Heavy gate came away from red brick column ....

bitethebullet

One of our gates is after pulling away from the red brick column at the end of our driveway. The red brick that the bracket was attached to has cracked. When i removed the gate completely and lifted the pillar i found that the column is hollow. I would have thought a rebar should have been mounted in the foundation of the column and then the whole lot filled in with concrete??
Gonna tackle it myself with a little help from you folks
I'll attach a pic in a minute ....

wait4me

bitethebullet wrote: »

When i removed the gate completely and lifted the pillar i found that the column is hollow. .

A common enough problem in many housing estates around the country. The red brick pillars were more for effect than for hanging gates on.
Good luck with the restoration - which people on here are sure to help with.

bitethebullet

foxy farmer

What were the 3 or 4 bolts holding? Can you see past the bricks into the centre of the pillar?
You could remove the capping, make a new hinge that would have a long bolt with a washer that would go into the centre of the pillarand fill the pillar with a weak stiff mix of concrete. Just a quick thought.

bitethebullet

foxy farmer wrote: »

What were the 3 or 4 bolts holding? Can you see past the bricks into the centre of the pillar?
You could remove the capping, make a new hinge that would have a long bolt with a washer that would go into the centre of the pillarand fill the pillar with a weak stiff mix of concrete. Just a quick thought.

There was 4 bolts holding a bracket that a mate made up. It was fine until a car was reversed into the gates whilst closed. The gates/car are fine but the whole pillar nearly came apart.
I'll have to replace 3 of the bricks. I'm going to get some long bolts and go all the way through the red brick and place washers/nuts on the far side of the brick as opposed to anchoring into the brick as i don't think they're strong enough. I'll have have 6 bolts in all holding the gate. I think I'm going to have to rebuild the pillar unfortunately.

foxy farmer

bitethebullet wrote: »

There was 4 bolts holding a bracket that a mate made up. It was fine until a car was reversed into the gates whilst closed. The gates/car are fine but the whole pillar nearly came apart.
I'll have to replace 3 of the bricks. I'm going to get some long bolts and go all the way through the red brick and place washers/nuts on the far side of the brick as opposed to anchoring into the brick as i don't think they're strong enough. I'll have have 6 bolts in all holding the gate. I think I'm going to have to rebuild the pillar unfortunately.

I had to look closely but see that there are cracks in the mortar joints. If the damage wasn't too bad filling the centre with a dryish concrete mix would keep it together. As it stands now rehanging a gate off it now might only cause a section of brickwork to crack due to the weight on upper hanger. You could stand a steel upright in the centre of the pillar put the upper hanger though the wall and either weld or bolt onto it. Fill the pillar with concrete and you should be sorted. Rebuilding would be an alternative.

bitethebullet

The bricks aren't solid though. They are the same as the ones below. I'm afraid of them just splitting if i drill through them the whole way. Is there any way of strengthening them or should i get a few solid red bricks?

Safehands

bitethebullet wrote: »

The bricks aren't solid though. They are the same as the ones below. I'm afraid of them just splitting if i drill through them the whole way. Is there any way of strengthening them or should i get a few solid red bricks?

I'd say that the pillar is knackered. Rebuild it and maybe anchor the base of the gates into the ground. Use the new pillar to secure it, not to carry the weight.