Because of its lightweight construction and durability, aluminum has proven especially successful for gates near the beach or on wider gates. Aluminum is available in a wide variety of unusual rectangular shapes with architectural corners and has remained a favorite material when designing gates that may be particularly unique. Often, we design aluminum gates to look like wood gates; this is done for a number of reasons like cost, structural specifications or simply personal taste.
Our welder crafts our aluminum gates in the Westhampton Beach shop using aluminum square tubes as the framework, with either solid bar stock or tubular pickets, and cast finials or formed scrollwork. Our aluminum gates are made using all welded construction – the face welds are ground and sanded so the gate has sharp, clean lines and edges and no unsightly weld beads. The pickets and rails are created as per the client’s approved design dimensions.
We sometimes incorporate a steel member inside the aluminum on the hinge side so there is no through-bolting through the aluminum tubing. We then apply an epoxy coat the steel hinge straps for offset hinges and adjustable positive stops. If ornamental hinge straps are part of the design, they are through-bolted using stainless steel flathead cap screws. We then apply a finish using an architectural powder coat process, which results in a smooth matte or satin finish in a variety of colors. For a wood grain look, we apply the finishing product by hand, using a brush, which imitates the appearance of natural wood grain. Only knocking on it would give it away!
20 years of experience has proven the following when crafting aluminum gates:
- Aluminum gates are far lighter than their wood gate counterpart and will never sag. Should your gate be damaged by cars, landscaping / delivery trucks, etc., they are usually very repairable.
- Aluminum is a cost-effective alternative to wood gates and provides an equally beautiful appearance. They are also easier to maintain over the years.
- Bolting through aluminum results in crushing; therefore, there is no through-bolting done on our aluminum gates, only welded construction.
We craft aluminum gates using heavy-wall aluminum square and rectangular tube, with architectural square corers. Gates are all welded construction, with all face welds ground and sanded flush.
Aluminum is an excellent material for any picket style gate. Aluminum is an excellent material for cantilever sliding gates, where we incorporate an aluminum extruded track using internal stainless steel rollers. These sliding gates do not contact the ground and are perfect for driveways that may not allow bi parting gates.
Autogate Systems has been directly and exclusively focused on automatic entry systems since 1984. That’s over 25 years of experience! We know what it takes to make sure you’re happy with your driveway security gates!
