Right when your clients’ guests pull up their car in front of your house, on the driveway, you want them to gape at the marvel you’ve designed for a driveway gate. The long-lasting, impressive, and aesthetic gate you chose, designed, and installed for them is going to speak volumes about their home as a whole, and the level of detail they’ve put into building their dream home. You also want them to be rock-solid security gates, and impenetrable for intruders.
In this blog, we’ll take you through the different types of gates, door ideas you can choose, materials, and design ideas and help you visualize the best gate for your projects using Foyr Neo.
Top Picks for Gates For Your Next Home Design Project
Regardless of whether you are going ahead with a new construction, or remodeling your home, you can install or retrofit gates, with the right forethought. One word of caution — since there are many moving parts in gate installation, it’s best if you don’t DIY, and get a professional to install them for you.
1. Retractable Gates
These gates may be better suited for luxury homes with many thresholds to enter the main home. These gates can be used as garage doors and work as motor-driven gates and made with weather-resistant materials, to offer seamless operation, easy maintenance, and an easier installation. They can withstand even the harshest weather, and move about quietly, so there’s no noise or track marks when the gate is in motion. It has strong wheels and can endure pressure from all sides.
2. Cantilever Gates
They remove the need for tracking along the length of the opening. These gates are slightly off the ground, so you can keep the ground under the gates clean easily. You won’t get track marks from moving the gates; the surface underneath looks spotless. They are suspended over the opening by a set of 4 high-quality sealed-bearing cantilever rollers, and they need more side room than a track gate. You can customize them to suit any design style you’re going for, and the functionality will be just the same.
3. Sliding Gates
These gates slide horizontally on the bottom track and come in a variety of designs, materials, finishes, and shapes. For homes with a lot of space for the driveway, swing doors may not appear good. These doors work in a telescopic manner and involve several small sliding panels to open or close. You can choose if you want them to bring in automation and make them automatic gates or retain them as manually-operated gates. Sliding gates are practical for properties with limited space or steep driveways, which are common features in the hilly terrain of Redwood City. They offer convenience and security for homeowners.
4. Folding Gates
These gates, mostly made of wood are a good low-cost option for uneven ground surfaces and are part of the sliding gate family. They are a set of doors joined together and folded inside each other, to save space and money when you endeavor to make the best of a difficult terrain and design the perfect driveway gate for your client.
5. Metal Gates
Metal gates are known for aesthetics and are known for the safety they bring to the home they’re installed in. They look expensive and are used for bungalows in general. However, it doesn’t stop interior designers like you from using this gorgeous gate for small independent houses as well. With the array of options you have for coating (including gold, brass, and silver plating), and designs involving exotic motifs, logos, and custom designs, the sky is the limit for the creativity you want to bring in with these metal gates. They’re non-corrosive by nature, so you don’t have to worry about them accumulating rust over time and deteriorating any time soon.
6. Stainless Steel Gates
They are highly durable and come in all grades of steel. Excellent quality that maintains steady, superior performance over time. You don’t have to worry about the security it offers, given that it’s one of the most secure options you can go for. You can use stainless steel gates with wooden planks as well, for visual variety. With laser cutting design in the mix, you can design a durable, gorgeous, and high-quality gate for your clients.
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7. Wrought Iron Gates
Who doesn’t want to give their guests a royal welcome? Wrought iron gates, with their majestic, timeless, and vintage appeal exude royalty at first glance. It resembles palace gates and can be used for any home to make it look palatial from the driveway to the front door. You’ll see these gates in upscale homes like those in Los Angeles. To get the most luxurious look, add a few touches of gold in the gate and you’ll be amazed at the praises and compliments you get. It’s low maintenance and comes at an affordable price range. It’s easy to install, inherently strong and comes in numerous designs, so no matter what exterior design style you’re planning for, you can customize a wrought iron gate to go with it.
| Jason Kauffman, Sales Manager of the Iron Fence Shop says, “A wrought iron gate is versatile in how it can be used and homeowners can install in different places, in between posts, bricks, masonry, and between posts and pillars. “ |
8. Wooden Gates
Wood door design has been around for a long time, and yet, wooden gates one of the most expensive gate options ever. They’re famous as Ranch-style gates in San Diego. Usually, clients back down from choosing a wooden gate for fear of it collapsing under constant exposure to water, heat, and rough use. But, if you invest in a high-quality wood, treat it, and coat it well, it’s going to stay put, and retain its elegance for a long time. Once treated well, they are undoubtedly sturdy and durable. They can be customized to suit any design aesthetic. It may look basic but they’re super attractive to onlookers, and automatically give a high-end look to the home.
