I have a customer who wants me to install a driveway gate.
Does anyone have any expierience with these?
pros / cons ;
sliding vs swing
aluminum vs steel
cantalever vs rolling
net distributor vs local
He needs a 16′ span roughly. Blacktop drive.
Northwest Ohio.
Thanks guys.
Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Replies
I have installed lots of these...including the operators. What do you want to know?
Short story...I like aluminum double swing gates for a lot of reasons, particularly weight and rust elimination. I also think they are the best looking.
I usually hang them from 4" aluminum posts filled with concrete and re-bar.
They are available in dozens of styles.
I like Chamberlain openers because they are heavy duty and have lots of opening and closing options available and the accessories to go with it.
A 16' span is perfect for a double swing gate. Very classy looking!
Well, I would like to know all there is to know, but I'm setting my sights a little lower.
It looks like you may be in a area that gets some snow, it would seem that a swinging setup could have a problem in a large snowfall - ?
I think that I like the idea of aluminum for the same reasons you stated but i don't know if I'm overlooking something.
It would appear easier to install a swinging style, - any feed back.
I have googled the hell out of these things to find general info and available styles but now would like to hear , from real world , what I don't want.
Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
I'll photograph my steel swinger later.
Homemade, it's got the best latch/lock arrangement I could find on gates around here. Half-mile from electricity and well-shaded, so no opener. Heavy damn thing, but swings easily. Over the snow, when it's deep (for us).PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
i've built a few and about to build a couple more...
weight is not the problem balance is... what i have used with good luck is trailer hubs and bearings and axle stubs for hinges... built a 16ft gate that had to be 1000lbs and it'd move with less than10lbs of force at the end (used a fish scale to test it)...
p
How did you anchor the post side?
ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
8x8 steel post with 3/8" flat plate welded out from the post... at the bottom held the axle stub facing up... at the top same thing but i rigged an excentric (sp) bolt (like on an old chrysler front control arm) so that i could adjust the caster/camber of the gate...
i'm about to build one downtown... think this time i'll either use a very large heim joint... manybe 2 on the top or make a slide type thing on threaded rods... depemds what i have on hand... thinking of making it hyd swing...
p
Your clients must have some idea as to what kind of gate they want?? Do they want one that looks like you are entering an estate or one that looks like you are entering your local lumber yard? This is the difference between a swinging and a sliding gate.
They must also tell you what the budget is...That is the difference between a fancy iron gate and an aluminum one.
Do they want this thing to stop a speeding truck or to look nice and deter people from driving up the driveway?
As for the snow..we get a lot of it, but not necessarily much at one time. That isn't even a concern to most people that have gates here. If there is a big storm coming , you leave the gate open until the snow is plowed or you get out your snowblower and clean the area out when it quits snowing. All of that is to be expected. If they can't handle that, then a sliding gate may be what they need. I install swinging gates a minimum of 8" above the driveway. This is usually high enough to swing over our average snowfalls. If you install them much higher than that, they start to look like a cafe' door.
If they don't like painting, don't get an iron gate, because you will never be done painting it.
If they want to use openers, you may have to supply new power at the gate site, lots of underground wiring and perhaps phone lines to the house. If the gate is a long way from the house, this can get expensive.
As for styles, I like the traditional look with the gate rising to an arch in the middle.
If you plan on openers, be sure to spec where you want the plates welded on the gates for opener arm attachment.
I don't usually get much direction from this customer.
He just says " I want a gate for my drive, do it."
Then I go and find all the pertenant info ( which I'm trying to do here and google), knock it down to a few choices, and have him tell me which he likes. PITA but I like the guy.
For the right desision, there are no buget constraints here.
The 8" helps, that was one of my thoughts, how high. And we don't get that much snow here very often.
Any thoughts on automatic vs remote ? I would think that remote wouldn't work for the ups guy etc. but then automatic would just open for anyone. I can't imagine his DW getting out of the car and swinging a gate everytime she went so an opener is probably a must.
Thanks for the help. Good info.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Any thoughts on automatic vs remote ? I would think that remote wouldn't work for the ups guy etc. but then automatic would just open for anyone
This is one reason I like the Chamberlain Liftmaster system...it has lots of options as far as gate operation.
One of them, is that you can program a hundred or so different codes into the push button keypad out on the post as you enter the drive. You can give a different code to each delivery person that you trust and cancel or change them at any time.
I often program the keypad at the entry pedestal to open on code "911" and notify the local 911 system to note that on their information for that address.
Other options include lock boxes at the gate or an intercom with the house if someone is usually home.
You can set the openers to close automatically after a certain period of time as the party passes through the gate and install loops in the driveway to automatically open the gate as they leave.
You can make these openers do basically anything you want.
We just bought property behind a gate. There are 4 residences behind the gate.
A Chamberlan solar with remotes works well; but have to replace the battery about once /year.
With 4 owners there are 12 remote (as in garage door controllers for in car use) floating around. There is also one of those key pad controlers by the gate.
As for mail, paper & trash pick-up they are outside the gate anyway. For UPS/FEDEX place an oversize mail box outside the gate. If package is larger than that, UPS/FEDEX will leave an oversize package notification & HO will have to call & give them punch in code or make arraingements to pick it up.
You will have to supply emergency services with the punch in code.
If you don't have an intercom to the gate one of the biggest PTA's is guests. The HO has to eather give them the punch-in code in advance or they have to call the HO on their cell phone to get it and they then still have to get out and punch in the code. BTW, this is also a PTA when dealing with contractors & material deliveries behind the gate. I think most people just give people the punch in code; then change it frequently (then have to readvise emergency services if unit only allows one punch-in code).
one possible problem with remote units
a Chicago Tribune article reporting that in Colorado the Air Force is jamming garage doors. In a joint U.S.-Canadian operation, they were testing communications on a frequency that would be used by first responders in the event of a threat to homeland security.
From the article: "But the frequency also controls an estimated 50 million garage door openers, and hundreds of residents in the area found that theirs had suddenly stopped working... Technically, the Air Force has the right to the frequency, which it began using nearly three years ago at some bases. Signals have previously interfered with garage doors near bases in Florida, Maryland, and Pennsylvania."
have snow / ice / gusty winds???
how much room do you have??
powered???
plain??
ornate??
remote control??
automatic??
manual...
lift gate for snow...
swing is less maint.. costs less..
slider always seems to need tweaking..
build yur own... or go local...
steel is stronger and lasts longer..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
We get snow, not a ton - but we can get hit hard now and then.
Room shouldn't be a problem, but I do need to be concerned if a slider slid into a right of way.
Probobly powdered or paint - black.
Not to worried about style - not a decorator.
Could use real world info as to auto vs remote. - probably remote because it is needed to keep people away. I would assume an auto unit would open for anyone.
Hmmmmm, Lift gate?
Could build, would if it were mine, not going to here.
Gonna try local today, for the call back issues - service.
Thanks, I'll take all gems of info upfront, info after always seems expensive.
Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
How much snow do you get? A swinging gate in snow is a pita.
That's what I'm coming to realize.
I'm thinking that my customer would not be happy to have a stuck gate after a big snowfall. I sure as hell don't want to go deal with it.
We don't get hammered but we get 7" to 12" every now and then.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City