05
Gate Design and Installation
Driveway, sliding, swing, wooden and wrought iron gates, hung and squared before we leave the property, across Athens and North Alabama.
Chapter 01
The part of the fence you actually touch
A fence line mostly just stands there once it is up. A gate is the one part of it somebody opens and closes every single day, which is why it is almost always the first thing to show a problem, long before the rest of the run does. A wide driveway gate carries the most swing weight of anything on the property, and that weight pulling on the same hinge point day after day is exactly what drops a corner and starts the bottom of the gate dragging on the drive.
We have seen it from the other side too. One customer's pool gate needed re hanging after the install, and we went back and did it at no charge, because a gate that does not swing clean and does not latch on its own is not a finished job, whatever the rest of the fence looks like.
Horizontal slat wood privacy fence and its matching gate with an Athens Fence Co job tag visible, installed by Athens Fence Co
How we design and hang a gate that stays square
We install driveway, sliding, swing and manual gates, in wood, wrought iron and custom designs to match whatever fence it interrupts, chain link, vinyl, wood or aluminum ornamental alike. The post on the hinge side is the one that has to carry the load, so it goes in concrete along with every other post on the property, sized to the width and weight of the actual gate rather than treated the same as a line post.
Hardware is matched to the gate, not just whatever is on the truck: heavier hinges and a self latching mechanism for a pool gate that has to meet code, lighter hardware for a garden gate that only sees foot traffic. We hang and square every gate before we leave, so it swings true and latches on the first day rather than needing an adjustment call three weeks in.
Chapter 03
Keeping a gate swinging true
The first sign a gate needs attention is almost always sag at the far corner, or a latch that used to catch clean and now needs a shove. That is worth a call before it gets worse, since a hinge post that has started to lean is easier to reset early than after a full season of the gate dragging against it.
Every gate we hang carries the same one year workmanship warranty as the rest of the fence. If a gate on your property starts to drop or drag, call our office at (256) 203-1243 and we will get someone out to look at it.
Athens Fence Co has been designing and hanging gates across North Alabama since 1983. Call (256) 203-1243 for a free estimate.