted. Ring latches are also suitable for installation on both out-swinging and in-swinging gates. However, on the out-swinging gates, the latch-arm side will be located on the gate’s street-side. Therefore, it’s important to remember that the installation of the gates latch-arm must be done on the side the gate is opening towards. A ring latch can either be lockable or not, depending on the manufacturer.
Lever Latches
The operation of the lever latches is closely similar to that of the ring latches. However, unlike the case of the ring latches that has rings on both sides, the lever latches have lever handles. They may also be installed on both out-swinging and in-swinging gates. For out-swinging gates, however, the street-side of the gate is the one that’ll have the latch-arm. Again, it’s very vital to remember that the side that the gate opens towards is the one that must contain the latch-arm side of the gate. Like the other latches, the lever latches may be spring-loaded or gravity-assisted based on the manufacturer. They can either be unlockable or lockable.
