How To Choose A Great Gate Automation Installer

If you’re thinking about new automatic gates or you want existing gates automated, one of your biggest decisions concerns the choice of gate engineer. Do you go for the cheapest option? Do you pick the engineer who is available the soonest? Or do you go for the gate installer who shows you the gate designs you like the most? Then do you trust the one who says you only need one set of photocells or the one who recommends rams rather than undergrounds?

Initial Assessment

Any good gate engineer hired to automate existing gates or install and automate new gates will carry out a site survey and safety audit before they do anything else. This will cover how and by whom the gate will be used and how frequently. It will also review the location of the gates as far as slopes, water table and exposure to wind are concerned.

Environment

If your driveway slopes upwards as you enter the property, swing gates will open inwards onto the rise of the drive and ground themselves. You could have outward opening swing gates but is there room on your property for them to open outwards without moving onto public pavements and even the road?

The options here include special hinges that tilt the gate upwards as they open, or you could have the gates mounted higher on their posts than usual so that they don’t hit the driveway as they open. But this leaves a large gap under your gates which never looks right, It also doesn’t stop anyone crawling under the gates to get onto your property.

Gate Usage

This brings us on to how the gates will be used. In many homes, automatic gates are used a few times each morning as the family leaves for work and school at different times, and then later that day when they all return home. Often, accommodation needs to be made for deliveries during the day, but the gates may not be used most days outside early morning and evening.

Commercial, educational and retail environments may use gates much more frequently and different motors capable of dealing with a higher usage cycle would be specified by a qualified gate installer.

Access Control

Part of the use of automated gates involves how access through the gates is controlled. There are usually five places that this can happen depending on who wants to gain access and who grants it.

Firstly, anyone who lives in the property who may need to operate the automatic gates should have a remote transmitter that opens and closes the gates at the touch of a button. As these are small enough to be carried in pockets or handbags, these are mobile gate controls.

Secondly, modern GSM access control systems allow apps on smartphones to control gate operation. With cameras in entry-phone systems, they even allow you to see on your phone who is at your gates requesting access. They can also do this from anywhere in the world where you have a mobile phone signal.

Installation

If the location of your gates is some way from your house or sightlines are blocked by trees etc, access control systems with video are invaluable for letting you see as well as hear who is at your gates. But however far gates are from your home, your gate engineer has to get power to them. This can involve digging trenches and laying armoured cables.

There are also various elements of many automated gate systems that require power. Loop detectors are buried in the driveway to detect cars. Photocells are mounted inside and outside the gates on either side of the drive to prevent moving gates from hitting anything in their path.

The Final Decision

OK, time to address the elephant in the room; price. Gate Automation systems varies in price from ones that use rams and are easier to install, all the way up to hydraulic underground systems that require accurate and labour-intensive installation. As with many services, the costs of installation vary according to your location. However, using a cheaper company that is a long way from you may end up costing more in the long term.

Soft-wood gates may be cheaper than hardwood gates, but they will rot faster, and even hardwood gates will eventually deteriorate. Aluminium gates look remarkably like wooden gates and suffer from none of the effects of weathering and decay. They don’t split, shrink or expand, or rot like wood does and they are priced similarly to hardwood gates.

At Linkcare we work with many Gate Automation Installation all over the country and can recommend someone near you if you need our help. Call us on 01895 232 626 to find out more.