Electric gate costs
Discussion
Looking at having some installed in our soon to be new property and trying to get ahead of the game with an idea on costs ?
Has anyone had any recently and anything to avoid? We’ve a total with of 16ft..in that will need to go a new brick gatepost to match the existing one (I’m baffled why there’s only one). Current electric already in place so not massive wire runs etc.
I’d prefer wooden gates , Mrs BP wants metal or some form of plastic..
Has anyone had any recently and anything to avoid? We’ve a total with of 16ft..in that will need to go a new brick gatepost to match the existing one (I’m baffled why there’s only one). Current electric already in place so not massive wire runs etc.
I’d prefer wooden gates , Mrs BP wants metal or some form of plastic..
You'll need to be a bit more specific as to what you want and how you intend to deliver it. Hardwood gets expensive for example, as can sliding gates. Anything not DIY will add in my experience a chunk of cost, sometime unjustifiably so.
For example, we had a 6m opening I wanted to gate off. I was quoted £13000 for a sliding hardwood gate with all the electrification and automation gubbins necessary, infact I was quoted this twice by different providers. The materials cost for this was around £6000. I couldn't justify that amount for the job I need the gates to do.
In the end I spent £1600 on softwood 5 bar field gates, including an additional pedestrian gate and made some gates posts up using some old hardwood I had laying around, I may elect to automate them myself in future for £500'ish.
An 8 fold difference in price that ultimately delivers what I needed, albeit one that meant I had to do some work.
With respect to electrification specifically, if you already have the power in the right location installing electric rams is very straight forward, DIY if you're that way inclined. But anything that needs greater than 90 degrees of swing typically needs unground openers and starts to get more expensive. Sliding gates an another level of work and cost again.
HTH
For example, we had a 6m opening I wanted to gate off. I was quoted £13000 for a sliding hardwood gate with all the electrification and automation gubbins necessary, infact I was quoted this twice by different providers. The materials cost for this was around £6000. I couldn't justify that amount for the job I need the gates to do.
In the end I spent £1600 on softwood 5 bar field gates, including an additional pedestrian gate and made some gates posts up using some old hardwood I had laying around, I may elect to automate them myself in future for £500'ish.
An 8 fold difference in price that ultimately delivers what I needed, albeit one that meant I had to do some work.
With respect to electrification specifically, if you already have the power in the right location installing electric rams is very straight forward, DIY if you're that way inclined. But anything that needs greater than 90 degrees of swing typically needs unground openers and starts to get more expensive. Sliding gates an another level of work and cost again.
HTH
Similar to above, I didn’t like the quotes of £6k or more for a pair of electrified 5-bar gate so opted to DIY. Think it was about £1k for the gates and about the same again for the automation kit - the £500 mentioned above is a bit optimistic for a pair of gates with intercoms and everything. I got a builder to sink the timber gateposts as I didn’t fancy digging a 4’ deep hole.
It’s a pretty easy job if you’re half decent with DIY and have a basic knowledge of electrics. My DIY gated are infinitely more reliable than the professionally installed gates at my neighbour’s house, which are currently held closed with a rock.
It’s a pretty easy job if you’re half decent with DIY and have a basic knowledge of electrics. My DIY gated are infinitely more reliable than the professionally installed gates at my neighbour’s house, which are currently held closed with a rock.
It can get quite pricey.
An existing gate pillar/post may not be strong enough to handle the leverage exerted by a moving load with a centre of mass some metres away. If being built from scratch they are normally designed with a steel core sunk into the ground.
Then a good design will have detectors of some sort to prevent the gate from closing, both sides of the gate (usually a pair of broken beam detectors, one set on the gate posts on one side, and another pair set back from the posts on the side the door opens - this is to detect a car in the “closing area” to prevent a gate closing onto the side of a car).
Then there’s the control system, entry keypads/voice/video and so on.
It depends on what you want but a fully specced up system from scratch can go into £20k+ (new brick pillars, metal gates, control systems, internal comms, installation).
