Garden and side gates, made to match.

A gate is the only part of a fence with moving parts, and it is the part that gets used every day. The frame has to be braced so it cannot drop, the posts either side take far more load than a normal fence post, and the hinges and latch have to survive being swung several thousand times in the rain.

£650 buys a properly framed and braced gate, gate posts set deeper and heavier than the run, adjustable hinges, a decent latch and a drop bolt where it is needed. A cheap gate is cheap because it skips the bracing, and it will bind against the post within a year.

We build the gate from the same boards as the run — closeboard gate for a closeboard fence, hit-and-miss for hit-and-miss, slatted for slatted. From four metres away the gate should be almost invisible in the line.

Double gates for bin or bike access are wider and need a drop bolt into the ground plus a centre stop. We price those on the visit once we can see the opening and the fall of the ground.

Every gate we fit is manual. We do not install automation, motors or powered driveway gates — that is a machinery-safety job with its own certification, and it is not what we do.

Most London side gates sit in a tight passage between the house and the neighbour's wall, often with a step, a drain and a gas box in the way. That opening is rarely square, so the gate is measured and made to the hole rather than bought to a size.

It is also the reason we insist on seeing it. A photo will tell us the style; only a tape measure on the day tells us the truth about the opening.