So the short version of this post goes something like this:
Has anyone had any experience installing a baby gate at the top of a spiral staircase? (I did a search for spiral staircase on this forum and the posts were like from 2004 and 2006, so I was hoping someone has had a more recent experience.)
and/or
Has anyone been using a retractable baby gate they like? More specifically, is anyone using Retract-a-Gate? I know Baby Bargains recommends KiddyGuard Retractable Mesh Safety Gate, but, of the two brands, only Retract-a-Gate is JPMA certified.
Also, this might be a long shot: is anyone using a retractable gate, with a spiral staircase, and also has cats? (The cats like to hang out upstairs, and I'd feel bad about cutting them off from being up there--or getting back downstairs for food/water/litter.)
But to give you some background, here's the long version of this post:
So I have been researching baby gates and finally decided to go with one of the ones on sale at BRU this weekend. This one in fact: Summer Infant Sure and Secure Extra Tall Walk-Thru Gate. The Summer Infant brand was on sale for 25% off, plus I had a coupon for 20% off all baby gates $49.99 or more. I was considering myself lucky: I just scored a $60 gate for approximately $35.
But once we got it home, there was just no way to attach it to the top of our stairs. You see, we have a metal spiral staircase. Here's a picture of it, actually (feel free to click the thumbnail for more detail):
The interesting thing about that photograph is that it's a picture we took last year when we were looking for houses to buy. After studying that picture a little more closely, I noticed that the previous owners bought one of those retractable gates. Like Retract-A-Gate or the one Baby Bargains suggested, KiddyGuard Mesh Playfence .
Now, at this time, we're looking for a baby gate that will fit at the TOP of the stairs rather than the bottom. This is because my son is just starting to crawl, and I'd like to be able to let him roam while I work on my dissertation, and upstairs is carpeted (downstairs is not) and he'd have more space to roll, crawl and play than in his playyard downstairs. So, I'm wondering if a retractable baby gate is what we need at the top of the stairs.
Here's what the top of our stairs looks like (this is another picture of the house under previous ownership):
The Summer Infant gate I bought a couple days ago cannot be installed across the top because the metal handrail on the left side is in the way. If we make it wider (to bypass the metal handrail), then there's no where to pressure mount or screw into because the wall just isn't long enough. Also, it probably goes without saying, but these gates are not equipped to be installed on a diagonal (we'd have to do something fancy with a saw we do not own to cut 2x4s on angles in order to make a flat surface).
My husband and I are not comfortable with mounting a 2x4 to "extend" the wall (and thus being able to mount the gate to the 2x4) because we'd need to mount 2 or 3 2x4s to even get the "wall" in line with the railing on the right hand side (which is not shown in the picture above--but there's a little metal railing/banister on the right hand side, and if we used 2 y-spindles, we'd be able to mount it on the right hand side at least).
The retractable baby gates seem really expensive at around $99 or so. But it seems as though, for this particular spiral staircase set-up, it might be the only option. I'm actually surprised that the previous owners had a retractable gate because they are kind of expensive--because based on the quality of the "remodeling" projects they did in this house, they seemed like they were "cheapest as humanly possible" kind of people. So if even THEY had a retractable gate, I'm guessing that it's my only real option?
A perk of the retractable gates, too, seems to be that if we buy additional mounts, we can set it up downstairs for when the baby starts walking and just move it upstairs when necessary (by the time he starts walking, I should be DONE with my dissertation!). This would effectively cut the cost of the gate in half, since it's like two gates for the price of one. Plus, I'm sure we'd run into the same problem the previous owners did: we'd need to install a gate on an angle at the bottom of the stairs as well.
Okay, I *think* that's all the information/questions about the spiral staircase and retractable mesh gates I can possibly provide/ask. Your feedback will be most appreciated!