Supplement to Product Specifications

If the site warrants further attention, regarding design or site conditions:

1. Send us a few jpegs of the proposed site and surrounding landscape.
2. Arrange a cell phone appt with Facetime or Skype with your phone as the video lens.

SLOPING GRADES: (See Sloping Grades for further information and photos)

UP/BACK: If you approach the property and the driveway is sloping uphill, we of course need to know the exact rise and fall for the overall span. This is important simply because if the gates are to open in toward the property, they need to clear the rising grade at 90-degrees.

If you as a homeowner are doing this, then take a straight-edge such as a 2×4 that is half the width between columns or posts and with one end at the column where the gate hinges. Set a level on top and either raise or lower the straight-edge until the level reads level. Either make a mark, and then measure from the low point on the grade to your mark, or measure while holding the straight-edge. This will give you the drop for that particular gate leaf.

LEFT / RIGHT: If the slope of your driveway is left to right as you approach from the street, then we also need to know that exact rise or fall. This is important because you may be left with an undue clearance at the bottom of one gate and not so with the other.

To gather this measurement and in lieu of a transit, you can opt for a string-line and a $4 line level. Hold one end of the string on the high end of the driveway surface at the base of the column. Walk the other end of the string-line to the other column and clip on the line level and raise the line until the bubble is between the lines. Measure that distance from the line to the ground.

* Left to Right slopes are dealt with on a sliding scale.
–A) If the drop from one column to the other is 5″ or less, it is often dealt with by increasing the width of the bottom horizontal rails in a continuous angle parallel with the slope. In this, the top edge of the bottom rails are level, but the bottom is cut to an angle.
–B) If the slope is more dramatic, the entire bottom rail runs parallel to the sloping grade. In this we have the gate getting taller and taller as the grade drops. This difference happens only in the length of the lower panels or pickets, with the top of the gate remaining level.
–C) If we are even more dramatic, then we create what is called a Racked Gate. In this, we have the entire gate assembly racked, as if it were a parallelogram. The pickets or planks remain vertically plumb, whereas all horizontal rails are parallel to the slope.

Option A above runs approximately 4% above the gate cost
Option B above runs approximately 7% above the gate cost
Option C above runs approximately 10% above the gate cost.
(The exact percentage depends on the gate design and the overall width of the opening)

Links to a few examples of driveway gates with sloping grades

1. Driveway Gate #3, with a left-to-right slope that was 4″. To little to enact any of the above options.
2. Driveway Gate #6-1, with left-to-right slope once again about 4″
3. Driveway Gate #9. Approximately 8″ slope that utilized Option B, with the bottom rail following the slope, and the gate growing increasingly taller.
4. Driveway Gate #12 with a dramatic slope within only a 12′ overall opening. Here we opted for a black rubber sweep, mortised into the bottom of the gate as a removable feature.
5. Driveway Gate #14, where we once again utilize a rubber sweep, with only a 5″ slope.

For San Francisco Bay Area Only.

Automation and Motors.
—–
East Bay, SF, Marin ,Sonoma & Northern Peninsula.

Provident Construction
Brian Van Rheenan
Oakland, CA
925-254-9383
925-915-9310–cell
email: [email protected]

For projects throughout the Bay Area with embedded steel frames and an In-Ground motor

Ted Olsen
Automated Access Control
707-484–480
[email protected]
*Installation, automation, and in-ground motors

A few Miscellaneous Notes
Unless otherwise stipulated, all Driveway Gates are shipped unfinished. If you prefer, we will pre-finish your gates. See Recommended Finishes

Access Communications:

• The most basic format is the simple remote, activating the gates upon approach from your vehicle through a hand-held remote or configured to your cell phone.
• If the Drive Gates are not visible from the house, it is often best to opt for a keypad and intercom that allows communication between the Driveway Gate and residence (The keypad is for homeowners to key in their code–as well as overriding keys by Fire Dept, with the intercom relegated for visitors wishing to gain access.). Access is activated from within the house. Automation can be deactivated to either maintaining the Drive Gates in an open position or in the event of a power failure due to storms, etc.
• Virtually all automated motor manufacturers can be configured to activate through a cell phone.