Read also – How Interior Designers Create a 3D Home Exterior
9. Rustic Patina Steel Gates
The rustic patina look develops over time and adds character. The famous designs in these types of gates are scrollwork, geometric patterns, and minimalistic, and modern designs. They’re fundamentally oxidized steel gates with a unique and organic finish. They’re resistant to inclement weather. Another great benefit of this type of gate is that they’re manufactured from eco-friendly recyclable materials, and can act as a fantastic privacy fence.
Read also – How To Choose The Exterior Paint Colors for A House?
10. Signature Braided Gates
Image credits: All images featured in this blog are AI-generated or created using Foyr Neo, an advanced interior designing software.
This gate can be the focal point of your entire home, and driveway. They usually come with an intricate weaving and braided pattern, adding visual interest and a decorative touch to them. Their construction style makes them strong and long-lasting. Choose from a vast sea of designs, metal decor, grilles, sizes, and finishes. They indeed look majestic and palatial, so use them for a luxurious look.
What to Look For When Choosing Driveway Gates?
1. U-frame Around the Gate
The U-frame is the part that comes down the side, across the entire bottom, and then back up the other side of the gate. This frame is the backbone of the gate. It’s not a design choice – it’s a crucial structural element in the gate. If the U-frame doesn’t extend to the bottom, it won’t hold up in the long run. Refrain from choosing gates that don’t have a stronghold at the bottom.
2. Gate Construction
Constitutes how the gate is put together. Go for a fully welded construction, where every element of the gate is a one-solid connection, right from frame, caps, finials, pickets, and rails. Along with it, ensure the gate has a punch railing with pickets fed through. When you choose this construction method, it gives an extremely rigid frame that’s going to perform for decades to come. No matter what the material is, go for a fully welded construction. Your client will thank you for a long time. This forethought is what distinguishes you from other designers in the market.
3. Arrangement of the Rails of Your Pickets
A picket is one continuous piece from the top to the bottom. It can either be welded together or go for a layover style where you take a plate lay it over the front of the pickets, and whiled it from behind. The problem with the layover style is that it looks good from only one side, and reduces the strength of the gate.
4. What Kind of Finish Does It Have?
When you go for metal, wood, or any material that needs to be coated, your ideal choice will be to give a powder coat finish. It’s durable, and it needs to be applied thickly to hold up a lot better than paint. Once done, the powder coat doesn’t leave any room, for rust or peeling. When you go for a quality powder coat, it comes with UV fade inhibitors that don’t let the gate turn gray over the years.
5. Does It Come With a Pre-Drilled Construction?
When a gate is pre-drilled, the gate frame and posts have been already drilled, and all you have to do is bolt your hinges and everything together. If it is pre-drilled, it severely limits what you can do with the gate, or use it wherever you want. Decide if that’s what you want.
How to Use Foyr Neo to Design a Driveway Gate?
Given that your home’s exterior plan is unique, how do you know which of the above gates will work in your space and which won’t? You figure it out by visualizing your driveway with your favorite items and ruling out the ones that don’t fit in.
How can you visualize your driveway without leaving anything to chance? With an advanced tool like Foyr Neo.
Here’s what you can do:
Step 1: Sign up for Foyr Neo’s 14-day trial.
Step 2: Go on to the Neo mood board and curate everything you’d love to have in your driveway.
Step 3: Create the floor plan of your home exterior and driveway on Neo.
Step 4: Choose from 60,000+ 3D gates, and decor materials and simply drag and drop them into the design. You don’t have to visit stores like creative gates inc to choose gates, you can simply hop onto Foyr Neo.
Step 5: Get any material in any color scheme, texture, shape, or pattern and truly customize your gate.
Step 6: View the makeover in 2D and 3D, from all possible angles and lighting conditions.
Step 7: Render your design in a few minutes and witness your driveway gate in all its glory.
That’s all it takes! With 24/7 support and live chat, we’re here to help you if you ever get stuck anywhere. You can find tutorials on how to design on Neo all over the internet, so you’re never truly alone when you design using Neo.
What are you waiting for? Start curating your mood board for your gate, sign up for Foyr Neo’s 14-day free trial today.
FAQs
Factors include aesthetics, security needs, budget, maintenance requirements, and compatibility with the surrounding landscape.
Automated driveway gates offer convenience, and enhanced security, and can increase property value.
Maintenance requirements vary depending on the material and design of the gate but may include regular cleaning, lubrication of moving parts, and occasional repainting or refinishing.
Driveway gates can be designed to complement existing landscaping elements, such as incorporating decorative motifs or matching materials with surrounding fences or walls.
Yes, temporary or portable driveway gates made of lightweight materials like plastic or metal are available for short-term use or events.
