Gates, gate posts and entrances
The entrance is the first thing anybody sees and the part of the boundary that gets used every day. It is also where perimeter walls fail first, because a gate hangs its whole weight off two posts and swings that load back and forth several times a day.
Usually quoted with the perimeter wall. A gate and its posts are a small part of a wall contract and a large part of how it looks.
What to include in a gates and entrances enquiry
Send the location, approximate dimensions and any drawings or reference images. Tell us what is already on site and what the quotation must include. Include access, removal of existing work, finishes and any associated drainage. A reference design needs a site-specific assessment before construction.
The posts carry everything
A pair of gates weighs a good deal, and all of it hangs off two points. The posts need their own foundations, deeper and wider than the wall either side, and they need reinforcement carried down into them. Posts built as though they were just a thicker piece of wall lean within a couple of years, and once they lean the gates stop meeting in the middle.
Make it wide enough for the lorry
Entrances get built to suit a car and then have to pass a lorry delivering stone, a tractor, or a water bowser. Getting the opening width and the turning space right at design stage costs nothing. Widening it afterwards means taking down finished walling.
The other thing worth planning is where the gate swings, and whether the ground falls across the opening. A gate that has to be lifted over a slope on every use will be propped open within a month.
Timber, steel, or both
We make timber gates in our own workshop from the same kiln dried stock as the joinery, which is worth saying because an undried timber gate warps out of square in its first dry season and never closes properly again.
Steel gates we have fabricated by people we use regularly, then hang and finish ourselves. Many entrances here are a steel frame with timber cladding, which gives the look of timber with the stiffness of steel across the diagonal.
Questions people ask
Why do gate posts lean?
Because they were built as a thicker piece of wall. A gate post is a structure carrying a swinging load and has to be designed as one. Gate posts need their own foundation, deeper and wider than the wall, with reinforcement carried down into it. Once a post has moved, the gates stop meeting and the only real fix is to rebuild the post.
How wide should a gate be?
Wide enough for the largest vehicle that will ever use it, which is usually a lorry delivering materials. Think about the turning space either side as well. Widening an entrance later means taking down finished walling.
Do you make timber gates?
Yes, in our own workshop from the same kiln dried timber as our joinery. That matters more on a gate than almost anywhere else, because an undried gate warps out of square in its first dry season and will not close again. We also hang steel gates and build timber clad steel frames.
Can you put in an automatic gate?
We lay the ducting and build the posts and the plinth for the motor, and the motor and intercom are installed by a specialist we coordinate. The important part is putting the ducting in before the driveway is paved. Cutting it in afterwards means lifting finished work.
Planning a gate?
Tell us the plot and roughly what you have in mind. We will come and look, then give you an itemised figure.