Metal gates enhance a property’s facade, especially when it is viewed from public access roads. They also protect occupants by keeping unauthorized and unwelcome people from the property.
So when choosing gate designs for your home or property, you have to consider their aesthetic and functional benefits. There has to be a balance between the two so that you don’t fall short on security or curb appeal.
Metal Gate Designs Have Two Main Parts Categories: Opening Mechanism & Form. Let’s Learn About Their Opening Styles:
1. Swinging or Sliding
Automatic swinging or sliding gates are both clean and sleek. The choice comes down to space and preference. Swinging gates require plenty of square footage, whether it’s single-swing or double-swing. These are more common in public gardens, exclusive communities, and interior villa gates.
On the other hand, sliding gates are very space-efficient, although they require a lengthy stretch of adjacent fencing (enough for the gate to slide next to). They are also often very heavy. These are more common in government facilities, warehouses, airports, ports, and other places that admit trucks and other large vehicles.
Compliance with safety standards is a must with automatic gates and is, therefore, crucial when choosing a design. For example, one best practice is to program the swinging gate to stop at least 18 inches away from an immovable surface (e.g., the wall or fence). This gap ensures that if something or someone gets caught behind the gate as it swings open, the risks for injury or property damage will be low. It also means that there must be at least 18 inches of space between the adjacent wall and the gate when the latter is open at a 90-degree angle.
2. Solid Metal or Metal Bars
Solid iron or aluminum gates ensure privacy and heighten security while lending an austere, sleek, and modern look to a property. These gates typically come with a CCTV camera to compensate for the lack of visibility from inside the property.
If CCTV is not an option, the alternative would be to use metal bars. For example, gates made of wrought iron bars can look grand and classic when put together with ornamental metalworks or simple and practical without them. Wrought iron bars can still provide security if not 100% privacy, but this can also be advantageous for property owners. If there are no visual obstructions like shrubbery or low walls, vandals and suspicious loiterers are easily visible from inside the property.
Design Elements that Enhance Security
What’s great about metal gates is they’re very versatile when it comes to design. Modern takes of solid, iron gates, for example, use aluminum panels with custom-designed etchings. These designs can range from clean-cut geometric slats to more intricate styles like bamboo, leaves, and abstract patterns. Strategically positioned etchings allow a property’s occupants to see who’s on the other side of the gate and still get plenty of privacy. If you equate privacy with higher security, this style is for you.
Spikes on the top of the gate are precautionary and aesthetic at the same time. If security is a big concern, it’s better to make sure the gate is high enough that it won’t be easy to scale; more so if attempted with stealth.
If there must be a gap below the gate (which is the case for automatic sliding gates), the space should be just wide enough for the wheels to roll freely through the tracks. Any wider and you’ll run the risk of stray animals — even people — sneaking into your property through the “crawlspace.” Likewise, the gaps between the bars must be narrow and discourage attempts to climb the gate. Solid metalworks interspersed with spikes and narrowly spaced bars is a perfect example of this.
Consult Our Experienced Metal Gate Contractors
Secure your home or property without compromising curb appeal by choosing a gate that offers both. 4 Sure Gates can give you valuable advice on this. We have over 15 years of experience in professional gate installations in Dallas and Fort Worth; if you have questions, especially about automatic gates, we’re the ones to call.