An existing gate pillar/post may not be strong enough to handle the leverage exerted by a moving load with a centre of mass some metres away. If being built from scratch they are normally designed with a steel core sunk into the ground.
Then a good design will have detectors of some sort to prevent the gate from closing, both sides of the gate (usually a pair of broken beam detectors, one set on the gate posts on one side, and another pair set back from the posts on the side the door opens - this is to detect a car in the “closing area” to prevent a gate closing onto the side of a car).
Then there’s the control system, entry keypads/voice/video and so on.
It depends on what you want but a fully specced up system from scratch can go into £20k+ (new brick pillars, metal gates, control systems, internal comms, installation).
Mr Pointy said:
Are all these self build options including all the safety features now needed because the potential financial implications of someone getting injured by a set of homebrew gates is likely to be very significant.
I think you need to be confident that what you’ve installed yourself is safe and up to the job. If you’ve got the required safety sensors and you’ve set the trim and power to back off when the gate is obstructed you’ve done 90% of what a pro will do, although I guess their insurance will then cover them if they’ve done everything correctly and something still goes wrong. As it happens I once set the power to full - can’t remember why - and when I tried to block the gate it just kept going. There’s a lot of power and force there!There’s always a danger but the only people using my gate is me and my family so I’m ok with the risk.
Can't help with pricing as they were already at our property when we moved in but as others have said can be a bit of a rabbit hole. Do you want visible openers or underground ones, can you run electric to both gate posts, are you after just electric gates or a full intercom/doorbell type affair.
For some reason there wasn't a push to exit button to ours so installed one myself and also added 3 extra handsets so we can hear the doorbell across the house.
For some reason there wasn't a push to exit button to ours so installed one myself and also added 3 extra handsets so we can hear the doorbell across the house.
I've had a solid wooden hardwood slider in the past and now have to use a shared leaf opening 5-bar gate. Slider got much less use but was massively more reliable. Leaf gates are affected by the wind and seem to need adjusting or fixing once or twice a year when they don't close or open fully/properly. Sunken motors also more affected by the elements than the sliding motors above ground, seals eventually wear and let water in.
No comparison in my eyes but you need the right plot for sliders and they are more expensive.
No comparison in my eyes but you need the right plot for sliders and they are more expensive.
Replacement motors and controls for these cost around £4,000.
22 years old now, needed replacing mainly because a delivery driver didn't wait for them to fully open and backed into one of them, destroyed the mounting box set in the ground, had to replace both because the firm don't make them anymore.
These are mounted on 200mm square steel pillars then clad with stone, don't believe builders who say they can build a brick pillar to take such weight and leverage.
These were galvanised and then painted, had another coat of paint around 5 years ago, no sign of rust anywhere.
Chap up the road, comedian off the TV, bought a house with swing gates and underground operators like ours, clad with timber from new, around 18 years ago previous owner had the timber replaced twice, and now they look awful in my eyes, there are parts with decent stain and others where the water has got to the wood and it's now going black, it might suit the family to keep prying eyes out but would be better clad with something other than wood., although it does also keep their nice vehicles out of sight as well.
Edited by netherfield on Tuesday 24th September 11:54
Interesting thread, as we are considering doing this too.
Current gates are softwood frame, with plywood panel in the middle, grooved lightly to look a bit like planks, painted with brown barn/shed paint I think sadolin given the tin left behind. They dont look like million dollar gates, but as they are the back of the house not the front, perfectly serviceable appearance so I think I will do the same again, and or softwood on a steel frame. As said very hard to keep varnished hardwood looking nice outside.
Presumably you can buy the same kit that a professional installer would install, and if you install it as well as them, same overall product?
A lot of gates seem to use underground/floor mounted motors these days, which are clearly neat and tidy, and presumably sufficiently developed they should give reliable service for a 10-20 years? Is there any advantage to the 'above ground' linear actuator type in terms of cost/durability/etc?
