Need advice on stairgates, can you help?

[eleanorsmum]

Does any one else ahve trouble with stairgates in older houses? I need to buy two gates for the top and bottom of the stairs but we live in a victorian house which has banisters that are a bit twidly. Thus meaning the fixings for the gate have nothing to go in to unless the gate is about 1 meter high. Does anyone know whether I can buy them like this? or how do you put them up? Also want one that has a door in it for the kitchen but the gap is only 68cm wide and the door type I have found go from 72cm wide.

Any help or thoughts would be much apreciated!

What about the kiddyguard roller blind type...expensive but superb. We have two one at top of stairs because we have a narrow fitting and one across the banisters at the top as the slats are horizontal and when ds was 6mths old he crawled through them and fell..luckily he was strong enough to catch himself on kitchen door. Anyways besides the point..they are about £45 each but well worth it.

you can get a thinner gate (for the kitchen) from mothercare but it has to be fixed to the wall self-extending gate . You can also get a similar one in Argos.

We had that problem with our stairs and ended up not having one at all. You can get an expensive roller type stair gate but I'm not sure that would have even worked on our stairs.

these roller blind ones are still too short me thinks. Really need the standard type gate but taller!

We have one that expands and then braces against the wall rather than being screwed into a wall.

what about here

We have a rollerblind one across the kitchen - it's very wide - are you sure this style wouldn't fit?

We have standard gates at the top and bottom of the stairs, but dh fitted a wooden baton on the wall because the gates weren't quite wide enough.

probably no help whatever but we had a house with no bannisters just air and cut a piece of hardboard to fit on the stairs at the bottom, too slippery to climb up

Im sure in argos you can get a 'dog stair gate', which is a normal stairgate but for dogs so taller so they cant jump over it IUSWIM! Im sure its at least a meter probably i bit higher

you could google pet stair gates and im sure you will get loads if links!

thanks for the tips guys. will look into doggie gates and if not will have to see about making something.

yeah ive looked at the doggie gates too in argos its here

the doggie ones are tall enough but are just too wide for the stairs - gap is 73cm wide and they state 75cm wide. arg!

you cant win can ya?... as i live in a victorian house and the stair case are same as yours (wooden) so im looking for some too.. i ll let you know if i find any as im looking for mounted pressure ones but none on ebay of what im looking for

thanks biglips! ditto. I don't mind if the ones i use are not pressure mounted. will fill the holes after i suppose!

I had to put wood on the stair posts first and then attach the stairgates to the wood

that would make my problem worse as it would make the gap narrower! this is hard. may have to build something......

62cm - 102cm adjustable

ooh thank you thank you thank you! Am off to argos later to have a look at this one!!!!

We had the problem with too narrow doorways and got one from Mothercare. Also, re your spindles, you may have to first of all attach a peice of wood to the spindle for the stairgate to attach to.

eleanor - how did you get on? as the only suggestions that we have got is to wedge a piece of flat wood on the wooden staircase but my DD is very strong so......

We couldn't fix a gate at the top of our stairs as there was skirting board and handrail in the way (and the handrail's made of concrete or diamond or something equally impossible to cut smoothly and not wreck totally).

So we have a gate across DS's bedroom door instead.