Pro tip: A homeowner's complaint about my gate alignment made me change my whole post-setting method

Last spring I put up a 6-foot cedar gate near Portland and the owner called me back saying it was dragging after two months. He pointed out I used fast-set concrete around the posts without waiting for the ground to settle first. I always thought that stuff held fine on its own but he was right the post shifted maybe an inch. Now I wait at least 48 hours after mixing before hanging any gate hardware. Has anyone else had to adjust their approach after a customer called out a specific flaw?

2 comments

2 Comments

julia_hayes4d ago

Wait... people actually call you back about gate alignment after two months? Around here nobody would bother unless the gate straight up fell off the hinges. I mean yeah I get that a dragging gate is annoying but an inch off after fast-set concrete... that feels like one of those things you just shim with a washer or two and move on with your day. You basically changed your whole method over one picky homeowner? Seems like a lot of fuss for something that probably wouldn't even matter once the wood swells up in the rain anyway.

miller.eva3d ago

Gotta agree with you on this one. Spending all that time waiting for fast-set concrete to cure and then coming back for a gate that's barely off seems like overkill to me. Most folks I know would just grab a washer or two, maybe a little shim, and call it done. The whole "wait two months to see if it settles" thing sounds like the homeowner had too much time on their hands or maybe watched too many YouTube videos about gate perfection. Wood moves, concrete shifts a hair, and an inch is nothing once that thing gets some moisture in it. Seems like you swapped out a perfectly good method for one that just makes more work for yourself.