Posts for a Heavy Ornamental Leaf

Nearly every complaint about a dragging leaf turns out to be a leaning support rather than a fault in the gate itself. The failure records held at Pearland Iron Gates, TX Elizabethbaron put the post ahead of the hardware, because ornamental gates in Pearland are heavy, wide, and hung on ground that moves twice a year.

The Load Is Overturning

A swing gate hangs its whole weight off one side, so the post is being levered out of the ground rather than pressed into it. Doubling the leaf width roughly doubles that moment. The concrete footing is what resists it, and its depth matters far more than its diameter.

Depth on Gulf Coast Clay

Soil here shrinks in a dry summer and swells after rain, and a shaft ending inside that active layer gets moved by it. Carrying the footing well below the zone that dries out puts the post into ground with a stable moisture content. That is why a hole here goes deeper than the same job would need on sand.

Post Section and Wall

Square steel tubing of four inches with a heavy wall suits most residential leaves, and six inches with a heavier wall once the leaf passes about eight feet. A post that is stiff enough and a footing that is deep enough are two separate requirements, and passing one does not excuse the other.

Capping and Drainage

An open post fills with rainwater and rusts from the inside where nobody looks. A welded cap plate, or a proper post cap bedded in sealant, keeps it out. Where the post is set in concrete, a weep hole just above ground level lets any water that does get in escape rather than sit at the bottom.

Checking One That Has Moved

Hold a level against two faces of the post with the gate open and again with it closed. A post that is plumb open and leaning closed is being pulled by the leaf, which means the footing is losing grip. A post leaning the same amount either way has already moved, and re hanging the gate to suit only hides the problem for a season.