A beautiful gate is good, but a beautiful automatic gate is even better. There are a considerable number of companies that will make gates and install automation, but as usual, you want to save money: their services are not cheap. Many companies sell automation kits, but you can install and connect it yourself. You'll save several thousand. But in this case, you need to clarify whether the warranty is still valid (it happens, but rarely), and if so, what is a warranty case and what is not, and what to do in the event of a breakdown (it is often necessary to remove the drives for testing and take them to the company). So, do-it-yourself automatic gates may not be so profitable. Decide for yourself. To be fair, it must be said that if you built the fence yourself, and the gate automation is installed by the company, many faults will be attributed to an incorrect foundation, installation of beams, etc. So in this case, warranty repairs are rare.
This is what automatic swing gate openers look like
Swing gates
Swing gates are perhaps one of the most ancient types of gates - they can still be seen to this day in ancient castles and other attractions. In fact, this is a design consisting of two opening doors - simple, effective, durable. Due to its simplicity and functionality, this model has remained in demand for many centuries.
Of course, this system has now acquired many consumer-friendly nuances. Gates can be automatic or manually operated, can be equipped with a wicket door, photocells that prevent accidental closing, and the like, and the choice of material for their manufacture is simply amazing in its range.
Swing gates consist of support posts on which the gate leaves are actually hung. A separate issue is about additional equipment with automation and motion sensors - there is not always an urgent need for them, plus such conveniences somehow increase the overall cost of the design.
Lever drives
The equipment provides the entrance group with smoothness and strength. It works thanks to a motor that transmits energy through a gearbox. A crank is held on the vertical shaft, moving the doors through the levers. The drives are equipped with limit switches and sensors for monitoring engine speed.
Pros and cons of swing gates
The advantages of this design are obvious and undeniable:
- Easy to perform,
- Not expensive
- Long-term operation,
- Unpretentious in maintenance.
In principle, such advantages are the most important when choosing the type of gate. Many craftsmen make such gates for their plots and garages on their own - significantly saving construction costs. But there are also a number of disadvantages:
- Hinged doors take up space and can become an obstacle to entry or exit - depending on where exactly they will open,
- The gate leaves must have strong fixing units; they must be fastened, since due to their large area, the gates have a large windage and can be opened or closed by a gust of wind, despite their weight.
- In winter, to maintain swing gates, thorough snow removal is required, as it prevents them from opening freely, and if the gate is equipped with an automatic drive, the load on it increases significantly and may be unacceptable.
In general, this type of gate is profitable and convenient; minor disadvantages can be taken into account and prevented as much as possible. Swing gates today are a popular, convenient and inexpensive model.
Design Features
Regardless of the chosen design, you reserve the right to choose the method of opening them - into the yard or out. Making swing gates is not difficult at all. The classic form of swing gates has a number of distinctive features:
- Functionality.
- Ease of use.
- Compactness.
- No beams or guide rollers.
- There are no size restrictions.
- Possibility to use different materials for manufacturing.
- Possibility to use all kinds of details for decoration.
Materials
To install swing gates, you need supporting structures and the gate leaves themselves.
Supports
The supports can have several manufacturing options: round or square pipes, or reinforced concrete structures decorated with some finishing material.
Doors
The doors can be made from a variety of materials. If we talk about the main varieties, there are two of them:
- frame construction
- forged doors
The frame for the sashes is made of square metal pipes of different sizes. A sheathing made of thinner pipes is additionally attached to it - this ensures the strength and rigidity of the structure. All metal parts of the frame must be primed with anti-corrosion primer and covered with a protective layer of paint to avoid premature damage to the product.
Covering for gate leaves
Now that the frame is ready, the sashes can be made in several options:
- With double-sided lining,
- With one-sided lining.
Here everything is as simple as possible: you can sew up the gate frame only from the outside - the front part of the fence will look harmonious in combination with the fence, while the inside of the gates will remain unsheathed - the frame will be visible from the inside.
Double-sided cladding involves finishing with material on both sides - outer and inner. This type is not only more beautiful, but also much stronger, due to the double layer of cladding, and is also more durable - since the metal frame is located inside and does not deteriorate due to atmospheric phenomena and other aggressive factors.
For cladding the sashes the following can be used:
- Metal sheets,
- Profiled sheeting,
- Sandwich panels,
- Tree,
- Net.
Each of these materials also has its pros and cons. For example, sheet metal is the most durable of materials, but its disadvantage is its significant weight.
