I’d like to be able to leave my back door open so that my daughter can run out and play in the back garden when she wants, the challenge is that she can also run out onto the street (which she has already done). I’d like some sort of temporary block / gate / screen that will make sure she can’t run out to the street but can be taken away simply when not needed.

You can see the door in the pics below, gate to the back garden is just to the left of where the pics were taken.

I was thinking of some kind of roller screen attached to the house. We can’t attach anything to the wall on the right as it’s our neighbour. I don’t want a permanent structure as she’ll grow up and it won’t be needed at some point.

Any thoughts?

Upside down volleyball net.

Tied to

We can’t attach anything to the wall on the right as it’s our neighbour.

You really can.

What you want is a gate.

attach gate to side of your house.

small hole in a brick to drop a slide bar from the bottom of the gate into.

no need for attachment for the latch on neighbours side.

No, what I don’t want is a gate. I don’t want to be attaching something to my neighbour’s house. I want something that is simple to get out of the way.

A gate long enough to cover the required horizontal distance would also cover the existing gate to the garden when open.

As much as I’ve been tempted I won’t be trying to cage or collar our little princess.

Not a gate? How about…..

A moat! They need cleaning regularly, but you can claim that on expenses

Folding gate

How old is she anyway? I’m sure we could have a debate about the pros and cons of restricting her freedom / risk of being squashed under a car vs a lifetime of eating big macs and watching Jeremy Kyle.

What wuh wozwoz is saying is that you can still have a gate without attaching anything to the neighbour’s house.

Just get a roll of chicken wire perhaps? How determined is she to get out? Deliberately trying to push boundaries, or just randomly running about?

How wide is the width? judging by the width of the car i’d say less than 8 foot.
If that’s the case get a sheet of 8′ x 4′ 18mm ply for £30 and cut to the width of the drive.
When you need it lean it against the back of you car (can put some pipe lagging on the ply to protect car if you want).
When you don’t need it lean it up the side of your house next to the car (under port so protected from rain).

Very simple, easy to move and when you no longer need it in a years time you can re use the wood to make a rabbit hutch / bike jump / wendy house etc.

Get it from a timber merchants that can cut it to the width you need.
Zero work involved!!!

Change your back garden

How about a couple of these:

A gate long enough to cover the required horizontal distance would also cover the existing gate to the garden when open.

A fence and a small gate.

Much as I’d love a moat, I need to think of getting my bike out occasionally.

She’s three and I doubt she’d deliberately push a decent sized barrier out of the way, but she is a determined wee sod and whatever we put up will need to have some decent structure to it. Also, thankfully, she’s expressed no interest in crap TV or big macs, her current favourite foods are anchovies and olives.

What bencooper has linked to may do the job, I don’t fancy the sheet of ply option as it would look a bit crap really.

Gate with hinges on your house and a slide bolt that goes into a hole made by drilling into the mortar between bricks on neighbours house. When you take the gate down simply fill the hole in the mortar.
A gate that size will be pricey though – so maybe make a portable ‘fence’ that just sits in the gap.

Much as I’d love a moat, I need to think of getting my bike out occasionally.

That is when you would use the drawbridge 🙄

We looked at buying a house that had a small bridge at the end of the driveway that crossed a relatively large burn. If we had had our offer on that house accepted I would have seriously looked into getting a drawbridge.

A few of these on permanent guard around the garden/house opposite

I guess the thing is you want something that you can rely on 100% or it’s not worth having as you’ll still be worried she’ll get past it.

If I put Bencoopers suggestion up my kids would just laugh as they moved it aside and ran off for adventures in the big wide world. It is not even a challenge for them

Fence with a small gate. Your carport appears to be attached to your neighbours house so they can’t be that against you drilling a hole. Or you could just put a post in the ground? Or a sheet if ply cut down on some big T shaped brackets. I know if I out a gate or fence in all me 3 yr old would do is climb it all the time.

Anything substantial enough to stop a 3-year-old getting past will be quite heavy, so will need fixing down. What about those Metpost supports that bolt down into concrete, plus some posts, fence panels and a gate?

I don’t fancy the sheet of ply option as it would look a bit crap really.

Get her to paint rainbows, sunshines and unicorns on it?

chain mail curtain hanging a swing out pole? few hooks on the ground to stop it being lifted.

Plus

or

just get the OK from the neighbours to attach a gatepost to their house – make sure you drill into the mortar, rather than the brick. making good should be fairly easy when you take down in the future. Then have a gate with a fold half way along.

Non lethal method.

a bus would stop her.

admittedly only once and be fairly terminal but she wouldnt do it again…

I’d like some sort of temporary block / gate / screen

No, what I don’t want is a gate.

You appear to have changed your mind since the start of this thread. You want some sort of temporary barrier than can readily be moved out of the way. That is the very definition of a gate, I’m afraid. That’s what they do, it’s their raison d’etre.

You don’t want to attach it to your neighbour’s property, but luckily your driveway appears to have two sides so you can just attach it to the other one.

The thing about temporary structures is, whilst it may protect her from traffic, you run the risk of your three year old being brained by an eight foot slab of falling plywood instead.

No change of mind at all, the reasons I don’t think a gate will work is –

:The width of the gap, when opened it will block access to the rear garden

:The wall to the right is my neighbour’s house, the car port was built at the same time as the houses so there has not been a previous agreement to attach something to his house

:As has been mentioned before a gate that size will be expensive and whilst I value the life of my daughter highly I’d like to think there are more cost effective solutions

:The word temporary suggests (in my mind) something that’s not bolted/screwed/attached to either my or my neighbour’s houses.

Caltrops? Plus the scuds, obviously…

you need to balance what you’re trying to prevent with any unintended consequences like your temporary barrier toppling on the tot (as something wide enough to span is going to have some weight to it) of blowing over or away – the suggested sheet of plywood won’t be a welcome guest in a neighbours conservatory for instance – although you’d be able to offer a competitively priced boarding-up service for any windows you break.

The herras crowd barrier I posted a picture of is designed to be stable enough, portable enough, has rails spaced to regulation widths so kids can’t get their head stuck in them and so on.

You can get them at around 3m long and they cost about £25 and would be re-sellable once you don’t need it anymore.