Buying Correctly Fitting Safety and Stair Gates

Safety and stair gates are an important piece of safety equipment for the home, as they’re used to ensure children or other family members don’t fall down the stairs or have access to dangerous areas of the house.

In order for them to work effectively and do their job properly, it’s important to ensure you buy the correct size for your requirements. Here are some useful tips to help you buy correctly fitting safety and stair gates.

Wooden safety gate
Single Panel Wooden Safety Gate
Safety gates come in all shapes and sizes these days, this wood single gate is a popular option at johnlewis.com

The Location of The Gate

When you first start having a look at safety and stair gates, you need to be clear in your mind about where in your home you want to put it and the space you have available.

If the gate is being put at the bottom of stairs or in a doorway, don’t assume that the space you have is standard and will automatically fit with the stair gates available in the shops.

Not all homes have standard sized doorways or staircases – they can be wider or narrower – and not all stair and safety guides are the same size either.

To be sure that you buy the right size of safety or stair gates, always take the measurements of the location you’d like it to go in before you start shopping.

As retailers and manufacturers can differ in how they display product sizes, it’s a good idea to take them in both centimetres and inches, so that you’re fully prepared when you hit the shops.

Product Safety Standards

Safety gates designed to prevent children under two years old from unexpectedly gaining access to the stairs are regulated by the British Standard, BS EN 1930.

Manufacturers don’t have to comply to this standard, but most established companies do tend to, as it helps provide consumers with extra reassurance about safety and gives manufacturers standards to meet.

When you’re buying a safety gate, and especially if it’s aimed at a child, then it’s definitely worth looking out for whether or not the British Standard has been met.

See a Safety Gate Demo

As there are a variety of different safety gates on the market, and they all work and are fitted in slightly different ways, it’s helpful to see them in action before you buy.

In most cases, you’re unlikely to be able to take a safety gate home to test out yourself, but good retailers may have a demo area in store, where you can see how the safety gate works.

This will also help provide you with a better indication of whether the fit and style of the safety gate is suitably adequate for your individual requirements.

Safety and Stair Gate Installation

Once you have selected a suitable and correctly sized safety or stair gate, the final way of ensuring that you get the right fit is to ensure you follow the instructions and properly fit it.

An incorrectly fitted safety gate will compromise the safety and you could run the risk of accidents occurring.

Most safety gates should be relatively straightforward to fit, but if you do get stuck, some manufacturers have helplines that you can phone for advice.

See Also
Clear view baby safety gate
Fred Safety Stairgate
Baby sat in car seat
Choosing and Fitting the Right Car Seat