baby gates that won't ruin wood?

[lmh2402]

we are moving soon from a one floor apartment to a multilevel home

we need to install baby gates at the bottom & top of the stairs

does anyone know if there are gates that can be mounted without too much damage/intrusion to the woodwork? one of the best (probably valuable) features of the home is the gorgeous original, stained woodwork/staircase/banister/etc

would GREATLY appreciate gate suggestions that will keep DS safe, but with minimal damage to the house

thanks

[Andi98989]

Do you have drywall available at all? Could you mount a retractable gate to the drywall so that it still goes across the stairs?

For the bottom of the stairs, I would just use a pressure-mount one instead of hardware.

[kristac]

DH cut a 2x4 to size and used large zip ties to attach it to the banisters. Then anchored the screws into that. BRU sell a kit that is basically the same thing. It's very secure and does not damage the wood at all.

ETA: here is a kit.
http://www.amazon.com/KidCo-Safety-G.../dp/B000056JNU

Here's a pic similar to what we did (not my pic)- this looks like a presure mounted gate though and we used one with hardware.

[DrSally]

I have had hardwood bannisters in both houses with babies. For both, we cut a piece of wood, stained it to match the bannister, and latched it to the bannister rod with those plastic ties (tight), and then screwed the gate into that. It worked great for both. I wasn't successful getting a gate on the bottom of the stairs in the first house b/c of a flaring bannister, but this house, I use a compression gate that I take up and down when needed.

[lmh2402]

thank you guys - this is exactly the kind of info/tip/suggestion i was looking for!

now, how about gate recos? any particular gates you like for ease of in & out?

thanks!!

[DrSally]

The Kiddco metal one gets good recommendations. I like it. We bought the white for our first house--light wood and white bannister railings. Then this house has black iron railings, so we painted it black, and you couldn't tell it didn't come that way.

[lmh2402]

thanks!

does anyone have the most recent BBB...would you mind sharing the gate recos from there?

i have to dig out my copy, but it's older and i'm thinking maybe the newest book would be best to consult for this

thanks!

[wendibird22]

DH cut a 2x4 to size and used large zip ties to attach it to the banisters. Then anchored the screws into that. BRU sell a kit that is basically the same thing. It's very secure and does not damage the wood at all.

ETA: here is a kit.
http://www.amazon.com/KidCo-Safety-G.../dp/B000056JNU

Here's a pic similar to what we did (not my pic)- this looks like a presure mounted gate though and we used one with hardware.

This is basically what we did at the top and bottom of our stairs. We also attached a plastic banister (think white deck railing style) to our banister at the top of the stairs because the opening was too off center (not square) to mount the gate. Without it the gate would have been installed 1-2 steps down the stairs.