We’ve been making the Alta Gate Latch for years now, and it’s time to summarize some of the features and share excellent client photos.
The Alta is made of 316 grade (marine grade) stainless steel. The levers are spring-loaded for ease of use. When installed on a double gate, as shown below, you had an option to add a dummy handle. The purpose of the dummy handle is to have something to hold onto when opening and closing the inactive gate. The lever doesn’t move. [Note: As of January 2025, we no longer offer a dummy handle for the Alta.]
This particular double gate was framed with 2×6 material set on edge, so the gate thickness was 5-1/2″. However, the horizontal boards are only installed on the exterior/entry side of the gates. So how to install the gate latch? The woodworker used the ‘blocking’ technique where they attach a block of wood to the 2×6 frame on the interior of the gate. This created a flat surface for the latch to be installed (see second and third photo below).
But what happens when you have a double gate that swings out toward the street? The layout below shows it. The key on this setup is to have a wide enough stile (the vertical part of the gate frame) to accommodate evenly spaced latch and dummy handle.
This is a single gate showing the plate on a wide stile.
We’ve had quite a few clients use the Alta Latch on trash enclosures. The photo below shows two dummy handles as the pulls. The photo above shows a functional latch set.
