Howdy! If you are planning to build a fence on your property, you will want to make sure you make the right choice. A good fence will last for many years and will help to protect your property from intruders and wild animals. It will also help to keep pets and kids inside the garden where they belong! I'm Tony and this is my fence blog. Last year, I spend a couple of months working alongside a fence contractor as he installed a wooden fence on my property. I learnt a lot of neat stuff which I would like to share with the rest of the world.
Adding a secure swing or sliding gate to your property can be a great way to improve your home security measures, and investing in an automatic gate gives you an attractive and convenient way to access and leave your home property without ever getting out of your car. However, while automatic gates can be safely used on almost any kind of residential property, you may run into problems if the driveway to your home is on a steep or uneven slope.
Uneven terrain in and around your home's driveway area can make it more difficult to choose the right automatic gate for your needs, as certain types of gates will not function properly or safely on a sloped driveway. If you wish to have a gate installed on your property, but are worried that uneven terrain may hamper your plans, keep the following guidelines in mind to help you choose an automatic gate suitable for the most steeply sloped driveways.
Consider investing in a sliding gate
Most automatic gates installed on residential properties are swing gates, which swing inwards and outwards to open and close in much the same way as a set of double doors. However, swing gates are not always suitable if you wish to secure a property with a sloped driveway; for example, if your driveway slopes steeply upwards as it approaches your property, a swing gate will not be able to swing inwards to allow entry, as the bottom of the gate would catch on the rising terrain.
In this situation, you could choose a swing gate that swings outwards to admit vehicles, but this can cause your gates to collide with the vehicles of unwary drivers as they open. A better option is to invest in a sliding gate. Sliding gates open and close by shifting sideways on specially installed rollers, and require much less room in which to operate, making them ideal for securing many uneven driveways.
Use lifting swing hinges if possible
Sliding gates may make more efficient use of space than swing gates, but they also tend to be considerably more expensive, and may not be suitable for particularly bumpy terrain. If your heart (or your budget) is set on an automated swing gate, having your chosen gate fitted with lifting swing hinges can be an effective solution.
Unlike conventional hinges, lifting swing hinges are specially angled to allow your gate to rise and fall several inches as it swings. They can be very useful if the slope of your driveway is relatively shallow and can help you save a considerable amount of cash if a sliding gate is the only other option available to you. However, they must be used with an automatic gate opener that is specially designed for use with swing hinges, as the extra strain of lifting the gate as it opens or closes can cause ordinary gate openers to burn out.