Choosing the Right Automatic Gates for Your Property

If you are considering automated gates for your property, whether that’s your home, your business or an educational establishment, you’ll already know many of the benefits they offer. These include increased security, more convenience and even the enhanced visual appearance of your premises’ exterior.

So what other decisions do you need to make before your industrial or residential security gates are installed?

Style and Substance

Your gates will represent a substantial addition to the exterior of your property. In fact, they will be the first thing people see on approach and can create a lasting impression. You therefore want to consider the style you choose carefully. Fortunately, there are an extensive range to choose from, including various metals, a selection of hard and soft woods, or a combination of the two.

Consider your own view from inside the property – do you want to be able to see the street beyond, or do you want total privacy? If you want a degree of visibility of what’s going on outside your property, you may want to opt for metal bars, whereas a solid wood, close-board gate design will obscure the view beyond. Alternatively, you could have a combination of the two, wood closed-board on the bottom and bars above, restricting the view of passers-by but allowing light and a degree of visibility out beyond your property.

Maintenance should also be a consideration here. If you opt for a soft wood like Douglas fir or pine, it’s likely you’ll have to treat them annually to preserve their strength and appearance. Harder woods require less maintenance; and many metal finishes are maintenance-free.

Good electric gate installers in Reading and beyond will offer a host of options, designs and finishes so you can choose what best suits your taste and style of property while still introducing impressive levels of security.

Your next choice comes in terms of how the gates will operate. Will you want swing gates or ones that slide open? Very often, this comes down to practicalities like how much space you have in your driveway. Swing gates require greater clearance to be able to open fully on one side. There must be enough clearance for vehicles too. Sliding gates, on the other hand, need less room to operate effectively, provided there’s enough space for them to draw back horizontally when opening.

In any automatic gate installation, one of the prime factors to take into account is safety. In terms of which is safer, sliding or swing gates, both have their dangers. Sliding gates can potentially cause crushing and shearing injuries, while swing gates’ hinges can cause pinching or crushing injuries and the gates themselves can cause impact and crushing injuries. The key here is to choose a trusted, reputable installer who will take account of anyone who might come into close proximity of the gates and design the safest system possible. A school gate installation, for example, might need to a higher level of safety than residential security gates.

Where Will Your Opening Mechanism Be Sited?

Automated gates necessarily need motors to open. Broadly speaking, the options here are whether you want that mechanism above ground or underground, inserted into the driveway and out of sight. The latter is the more expensive, but for many people, more visually appealing option.

Once you’ve considered the above, it’s time to talk to a professional firm specialising in automatic gate services. Whether you are looking for industrial security gates, or automated gates for your home or a school, expect a high-quality firm to spend a fair amount of time surveying your site and asking all the right questions to assess every aspect of your requirements, from who will use the gates and how, to longer term considerations like automatic gate repair, servicing and maintenance.

One firm you can trust to ask all the right questions and give you insight and helpful recommendations into the right gates to choose for your needs is Site Services UK. Based in Reading and operating in Ascot, Maidenhead, Windsor, wider Berkshire and beyond, we offer the best levels of customer service in all aspects of automatic gate design, installation and ongoing maintenance.