Gates and Gate Openers in Tyler, TX

A steel frame inside the wood

A wood gate built on a wood frame depends on a diagonal brace to stay square, and as the brace shrinks and the screws loosen, the latch side drops until it drags. A welded steel frame fixes that at the start. The frame is squared and welded, and the pickets or cedar boards screw to it, so the gate looks like the rest of the fence from both sides but doesn't rack. Iron and aluminum gates come with their own welded frames, and ranch gates are built from pipe or tubing to match the fence line.

The hinge post does most of the work

A gate hangs its full weight off one post, and that post is levered sideways every time the gate opens. A wide drive gate needs a heavier post than the line posts around it, usually steel, and a deeper footing in firm clay rather than the loose sandy layer above it. The hinges should be adjustable, so a small settle can be taken up with a wrench.

Swing, double swing or cantilever

A single swing gate is simple but needs clear, level ground across its whole arc. A double drive gate splits a wide opening into two leaves, each half the weight, with a drop rod to hold the fixed leaf. A cantilever slide gate rolls sideways on rollers mounted to posts beside the opening and never touches the ground in the drive, which suits sloped driveways and places where a swing has no room. It does need a straight run of fence beside the opening, about half again the gate's width, to slide into. In Tyler's residential zones, a driveway gate can't be placed inside the required front setback, so it usually sits farther back along the drive.

Openers, power and solar

An automatic opener needs power at the gate. Close to the house that means a buried line, which is dug after an 811 locate. Out on acreage a solar panel with a battery is often simpler, provided it gets clear sun rather than sitting under pines. Keypads, remotes and a phone-controlled receiver are the usual ways to open it, and a manual release lets you open it when the power is out.

Safety on an automatic gate

• Photo-eye sensors across the opening, so the gate stops or reverses if a car or child is in the path.
• Contact edges on the leading edge that reverse the gate on contact.
• Guards or screens over the rollers and gaps on a slide gate where fingers could be caught.
• A walk gate beside the drive gate, so people never pass through the moving one.

We build gates for iron and aluminum fences, wood privacy lines and pipe ranch fencing, and set openers for new or existing gates on driveways from Flint to Lindale.

What sets the timeline? The gate width, whether it swings or slides, the frame material, and whether it needs an opener and power at the post.

Frequently asked questions