Swing gates made of corrugated sheets
Corrugated sheeting is one of the most popular materials, as it is not expensive, durable and looks beautiful. One of the disadvantages is, perhaps, low mechanical strength - it is easy to deform upon impact, for example, and it is also quite difficult to replace, since each batch of corrugated sheeting has its own shade and choosing it is very problematic.
Wooden swing gates
Wooden doors are beautiful, especially if you take noble types of wood and preserve its original appearance by opening it only with a protective varnish. However, despite the durable varieties, wood wears out quite quickly, and due to frost, precipitation or ultraviolet radiation, it can dry out and crack, despite any protective measures.
Swing gates made of metal mesh
Metal mesh is a budget option; this material has average strength, and its main disadvantage is its not particularly attractive appearance and the absolute accessibility of everything that happens behind the gate to outsiders.
Swing gates made of sandwich panels
Swing gates made of sandwich panels are also popular among consumers, mainly due to the high durability of the plastic, low cost and ease of installation. However, such gates are also susceptible to serious mechanical damage; installing this type of gate is not advisable if they are located near a busy highway or are subject to other obvious damage.
Combined frame gates also attract the attention of buyers. Most often, in this case, the main material of the doors is supplemented with forged elements. In this way, you can successfully decorate both a wooden base and a metal one, and complement colored corrugated sheets.
Forged swing gates
Separately, it is worth mentioning purely forged sashes. Here the structure does not have a pipe frame, but is made only of forged elements - they can be light or massive, elaborate or elegant, made in various artistic styles.
Such gates are beautiful and durable, but it is important that the forged gates harmoniously fit into the overall design style of the fence, building and site as a whole, otherwise they will look out of place.
In addition, you need to take into account that forged gates require constant maintenance: anti-corrosion coating, depending on the degree of wear, and their main drawback is absolute transparency. Therefore, if there is a lot of traffic around the gate and a lot of prying eyes, it is better to prefer solid cladding decorated with forging.
Hydraulics
Hydraulic-type automation operates from a reversible hydraulic pump, the engine of which moves the solution into hydraulic cylinders. They open the gate. Sensors are responsible for the safe operation of equipment. The mechanism is highly reliable, but its price is not low.
What is needed to install swing gates?
For an approximate calculation of the structure, we take the standard size of the sashes: 3x2 meters. In this case, an approximate list of materials will be as follows:
- Square pipe 60x30 mm - for the manufacture of the structure frame,
- Square pipe 30x20 mm - for the manufacture of stiffeners over the sash area,
- Sheathing material is of your choice. Its consumption is not difficult to calculate based on the area of the sash; the only point is to consider whether the cladding will be on one side or on both.
- If you plan to decorate with forged elements or others, then plus their quantity.
In addition to the basic materials, you need to add fasteners - for attaching the casing, welding work for making the frame, a primer for anti-corrosion protection, a lock, curtains, and the like.
It is even more important to provide material for the supports on which the gate will be hung. If they are not available, they will need to be made. The supports can be a channel, a round or square pipe, approximately 80x80 or 100x100 mm in size. In addition to it, you will need cement mortar or a special ready-made mixture for concreting.
You also need to decide whether the gate will be automatic and, even at the planning stage of installation work, consider the cost of the automation and provide for its installation. Of course, you can add it later or equip an existing gate with an automatic system, but in this case, the work will be more extensive than doing it right away.
Popular models of automatic systems from Italian manufacturers
To install automatic gates, it is best to buy a ready-made kit specifically designed for a specific design. There are several of the most common companies that supply reliable kits: Came, Nice, Faac. The Italian company CAME has been developing automatic systems for 40 years.
The newest line for gate opening is Brown, the kits of which are supplied with 2 remote controls, a set of photocells, and a lamp signaling the opening or closing of the gates. The sets differ only because of the type of gate; for swing gates there are 2 linear or lever drives or 1 drive with a built-in control unit for sliding gates. All kits come with a full 3 year warranty.
CAME is a reliable mechanism that includes devices that stop the gate from closing if the leaves encounter resistance. This allows you to protect against damage if there is a car on the way. This also guarantees the safety of pets and small children who may be in the way of opening the mechanism.
Installation of supports
1. Careful measurement and calculation of the area.
Before you start installing support pillars, you need to carefully measure and calculate the area. To do this, it is advisable to clear the landscape as much as possible, remove debris, grass and anything else that may interfere with the marking.
