| Project by Ben Griffith | posted 533 days ago | 598 views | 0 times favorited | 11 comments |  |
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I built this to keep our son from crawling up (and more importantly, from falling back down) the stairs. I wanted to avoid putting any holes in the wall or the newel post, and this is what I came up with. The box on the left end slips over the side of the newel, and has a dado for the gate to slide down into. The diagonal piece on the right just rests on the diagonal skirting and against the molding for the doorway. It too has a dado for the gate to slide down into.
We adults just stepped over it, and it worked pretty well for 5-6 months, until a little while after this picture was taken. It looks like he’s vaulting over it there, but I think he’s actually about to fall on his butt. It wasn’t long after that that he started climbing over it though, and I took it down.
11 comments so far
GaryK
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9521 posts in 881 days
posted 533 days ago
Simple and effective! What more can you ask for!
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
lew
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4481 posts in 648 days
posted 533 days ago
Nice idea!
Should have made one of these when we got our 4 legged addition.
Lew
Betsy
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2386 posts in 789 days
posted 533 days ago
Great way to fix a simple problem. Since it’s not permanent, once the little one can do those steps safely, you can reuse the wood for another project. Can’t beat that!
-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.
scottb
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3402 posts in 1220 days
posted 533 days ago
Where was this inspiration when we needed one, and went with those plastic gates, which didn’t work perfectly with the newel post and open spindles just like you have.
Brilliant! Simple, cheap and effective. – all the best things are.
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/
Napaman
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3482 posts in 970 days
posted 533 days ago
great solution…i have a 14 month old who is all over the place…no stairs though…
-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...
jockmike2
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7299 posts in 1139 days
posted 532 days ago
I was gonna say you better make it modular so you can add on as fast as kids grow. But good idea. mike
-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com
darryl
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1392 posts in 1219 days
posted 532 days ago
like scottb I used the old plastic gate which is more irritating than useful!
Wish I had seen something like this about 4 years ago!
now you should keepsake box out of that wood to keep his baby stuff in and give it to him when he gets a little older.
-- www.darrylmasterson.com ~ www.darrylmasterson.etsy.com
Doug S.
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306 posts in 601 days
posted 532 days ago
Something like this should help :-))
http://www.tugnhug.com/
-- Use the fence Luke
clieb91
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681 posts in 828 days
posted 532 days ago
Ben a great solution. I too wish I would have seen this idea sooner.
We are getting ready to take down our gates as our daughter is now standing on them and I only give her another few months before she figures out how to disable that “childproof” lock.
CtL
-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."
Critterman
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546 posts in 703 days
posted 530 days ago
LOL…you’d better build that a little higher that that…that guy looks like he can take that barrier on…LOL
-- Jim Hallada, Chesterfield, VA
Scott Bryan
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20575 posts in 715 days
posted 527 days ago
This is a very practical project. But as you found out it is hard to keep these little guys in check. They are just so inquisitive and inventive that they will soon find a solution to these “barriers” that we use to keep them in check. But it does work for awhile. We just have to keep one step ahead of them.
Nice post.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.