In our application it would be 90deg outward opening, rather than inward or 180deg.
Current gates are softwood frame, with plywood panel in the middle, grooved lightly to look a bit like planks, painted with brown barn/shed paint I think sadolin given the tin left behind. They dont look like million dollar gates, but as they are the back of the house not the front, perfectly serviceable appearance so I think I will do the same again, and or softwood on a steel frame. As said very hard to keep varnished hardwood looking nice outside.
Presumably you can buy the same kit that a professional installer would install, and if you install it as well as them, same overall product?
A lot of gates seem to use underground/floor mounted motors these days, which are clearly neat and tidy, and presumably sufficiently developed they should give reliable service for a 10-20 years? Is there any advantage to the 'above ground' linear actuator type in terms of cost/durability/etc?
In our application it would be 90deg outward opening, rather than inward or 180deg.
dhutch said:
Interesting thread, as we are considering doing this too.
Current gates are softwood frame, with plywood panel in the middle, grooved lightly to look a bit like planks, painted with brown barn/shed paint I think sadolin given the tin left behind. They dont look like million dollar gates, but as they are the back of the house not the front, perfectly serviceable appearance so I think I will do the same again, and or softwood on a steel frame. As said very hard to keep varnished hardwood looking nice outside.
Presumably you can buy the same kit that a professional installer would install, and if you install it as well as them, same overall product?
A lot of gates seem to use underground/floor mounted motors these days, which are clearly neat and tidy, and presumably sufficiently developed they should give reliable service for a 10-20 years? Is there any advantage to the 'above ground' linear actuator type in terms of cost/durability/etc?
In our application it would be 90deg outward opening, rather than inward or 180deg.
Our gates have been in place for 10 years, they are very, very heavy (custom built, 2m high, box section metal frames fully clad both sides with approx 5cm deep planks). They have BFT underground motors, and are still working OK. That said, I think the motors are actually under-specified for the weight of the gates, and the linkages need to be checked every so often for wear/loosening. My neighbour who has the same gates, and didn't maintain them at all had to have the motors replaced after about 7 years which was a big job.Current gates are softwood frame, with plywood panel in the middle, grooved lightly to look a bit like planks, painted with brown barn/shed paint I think sadolin given the tin left behind. They dont look like million dollar gates, but as they are the back of the house not the front, perfectly serviceable appearance so I think I will do the same again, and or softwood on a steel frame. As said very hard to keep varnished hardwood looking nice outside.
Presumably you can buy the same kit that a professional installer would install, and if you install it as well as them, same overall product?
A lot of gates seem to use underground/floor mounted motors these days, which are clearly neat and tidy, and presumably sufficiently developed they should give reliable service for a 10-20 years? Is there any advantage to the 'above ground' linear actuator type in terms of cost/durability/etc?
In our application it would be 90deg outward opening, rather than inward or 180deg.
You can get all the parts easily enough, I guess the question is how good your building skills are.
Apologies for the state of the lawn at the time !
netherfield said:
Replacement motors and controls for these cost around £4,000.
22 years old now, needed replacing mainly because a delivery driver didn't wait for them to fully open and backed into one of them, destroyed the mounting box set in the ground, had to replace both because the firm don't make them anymore.
These are mounted on 200mm square steel pillars then clad with stone, don't believe builders who say they can build a brick pillar to take such weight and leverage.
These were galvanised and then painted, had another coat of paint around 5 years ago, no sign of rust anywhere.
Chap up the road, comedian off the TV, bought a house with swing gates and underground operators like ours, clad with timber from new, around 18 years ago previous owner had the timber replaced twice, and now they look awful in my eyes, there are parts with decent stain and others where the water has got to the wood and it's now going black, it might suit the family to keep prying eyes out but would be better clad with something other than wood., although it does also keep their nice vehicles out of sight as well.
Edited by netherfield on Tuesday 24th September 11:54
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