Gates and driveway entrances that keep working

A fence panel does nothing but stand still. A gate carries its own weight on one edge, swings through an arc, gets slammed, gets leaned on, and does it a few thousand times a year. Everything that eventually goes wrong with a fence tends to show up at the gate first, which makes the gate a useful thing to look at closely when you are comparing quotes.

The two reasons gates sag

The post leaned. A gate post carries a constant sideways pull that a line post never sees, because the whole weight of the gate hangs off one side of it. If that post was set like a line post, in the same size hole with the same amount of concrete, it will slowly rotate in the ground. A gate post wants larger material, a wider hole and a deeper one.

The frame racked. A gate frame is a rectangle, and a rectangle with pinned corners is not a rigid shape. It needs a diagonal, and the diagonal has to run from the bottom hinge corner up to the top latch corner so that the sagging weight of the gate pulls the diagonal in tension. Run the other way, from the top hinge corner down to the bottom latch corner, a wire or cable brace does nothing at all and a wood brace tries to work in compression against a joint that cannot take it. This is a genuinely common error and it is easy to spot once you know to look.

Hardware sizing

Hinges and latches should be chosen for the gate rather than for the fence. Hardware that is adequate for a lightweight panel on installation day is undersized after a few thousand cycles, and the failure is gradual enough that people adapt to it rather than fixing it. Heavy gates take three hinges rather than two. Gates that need to close reliably, around a pool or a dog, take self-closing hinges and a self-latching catch.

Walk gates

Three feet of clear opening is comfortable for a person. Four feet is better if a mower, wheelbarrow or trash cart goes through, and the extra cost is small. Put the gate where the path goes rather than where the fence line happens to be convenient, because a gate in the wrong place gets propped open.

Drive gates

A single swinging leaf much beyond about twelve feet gets heavy enough that the hinge and post loads grow faster than the convenience is worth, and it needs a large clear arc to open into. The alternatives:

• Double swing gates. Two leaves halve the load and the arc. They need a drop rod into a set strike point at the center so the closed pair is rigid, and they need level ground through both arcs.
• Cantilever slide gate. Travels parallel to the fence line on rollers, needs no arc at all, and needs a run of clear space alongside the opening roughly one and a half times the opening width. The right answer where the drive rises behind the gate or where the arc would sweep the parking area.

Ground matters more than people expect. A swing gate needs the ground it swings over to stay level and stay clear, which on a gravel drive means the gravel migrating into the arc becomes an annual nuisance. A slide gate needs the track or the roller path kept clear instead.

Automatic operators

An automatic gate is three things: the gate, the operator, and the safety and control system. All three cost money and the last one is not optional.

• Power at the gate. Usually a trench from the house and, for line voltage, a licensed electrician. Solar operators exist and suit gates that cycle infrequently, and they are less suited to a gate used many times a day under heavy tree cover.
• Controls. Keypad, remotes, vehicle sensor, or an intercom. Consider how a delivery driver, a visitor and a returning resident each get in, because that decides which of these you need.
• Safety devices. Automatic gates are covered by a safety standard that addresses entrapment protection, and a competent installer fits photo eyes or contact edges as a matter of course. A powered gate that does not reverse when something is in its path is a hazard, and this is not the item to economize on.
• Exit for emergencies. A manual release so the gate can be opened when power is out is standard, and knowing where it is matters.

Where the driveway meets the street

The Columbus ordinance requires fences, walls and hedges to sit at least twenty feet from any corner right-of-way line, and includes a general provision against anything that blocks a driver's vision enough to be a hazard. A gate and its supporting piers at a driveway entrance are part of that picture, and so is anything planted alongside them.

The other practical point at a street entrance is the setback of the gate itself. A gate at the property line means a vehicle waiting for it to open is waiting in the road. Setting the gate back a vehicle length lets the car pull clear of traffic first, and on a busy street that is worth more than the driveway it costs.

The gates service page covers what gets built, and the rules guide covers the corner requirement in full. Call (706) 786-4625 or use the quote form for a price on an entrance.