Choosing the best driveway gates for your Los Angeles Home

Types of Driveway Gates

There are 2 main types of driveway gates:

1. Slide gates

2. Swing gates

The type of gate you choose — sliding vs. swinging — will ultimately depend on how level your site is surrounding the gate area.

In most cases a swinging gate (as opposed to sliding), swinging on hinge posts away from incoming traffic and into the property is best. If your driveway slopes up too steeply, you’ll need to have a gate that swings away from the property and toward incoming traffic. A bi-parting gate is best for a sloped driveway whether it swings in or out. — Amazing Gates

From there, you need to decide on an automatic vs manual gate and, if automatic, determine whether you prefer a keypad entry or card-based.

Driveway Gate Materials

Wrought iron makes a good choice of material for gates, due to its anti-corrosive properties.

Other good alternatives are:

• Steel gates

• Aluminum gates

Wood gates may also be worth considering for these reasons:

• Cost

• Aesthetics

However, if you decide on a wood gate, just realize that it will require more maintenance than a metal gate.

DIY Installation Tips

Most homeowners will leave the details of installing a driveway gate to the professionals.

But

if you’re the DIY type, then you’ll need to know a few basics to set you on the right path:

• Be sure to leave plenty of room for a car (or two) to sit in the driveway in front of the gate prior to it opening.

• If you decide on a swing gate, it’s best to install it to swing away from incoming traffic.

• If you have a sloped driveway, then a gate that has 2 doors working in unison (bi-parting) is best.

• If you have any type of fence or masonry structure leading to the point where the gate will be, install the gate posts just behind — or directly adjacent to — the pillars.

• Most gates come in 12′, 14′, 16′ and 18′ spans, so plan ahead when building the fence leading to the gate entrance.

• When measuring, leave plenty of room for emergency vehicles and large delivery trucks. The last thing you want is a UPS truck taking out your gate post when it pulls into your driveway!

• Choose a reliable brand for the gate kit. Better to overbuild, in this case, for a reliable system.

• Most of the time, you’ll get the whole kit and kaboodle from the same supplier. In the off chance that you’ll buy your components separately, you need to know how to find and buy a gate opener. The electric gate motor is a key ingredient in an automatic gate opener.

Driveway Gate DIY Installation Resources

It usually helps when you see something in action, rather than just read it. So here are a few driveway gate installation videos, guides, and diagrams that will help you plan ahead of time how to do each of the necessary steps:

• DIY Driveway Gate Installation Help Center

• Amazing Gates DIY Installation Videos

• DIY Driveway Gate Installation Diagrams

• Driveway Gate Information Center: Photos, Videos, Diagrams & More

Before You Buy A Driveway Gate

The above tips will get you started. Once you begin to research the products and installation companies available to you in your area, many more questions will come up that you may not have thought of earlier.

There are many companies that will manufacture a custom driveway gate for you. Get at least 3 quotes before deciding on your purchase. If it were up to me, the cost of a driveway gate would definitely not be my primary consideration when deciding on a custom gate for my residence. Art and design factors should be your primary consideration.

Having the gate manufactured in a timely manner is another key factor in the decision making process.

Have fun with it, and give it a lot of thought before deciding on your driveway gate design.