Driveway Gate Installation

A driveway gate is the first thing a visitor meets and the last thing that should give you trouble. It has to swing clear of the drive, carry its own weight for years, latch so the dog stays in and the neighbor's cattle stay out, and, on many properties around Lake Livingston, open from the truck without getting out. We build driveway gates for lake houses, ranch entrances, subdivision lots and businesses, in galvanized or painted tube steel, ornamental steel and aluminum, and wood, and we hang every one on posts sized for the gate rather than for the fence beside it.

Styles

• Tube gates. Welded steel pipe frame with horizontal bars or wire mesh. The working gate on farms, acreage and most rural driveways. Fast to hang, hard to hurt. See tube gate installation.
• Ornamental steel and aluminum. The iron look for a lake house, estate or subdivision entrance, often arched and matched to an ornamental fence. See ornamental gates.
• Wood. Cross buck, board or privacy-style gates built on a steel frame so they look like the fence and swing like steel.
• Security gates. Taller, heavier, solid or close-barred, with keypad access. See security gates.

How we build and hang it

1. Width and swing. We measure the drive, the turn-in from the road and what has to come through: a dually and a gooseneck, a boat, a hay trailer. Twelve feet is the practical minimum; sixteen is common on ranch entrances. The gate swings in, away from the road, unless the grade says otherwise.
2. Posts. The hinge post carries the whole gate. On a tube gate that is a heavy pipe or six-by-six treated post set deep in extra concrete; on an ornamental gate it is a steel post with a footing sized to the gate. The latch post is set to match so the gate meets it square.
3. Hinges and latch. Weld-on or heavy bolt-on hinges with the top hinge carrying the load, adjustable where the style allows. Chain latches, slam latches or a drop rod and center stop on a pair.
4. Clearance. Set for the high point of the drive so the gate swings in every season, with a wheel on very wide wood gates.
5. Opener, if wanted. Installed with the gate so the posts, the gate weight and the opener are matched. See gate openers.

Replacing an existing gate

A sagging or bent driveway gate often sits on a post that was never big enough. When we replace a gate we check the posts first and reset or replace the hinge post if it is the real problem; otherwise the new gate sags like the old one did. Standard-size tube gates are often in stock and can be hung quickly. See fence and gate repair.

What affects the price of a driveway gate

The gate itself is a fraction of it. Width and weight set the post and footing size; a sixteen-foot pair of ornamental gates needs posts and concrete that a twelve-foot tube gate does not. Steel wings of fence on either side, masonry columns, an opener with keypad and remotes, solar power, exit sensors and a cattle guard each add a line. A standard tube gate on pipe posts is the most economical driveway gate we build; an automated ornamental entrance at a lake house is the most involved. We give you a line-item price on site.

Gates for trailers, boats and hay

Around Lake Livingston a driveway gate has to pass a boat on a trailer, a gooseneck, a hay trailer or an RV, and the turn-in from the road is often tight. We measure the longest thing you own and the swing you have, and we size the opening and the swing direction to it. A gate that is a foot too narrow is a gate that stays open.

Frequently asked questions

Single or double driveway gate?

A single gate up to about 12 feet is simpler and has one hinge post to worry about. Wider openings, or openings where a single leaf would swing into the road or a slope, get a pair of gates meeting in the middle with a drop rod. Sixteen-foot ranch entrances are usually a pair.

Swing or slide?

Swing gates are simpler and cheaper and suit most driveways. A slide gate is the answer when the drive rises behind the gate, when there is no room to swing, or when the opening is very wide. Slide gates need a straight run of fence beside the opening for the gate to park along.

Can you put a gate on a driveway with no fence?

Yes. Gate posts and a short wing of fence on each side give the gate something to hang from and look finished. Many lake properties have a driveway gate and no other fence at the road.