It is impossible to imagine modern two- or three-story houses without a staircase. And when it is originally made out, it becomes a "highlight" of the interior. But if you have a child in your house - the stairs are fraught with some kind of danger to the baby. The curiosity of the crumbs and the complete absence of fear can lead to irreparable consequences. But let's not talk about bad things! We’ll better think about how to protect the child in a multi-level house and how to equip the stairs with protection from children.
The little pean, who was left unattended even for a few seconds, may fall from the steps, get stuck between the balusters or try to climb them. All this encourages parents to create a reliable partition that protects the child from penetration to the unsafe area of the house. Self-made protection on the stairs from children copes with this task.
What is the design of the safety gate for the stairs
There are two options for such partitions: mounted spontaneously or drilled to one of the side walls. Therefore, you have to choose one, the most acceptable.
After choosing the design concept, familiarize yourself with the specific features of the partitions and determine what parameters the ladder protection for children should have.
Principal features of the gate
Distinctive features of protection for children from falling from the stairs are as follows:
- the mechanism of the locking device should be closed too tight so that the child could not unlock it, or be located outside the baby’s access area, but so that the adult could easily unlock it with the child in one hand;
- the gates should open in the direction from the stairs if the structure is not to be lifted up;
- with a free opening, the gate should not touch the interior items, so you should think about a stopper for the door;
- discard the lower struts, because even an adult can stumble through them;
- the gates themselves should be safe: not contain sharp parts and angles that could injure the child;
- each of the used structural parts must have mechanical strength, be environmentally friendly and hypoallergenic, that is, made of steel, aluminum, plexiglass or another type of non-toxic plastic.
This design is often installed in other places unsafe for the child, for example, at the exit to the balcony, the attic, at the natural fireplace, near fragile interior items.
DIY security gates: where to start?
The technical side of the issue is not as complicated as it might seem. Specialists identify several design methods. Let's get acquainted with the simplest but most popular methods.
Plexiglass partition in wooden frame
Materials and tools for assembling protection on the stairs from children:
- a beam with rounded ends for the design of a wooden box with a diameter of 25-35 mm in cross section;
- saws: standard and circular;
- bars with grooves for inserting the base material;
- Plexiglas with a thickness of at least 4.5 mm - 1 pc.;
- curtains - 2 pcs.;
- self-tapping screws;
- magnetic lock or automatic latch;
- electric drill;
- screwdriver or Phillips screwdriver;
- fine and medium density sandpaper;
- putty for wood (to match the stairs).
How to assemble?
Do-it-yourself ladder protection assembly from children:
- Saw the timber into pieces of the desired height and width of the future product.
- Similarly, do with a sheet of plexiglass (taking into account the margin for entering the grooves of the frame).
- Cut out the details of the future box using circular grooves, if they were not provided by the manufacturer. Do not less than 10 mm deep.
- Using a drill, drill holes for screws.
- Fasten the frame by placing a sheet of plexiglass inside it.
- Strip the wooden box with sandpaper and putty.
- Mount the side beam against the wall, minimally tilting it towards the stairs. The angle of inclination must be such that the gate closes itself when it is forgotten to close it.
- Screw the hinges onto the side support.
- Place the finished frame for the future gate on the free part of the curtains.
- On the side facing the stairs, securely fasten the latch or magnetic security lock. If you didn’t have such a mechanism, use an ordinary valve or latch. But keep in mind that such a system does not guarantee complete security.
Protection on the stairs from children (photo is presented below) can be made for the design of the room, without breaking out of the general style of the interior.
Gate with vertical rods in a frame
Required Inventory:
- a piece of timber with rounded edges and a cross section of 40 mm or more;
- wooden rods with a cross section of 20 mm in the required quantity;
- wood file;
- curtains - 2 pcs.;
- self-tapping screws;
- automatic latch or lock on a magnet;
- electric drill;
- sandpaper: small and medium hardness;
- putty in the tone of the stairs or paints and varnishes;
- glue for wood.
The main stages of design
Assembling a gate for a ladder to protect a child consists of several stages:
- Sawing up of wood under the guise of bars on the necessary height and width details: 4 - the height of the railing of the stairs, 2 - the width between the balusters.
- Rounding and polishing corners for greater child safety.
- Preparation of the box: in the bars used as the upper and lower base, drill the required number of holes from 20 mm in diameter with a depth of 10 mm - these are holes for the rods. In this case, leave the distance between the rods no more than 100 mm, so that the child could not crawl between them or throw a large toy down.
- Preparing holes for screws.
- Wicket assembly: wooden rods are put on glue, assembling the upper and lower wicket rails and grate in a single unit.
- Putting the frame together: fold the door on a horizontal surface in the way the finished product should look and twist it with screws.
- Attach the two longitudinal parts of the beam to the balusters, keeping the minimum inclination towards the stairs, as described in the previous case.
- We fasten the curtains on one side (bar), on the second - a lock or latch from the side of the stairs.
- Ready-made protection from wooden rods is hung on the hinges.
- The finished gate is varnished or painted.
Experts say that from a design point of view for gates mounted on balusters, the upper and lower crossbeams are best taken with bent ends.
By the way, there is another interesting option for forming protection on stairs from children - a net. All that is needed is to protect the railings on the top floor and balusters, as well as create a reliable barrier at the entrance to the stairs. This method is effective when using strong nets made of ropes. In addition, this design successfully complements the interior, made for example in a marine style.
How to assemble protection for a ladder from improvised materials
If for some reason you can’t get the materials and design the staircase protection yourself with specialized materials, you can use the tools at hand. Often, for such purposes, the structures present in the house are used. These include backs of cribs with vertical bars or plastic grilles. Such obstacles are installed end-to-end. The only thing you need to take care of is the width of the passage that you want to protect. The partition should fit completely in width into the measured space and reliably “sit” in it. Naturally, this is a temporary solution, with the prospect of replacing it with a more reliable design.
Despite this extraordinary, even a simple partition itself is already better than unlimited access to unsafe places in the house.
If you do not have time to design, you can always purchase a gate for the stairs from a responsible manufacturer. For example, the protection on the stairs from children "Ikea" is in great demand, and given the fact that the company offers a wide range of products, different in design, functionality and type of material used, it is not difficult to select a gate.
Choose something that turns out to be a more reliable item and will serve high-quality to protect your kids. If there are children in your house, protection of the stairs from children - gates and fences - serve as a good barrier separating them at this stage of life from possible dangers.