Overview
GateCrafters.com uses only the finest quality aluminum materials available to custom craft a gate for your property. You will find GateCrafters.com's driveway gates are economically priced and extremely sturdy because of uniquely engineered vertical weld design. Each base gate is jig built, controlling the quality and placement of all key structural welds while reducing the cost of production. From our base design, we can add beautiful ornamentation and a custom sculpted top to complement your taste. Driveway gates enhance your life in many ways including security, property value, style and sophistication, animal retention, and much more. Each gate comes standard with roller bearing hinges, 8 welds per picket, thick wall tubing, and a top quality painting process.

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Gate Construction
Structurally sound welding is the heart of a quality gate. GateCrafters.com has researched welding strategies under many conditions and engineered a superior eight-weld vertical system. The structural frame pickets are welded in 8 places and meet all of the American Welding Society's standards. Four horizontal welds are applied in a traditional manner and are commonly used by professional welders. These welds supply the strength needed to hold together a gate. Our four additional vertical welds, approximately 1-¼ inches in length, are applied to give a higher level of stability and strength to the gate, almost eliminating gate sag. Vertical welds are used so they are hidden from either side of the gate and are a sign of quality and care in construction, and GateCrafters.com takes every step to make your new gate the kind of gate you want to last a lifetime.

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Gate Measurements
Pickets - The structural frame pickets are ¾ inch in length and ¾ inch in width with a thickness of .090 inches; this is 30% thicker than most gates on the market.

Crossbar - Each picket is sandwiched between two structural crossbars, at bumper height and at the top. These crossbars are the pivotal point of strength that is unique to our gates. The front cross bar is 1 ½ X ¾ inch rectangular tubing with a wall thickness of .125 in. The back crossbars are a full ¼ inch in thick; this thickness allows many automation options without modification.

Frame - Frame members are all 2in. X 2in. square tubing with a wall thickness of a full .125 or 1/8in. The added thickness over our competitors' frames allows increased structural support and durability.

Post - Posts are available through GateCrafters.com and are designed to be extremely compatible to our gates. Choosing our post ensures perfect compatibility for installation without any welding. The posts come with the hinge barrels attached for sure placement. The hinge barrels themselves are adjustable to account for slight variations from the mounted post being perfectly plumb; this unique DIY installation system allows for greater flexibility while ensuring level swing even if posts are not perfectly plumb.

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Gate Automation
The Estate swing® is the recommended gate opener for use with GateCrafters.com's electric gates. The structural member is exclusively designed to be sturdier than on other gates and absorb the wear and tear a gate opener can exert on a gate. The dimensions of the structural member and the post are specifically developed with the recommended opener in mind. No modifications will be necessary when setting up our gates to work with the Estate swing®. Simply follow the directions supplied with your opener or from GateCrafters.com's website in conjunction with a GateCrafters.com made gate and your gate installation will be an easy task for any do-it-yourselfer. Other compatible openers include all GTO gate openers.

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Gate Materials
Our driveway gates are constructed from 6061-T6 rust free wrought aluminum alloy. 6061-T6 wrought aluminum is a high-grade alloy with a yield strength of about 35,000 pounds per square inch. For comparison, this is much stronger than “mild steel” which has a yield strength at about 20,000 to 30,000 pounds per square inch. 6061-T6 wrought aluminum is used for the purpose of durability and resiliency, providing a quality dent resistance and lasting beauty. GateCrafters.com ships nationwide we chose this higher grade of aluminum also to avoid any shipping damage. We take pride in the fact that our gates will stand up to the tough trials of shipping and still last a lifetime. Most aluminum gate manufacturers use 6063 aluminum, which is a weaker grade of aluminum and does not have the yield or resilience of 6061-T6. Other gate manufactures use this cheaper grade because they fail to see past the importance of the additional resiliency when driveway gates absorb the bumps of everyday life. A key test for gates is their resilience. Gates should be able to absorb pressure and than return to it's original shape. To resist snapping, 6061-T6 alloy has a high level of pliability, much like an airplane wing. When pressure is exerted on the material it yields to the pressure, and when the pressure is released it regains its original form.

Hinges - Each gate comes standard with special ball bearing hinges. Ball bearing hinges are provided to permit smooth and effortless longitudinal movement of the gate. These hinges provide a higher level of consistency over other hinges and less of a chance of becoming jammed or rusted. Additionally this design of hinge allows for higher level of adjustment insuring a perfect DIY installation. Each set is rated at 1000 pounds, far over the heaviest of GateCrafters.com's gates. The hinges also are equipped with grease fittings. Grease fittings allow for easier lubrication of hinges and assure all bearings are receiving lubrication. A grease fitting contains a ball check in the head of the fitting that prevents dirt and grit from getting to the bearings. Dirt and grit is a constant battle in an outdoor environment, the grease fittings that GateCrafters.com includes standard help to assure your hinges will work each and every time.

Posts - Posts are available through GateCrafters.com and are designed to be extremely compatible to our gates. Choosing our post insures perfect compatibility for installation without any welding necessary. The posts come with the hinge barrels attached for sure placement. The hinge barrels themselves are adjustable to account for slight variations from the mounted post being perfectly plumb this unique DIY installation system allows for greater flexibility while insuring level swing even if post are not perfectly plumb.

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Gate Customization
Design and style - All driveway gates can be customized by using any of our decoration available on GateCrafters.com. GateCrafters.com will weld on ornaments at no extra charge. The spears at the top of the pickets can also be upgraded though our site and are added at no extra charge.

Many factors can lead to a decision on what shape you would like your gate to take: the shape of landscaping, surrounding fences, patterns on the house, etc. Luckily GateCrafters.com can sculpt the top of your gate with any curve that meets your tastes. We can add 1 or 2 decorative bars that follow the curve or cap your gate. Other gate companies force you to choose between cheap standard mass produced gates that all look the same or overpriced custom gates. GateCrafters.com is your alternative, giving you the price of a mass-produced gate but the individuality and quality of a custom gate.

Painting - Painting aluminum takes a level of experience and expertise many gate manufacturers overlook. The primer/paint combination used by GateCrafters.com has been tested to withstand years of outdoor punishment. GateCrafters.com uses Marhide self-etching primer by Bondo. A self-etching primer is an essential undercoat layer of paint over aluminum. Primer kills stains, retards moisture and provides a good surface for a topcoat of paint to adhere to. It is imperative that new or bare metal and aluminum is primed prior to painting. Bondo is the producer of the top bare aluminum primers on the market. All gates are then top coated with Industrial Rust-Oleum brand enamel. Enamel is paint with finely ground pigments and a high binder content so that it dries to a hard finish. Enamels are mandatory to use on an aluminum surface because of its ability to affix to a highly smooth surface. Rust-Oleum is famous for providing long lasting surface and takes their legendary quality to a higher level in their industrial coatings.

*Colors - Druveway gates are available in Rust-Oleum finishes in flat black or white, and gloss green. Custom colors can be purchased to customize the gate to your tastes.

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