Questions You Should Ask

These questions are just some of the things to consider when buying a gate or gate opener, and any quality installer should be happy to answer these for you. 

 

Questions to ask when purchasing or installing a gate:

  • Do you call 811?
    • Yes, we will call prior to beginning your project. 811 must be contacted and an underground utility locate requested between 2 and 14 days prior to digging of any kind on any job. It’s the law!
    • 811 will locate buried public utilities. 
      • All private lines such as irrigation, electric, gas, plumbing, etc. that lie past the meter or right-of-way for the associated utility are the responsibility of the property owner. 811 will not locate these lines, and the owner is responsible for having additional locates completed by private entities.
  • How deep do you set your gate hinge post?
    • For most applications, a 6’ deep hinge post is sufficient to prevent excessive gate sagging over time. Here in Texas, between droughts and floods, the ground is always changing and having a post set deep in the ground and concreted in place helps fight these changes over time.
  • How do you paint your gate?
    • We prefer a 3-step process for our gates and posts:
      • 1st we treat the steel chemically to remove any oil residue or rust.
      • 2nd we prime the steel with an exterior rated paint.
      • 3rd we paint over the primer with a 10-year rated exterior paint.
  • What material is your gate made of?
    • Most of our custom gates are built with higher gauge steel to reduce gate sagging and increase the rigidity of the gate.
  • What kind of hinges do you use?
    • We prefer to use ball bearing hinges because they are relatively maintenance free and greasing the hinges is infinitely easier than the traditional block-style hinges.
  • Are your pickets in the frame or outside of the frame?
    • All of our gates with wrought iron pickets in them are set inside the main frame of the gate so there is a smooth face to the gate (unless otherwise specified by customer).
    • All of our pickets are seal-welded in the frame.
  • How is your gate welded together?
    • All of our welds are buffed down and smoothed out before painting to to ensure a smooth, clean finish. All corners are angled to match for clean corners and no open ends.
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Questions to ask when installing an automatic gate opener:

  • Will it be installed according to UL325 specification?
    • UL325 is the governing code and contains regulations behind gate opener installation. For further information on this, please contact us.
    • If you ask an installer this question and they are either not aware of UL325 or dismissive of regulations, please beware. Any gate equipment on your property contains moving parts and must be up to code to mitigate potential danger.
  • How many cycles per day do I need to account for when choosing a system?
    • A cycle is considered the open and close of the gate.
    • Most single-family homes can anticipate between 4-10 cycles per day.
  • What power source is available for the gate opener?
    • A/C power
      • Do you have a A/C breaker or power source nearby, or does it have to be trenched in from further away?
    • Solar power
      • How many hours of sunlight are available around the gate area?
  • How will I let visitors enter and exit the property?
    • Some options include but are not limited to: keypads, remote controls, card readers, intercom systems, cellular systems, phone applications, etc.
  • Does the opener have battery back up?
    • When you lose power, whether solar or a/c powered, how long will the system operate before it is completely dead?
  • What is the warranty on equipment?
    • All manufacturer warranties are different, but we ensure you have the information on what you are buying and what is covered/not covered.
  • What is the warranty on installation?
    • We cover a 1-year labor warranty on our installations, meaning if anything breaks, we come out an repair the system at no labor cost to you.
      • This excludes forces of nature such as lightning, flooding, wind damage, tree damage, etc.
      • This excludes misuse and abuse, including vandalism, vehicular damage, etc.
  • Do you own your own equipment, or is equipment rental price and schedule going to affect my project?
    • Most of our equipment is owned by our company, including trailers, welders, trenchers, skid steers, etc. Therefore, we do not have to wait for equipment to become available to rent for your job which means quicker scheduling and less schedule conflicts.
  • Do you have any customer references?
    • We can provide you with customer references as requested. Check out our google page for more reviews!
  • Are you insured?
    • We carry a general liability insurance policy to protect us and you from any accidents that may happened during the course of a job.
  • How do you communicate?
    • Our phone is always on and we return missed calls regularly throughout the day- most of the time within a few hours.
      • Please leave a voicemail or text message with your information if we do not answer right away. When we are operating equipment on a job, we may not be able to pick up immediately and will get back to you as soon as we are able.
  • Is your estimate a hard number, or is it merely an estimate?
    • This is a big one as a lot of companies will give you a price and then at the end of the project increase the price to account for unforeseen expenses or changes to the job. We don’t believe in this business practice, so all of our quotes are hard numbers and the final cost to complete the job. Unless you decide to change the scope of work during the process of completing the job, the price you see is the price you pay.