2. Mark the location of future structures.
It is convenient to mark the location of future structures using pieces of reinforcement or electrodes. It is important to measure it several times to make sure that the supports are positioned correctly - once they are installed, you will not be able to move anything.
3. We dig the supports into the ground.
To install support pillars, they need to be dug into the ground. This must be done taking into account the length of the supports - the depth of the pit for the support is at least equal to the length of its above-ground part, but it is better if it is a little larger. The dimensions of the hole for the support are made taking into account the size of the support itself; the width of the hole in the ground should be slightly larger than the material.
The support for sliding gates, as a rule, has a metal rod inside (pipe, channel), and the outside is lined with brick, which can then be decorated with anything.
4. We concrete the support.
Be that as it may, in order to obtain a solid base for support, it must be thoroughly concreted. This is not difficult to do, just follow a few requirements:
- Firstly, pour 5-7 cm of cement mortar under the lower (underground) edge of the pipe - this will prevent the possibility of premature corrosion of the metal;
- Secondly, the lower part of the core can be additionally equipped with a cross made of reinforcement or thin corners - they will provide a solid foundation for the future support of the gate.
You can prepare the concrete for pouring yourself. This will require cement, usually M200, sand, crushed stone and water. The ratio of sand to cement is standard: three to one. You will need as much crushed stone as sand; you should not skimp on this material - it is this material that ensures the durability of the hardened mortar and prevents it from cracking.
The concreted supports will be ready for further work in about a week - during this time the solution will completely strengthen and harden.
5. Cover the support with bricks.
Next, the support is covered with bricks, evenly installing metal tabs - they are needed to secure the sashes.
Important
when laying bricks, take into account whether the gate will open inward or outward and where the automatic mechanism will be located - for this, even during the laying process, it is necessary to provide special niches and recesses.
How to make swing gate leaves?
Each sash, unless it is made from a solid forged fabric, has a metal frame as its base. It should be made from a good strong square pipe - such a base should withstand wind loads.
The main task when welding a frame is that the work must be carried out level, therefore, it is best to do this on a special assembly table or other flat surface. The pipe frame is made in the form of a rectangle and it is advisable to weld it not with a continuous seam, but with short tacks - this way you will prevent warping of the metal. An internal frame is attached to the main frame to provide rigidity.
Next stage: jumpers. You need at least two of them - vertical and horizontal, that is, roughly speaking, cross to cross. If the sash is long or wide, then the lintels should be spaced more often. Jumpers can be made from pipes of smaller diameter - this is both cheaper and more convenient.
If the gate is not automatic, then it is necessary to provide a lock - to do this, make special cuts in the frame. The lock can be mechanical or electromechanical - the choice is yours. And also - take care in advance about attaching the curtains - they need to be selected and installed, taking into account the direction in which the doors open.
Upon completion of welding the frame, the welds must be ground and cleaned so that they do not interfere with further work. And degrease the structure itself and prime it with a special primer for metal with anti-corrosion additives.
It doesn’t matter what material is chosen for this, you can attach the sheathing to the sashes either on a prepared frame or after it has been installed on the supports.
Attaching the sashes to the supports is not a problem: to do this, it is enough to weld a metal strip or channel to the metal tabs and attach the curtains to it. Here is the most important nuance: maintain the installation level, skew is unacceptable!
Installing additional accessories
For greater ease of use, you can add gate latches - by which they will be held open and a mechanical stop for the closed position of the gate.
To install automation on swing gates, you need the following minimum set:
- Control drive for each leaf separately,
- Control block,
- Remote Control.
To properly install automatic gate opening and closing, you can invite a specialist in electrical work or do this yourself.
Additional accessories also include photocells, video surveillance systems, intercom and the like.
Swing gates are a practical, inexpensive and aesthetically worthy solution for any private home, office, or institution. Since the lining and decor can be completely different, any buyer can easily choose a gate model to suit his taste and needs.
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The last point is installation of automation
A separate item can be considered the purchase of an automation kit. You need to choose it carefully, since the installation of the gate will be considered complete when the electric drive control system is installed.
The installation manual must be included in the main kit. As a last resort, you can make an application to the appropriate company.
You can, of course, turn to the Internet for help, but there is a risk of receiving incomplete information. So it is better to approach this problem professionally and purchase instructions of guaranteed quality, according to which a system will subsequently be installed that works without failure.
In general, if you approach the work with due care and show patience, in the end the house and the entire private territory will be under reliable protection. It will be even more pleasant to know that the swing gates were installed without the involvement of outside help in the form of professional teams.
