Tips for Choosing the Right Swing Gates for Your Home's Driveway

Swing gates for your home's driveway can enhance your home's security; potential thieves often visit a home's front porch under some type of ruse, just to get a better look inside and around your home. The swing gates can keep them from getting that close to your entryway. Gates can also offer privacy for your home when paired with a wood or stone fence. You have many choices for your swing gates from companies like AGM Automation, which is good as it means you're sure to find one that works for your property in particular, but this can also make it difficult to choose the right type. Note a few important reminders.

1. Size of opening 

Most home driveways are built to a be a certain width, which means that most swing gates will typically come in a few standard widths. If you're having a new driveway poured before you purchase the swing gates, consider carefully the expense of having a custom gate made to accommodate this width. It may be a better option to forego that wide, expansive driveway in exchange for something more standard, just so you can order a standard gate width. If you do want a custom width for your driveway, be sure you shop around for a custom gate width and note the prices so you can figure that into construction costs.

2. Slope

Very often gates can be made to open toward or away from your property, and they may come in one piece or are what is called bi-parting, meaning two separate gates that open in the middle. The slope of your driveway may factor into your choice. If your driveway slopes up toward your home, the gate may need to swing in the other direction so it doesn't get stuck on that slight hill. Depending on your preference for swinging direction, you may need to choose a bi-parting gate as each piece will be more narrow and less likely to get stuck on a slope. 

3. Hanging the gate

Many gate styles are meant to be "stand alone," as they come with their own posts. If you have stone columns or other pillars on the sides of your driveway, be sure the gate can be attached to these or that the posts will fit between those columns. You may need to choose a narrower width than you realize when you take into account the added space needed for the posts on the outside of the gates, or may need to choose gates without their own posts and that can be attached to the columns.