Custom Aluminum Driveway Gates, Built for Your Opening

What makes aluminum the right metal for a driveway gate

A driveway gate lives outside, so the metal decides how it ages. Aluminum is a 6063 alloy that won’t rust, and its powder coat never needs a repaint, unlike iron with its sanding-and-paint cycle, which is why aluminum gates are commonly cited around 20 to 30 years. It is light too, so it hangs easy and works a future motor less than iron or steel, which hit harder but rust. Beside our vinyl gates it reads premium and modern.

Swing, slide, or cantilever: which fits your driveway?

The right type comes down to your space and your slope. A swing gate needs clear space equal to its leaf length and binds on a slope over about 1 inch per foot. A track slide needs a straight, near-level runback as long as the opening. A cantilever rolls on posts with no ground track, so it takes slope and wide openings on about 1.5 to 2 times the opening in side room.

Gate type	Space needed	Best fit
Swing	Arc equal to the leaf length	Level ground, room to swing
Track slide	Runback as long as the opening	Near-level, no swing room
Cantilever	About 1.5 to 2 times the opening	Slopes, wide RV openings

How wide and how tall can a driveway gate be?

Measure the clear opening between your posts, not the driveway width; that gap is what the gate covers. Vehicle gates run up to 12 feet of clear opening, as a single leaf or a double swing, and pedestrian walk gates up to 8 feet. Most residential drives sit in the 10 to 12 foot range; wide or RV entries favor a slide or cantilever. Height is custom, 6 feet typical.

What does “automation-ready” actually mean?

Automation-ready means the gate is built to accept a motor, but the motor is not ours to sell or install. It gets a reinforced bottom rail sized for the operator’s force, correctly sized posts, and light aluminum that eases the load.

Your gate-automation contractor supplies and mounts the operator. Ask that installer about UL 325 basics: two independent entrapment sensors per zone (photo eyes plus a safety edge), no swing into public areas, fall-over protection, and a separate walk gate.

Built to take the wind: posts, steel inserts, and powder coat

A wide vehicle leaf acts like a sail, so tall, wide, or exposed gates get a 16-gauge steel insert inside the aluminum post. Posts run 3, 4, and 6 inches. The wind rating depends on height and configuration, so we size each gate to real conditions.

The heat-cured powder coat meets Qualicoat Class 1 and AAMA 2603. The material warranty runs 20 years on aluminum and 10 on the coating, plus our 5-year workmanship; salt air and pool chemicals are excluded, and a six-month cleaning keeps it valid.

A SleekFence aluminum partnership

The aluminum comes from SleekFence, a premium-class aluminum fencing manufacturer registered as an American brand. We are an authorized SleekFence installer and partner.

Their material, our custom fabrication and installation: modern, architectural aluminum, sized to your opening and hung by our own crew.

Do you need a permit for a driveway gate?

Often yes: a driveway gate usually needs a permit when it is tall, automated, or in the public right-of-way, and it can’t swing out over the sidewalk. In Los Angeles a gate on your property is a building permit; any part over the right-of-way needs a Bureau of Engineering revocable permit, set back about 20 feet from the curb on arterial streets. Bay Area cities run parallel curb-cut rules, so verify with your local building department.

What goes into the cost of a custom gate

The price depends on the gate, so a real number takes a visit. What moves it: opening width, swing, slide, or cantilever, the height, the post and steel-insert engineering the span needs, the color, and site work like old-gate removal or leveling. A kit’s sticker hides all that, leaving install and permits to you. You get a ballpark by phone and a firm number after we measure; the estimate is free and fast.

Driveway Gate Finishes

Black does the heavy lifting on driveway gates, and it is where most owners land. Slat styles open up to white or a wood grain look. Contoured styles stay matte black. All of it is powder coat, bonded to the metal under heat rather than brushed on, and there are no custom shades today.

More Than the Entrance

An entrance rarely stands on its own. Whatever meets the gate on either side, we build that too, in aluminum and in vinyl, fabricated in our own shop and set by the crew that shows up.