wobblycogs
Established Member
Just thought I'd share a couple of projects I completed over the last few days for our little one.
She's just starting to walk so I thought it was time for a stair gate. Having not found anything suitable to buy I decided to make one. The main problem is that we have nothing to fix a gate too - sounds stupid I know but it's true. The banister is a flimsy waste of space and really needs replacing but it's a listed building so that's not going to happen. The wall is 200 year old lathe and plaster and crumbly to say the least. I could go though the lathe and attach to the bricks but experience has told me that touching that plaster results in a lot of work. The only option left to be then was to attach it to the floor which makes for a tough build.
I've not fitted a lock yet (because I've misplaced it
) but other than that it's ready to go. Yes, it's zip tied to the banister. I found that there was a tiny amount of movement in the upright when the door was closing which I could stop with one finger so out came the zip ties - obviously I didn't want to screw it to the banister. The block touching the wall is just a spacer. The door doesn't have any bracing for weight reasons but the joints are screwed and glued half laps so I'm confident they'll hold. Over all I'm pretty chuffed with how the build went. It was always going to be a bit of a compromise because I didn't have anything solid to attach to.
The second project was a little trolley to help with walking around. Most of the trolleys you can buy have the problem that the back wheels are in front of the handle so the kid face plants every time they lean on the handle. To combat that I've made the wheels stick out behind the handle. The handle can be moved up to a higher position when she grows up a bit and there's a tray for her to put stuff in (or sit in which is what she wants to do).
Hope you like them
She's just starting to walk so I thought it was time for a stair gate. Having not found anything suitable to buy I decided to make one. The main problem is that we have nothing to fix a gate too - sounds stupid I know but it's true. The banister is a flimsy waste of space and really needs replacing but it's a listed building so that's not going to happen. The wall is 200 year old lathe and plaster and crumbly to say the least. I could go though the lathe and attach to the bricks but experience has told me that touching that plaster results in a lot of work. The only option left to be then was to attach it to the floor which makes for a tough build.
I've not fitted a lock yet (because I've misplaced it
) but other than that it's ready to go. Yes, it's zip tied to the banister. I found that there was a tiny amount of movement in the upright when the door was closing which I could stop with one finger so out came the zip ties - obviously I didn't want to screw it to the banister. The block touching the wall is just a spacer. The door doesn't have any bracing for weight reasons but the joints are screwed and glued half laps so I'm confident they'll hold. Over all I'm pretty chuffed with how the build went. It was always going to be a bit of a compromise because I didn't have anything solid to attach to.The second project was a little trolley to help with walking around. Most of the trolleys you can buy have the problem that the back wheels are in front of the handle so the kid face plants every time they lean on the handle. To combat that I've made the wheels stick out behind the handle. The handle can be moved up to a higher position when she grows up a bit and there's a tray for her to put stuff in (or sit in which is what she wants to do).
Hope you like them
