Kinds of gates
- Walk gate (about 4 feet wide): people, wheelbarrows, push mowers.
- Double drive gate (10 to 12 feet): two leaves that open to let a vehicle, trailer or riding mower into the backyard. One leaf is held with a cane bolt that drops into the ground.
- Sliding (rolling) gate: rolls along the fence line on a track or cantilever, for driveways without room to swing.
- Automatic gate: a swing or slide gate with an opener, keypad or remote, safety sensors and a manual release.
- Garden and arbor gates: decorative walk gates, often with an arch overhead.
Why gates sag, and how contractors prevent it
A wood gate is a cantilever: all its weight hangs off the hinge side. In wet clay, the hinge post leans a little each year, and the latch side drops until it drags. The fixes are mostly structural:
- Heavier, deeper gate posts than the rest of the fence, set in concrete; steel posts are common at gates even on wood fences.
- A steel frame inside wood gates, or an anti-sag cable kit running corner to corner.
- Hinges rated for the gate's weight and width.
- Wheels under wide or heavy gates.
Latches and code
Some gates are not just convenience. Gates in a pool barrier must close and latch on their own, open outward away from the pool, and have the latch release at least 54 inches high when reached from outside (or on the pool side); see pool fences. Decatur's zoning ordinance also requires unattended gates and gates opening onto a public sidewalk to be self-closing, self-latching and locked when not in use.
Driveway gates and automation
Driveway gates are usually wrought iron, aluminum or wood, between posts or masonry columns. Automatic openers need electrical power (or solar), a way for emergency vehicles to get in, photo-eyes or edge sensors so the gate cannot close on a car or a person, and a manual release for power outages. In the City of Huntsville, any change to the curb cut at the street goes through a separate Driveway Curb Cut Application with Traffic Engineering.
Gate cost
Nationally, installed gates average about $2,322, with most falling between about $879 and $3,814. Driveway gates run about $1,000–$6,000, averaging about $4,000, before automation upgrades. A walk gate in a new fence is often priced as a line item in the fence quote. We found no Huntsville-specific gate pricing.
Main guide: fence companies in Huntsville, AL.