Rollingwood · West Lake Hills · Sunset Valley · Shady Hollow
Metal Gates in The Hills, Behind the Guard Gate
Austin Metal Gates builds metal gates in The Hills, TX, and is a trusted Travis County ironwork shop, specializing in courtyard and driveway gates for single lots, ornamental iron fencing and pool enclosures. We offer iron railings and custom iron entry doors.
- Free on-site measure
- Shop drawings you approve
- Operators set up to UL 325
- One written price
Gates and ironwork in The Hills
Our team provides operators, keypads and arm bar systems for association entries, delivering finished, low-maintenance steel for homes and heavy-duty equipment for both residential and commercial projects. We weld every gate in our own shop from drawings you approve first, and the crew that measured your lot is the crew that installs it.
From a pair of hinges sized for a heavy courtyard leaf to a full association entry with loops, photo eyes and a guard-side control, our team handles every detail. Serving The Hills, Lakeway and Steiner Ranch, we plan each job around the POA's approval and the gatehouse.
Why Austin Metal Gates
How We Work
No stock panels cut down to fit, and no handoffs. The crew that measures your opening builds and installs the gate.
Two Kinds of Gate in The Hills, and Who Owns Each
The Hills is a village about 16 miles west of downtown Austin, a Type B general law city in Travis County. Inside it, the Hills of Lakeway Property Owners Association describes the community as a gated community protected by deed restrictions. That one fact splits gate work here into two different jobs.
- The community's gates. The POA's new owner packet lists security among its duties, including the management of guard contracts and all vehicle access control systems: gates, arm bars and associated equipment. Those belong to the POA, and work on them is bought by the POA.
- Your lot's gate and fence. A courtyard gate, a side gate, a pool enclosure or an iron fence on your own lot is yours to commission, subject to the POA's architectural approval.
The roads are part of this too. The packet states that the roads within The Hills are private and owned by the POA, alongside road maintenance and repairs. So a gate on your lot faces a POA road, not a public street, and anything we plan near the road edge is planned with that in mind.
The Architecture Committee Approves Before a Post Goes In
The packet is underlined on this point: an architectural modification request must be submitted for approval for any exterior home or landscape improvements prior to making any improvements. A gate, a fence line, a railing and an iron door all count.
The Architecture Committee is responsible for architectural compliance, and it works from the Architectural Rule Book and Guidelines for The Hills. That book sits on NABRnetwork, where access is limited to owners and residents, or it can be requested from the general manager. The fastest route the POA gives is an architectural approval request webform on the resident portal.
Because the rule book is behind the owner login, we read it with you at the site visit rather than guess at its contents. Then we prepare what the request needs:
- A shop drawing with height, picket pattern, finish color and gate swing.
- A site plan showing where the gate and fence sit on the lot.
- Hardware and any column or light details.
You submit through the portal, since it is your account. The job is checked against the current rule book and approvals at quote time, and nothing is fabricated until the committee has said yes.
Getting a Crew and a Gate Past the Gatehouse
A guard-gated community changes how an install day runs. Guest access in The Hills runs through QuickPass, which owners set up through NABRnetwork, so our crew and our truck come in on your guest access for the days you book.
A custom gate leaf is long and heavy, and it arrives on a trailer. We plan the delivery with you so the pass covers the right vehicles and the right dates, and so the trailer is parked and unloaded without blocking a private road the POA maintains. Posts, columns and footings are set on the first visit, and the finished gate is hung once the concrete has cured, which means two or more trips through the gate on your pass.
If your lot gate is automatic, its keypad or remote stays yours. It is separate from the community's entry equipment, and we never tie a lot gate into the POA's access system without the POA's written say.
The Village, Hurst Creek MUD and ESD 6
The POA is not the only review in The Hills. The owner packet lists floodplain permits as a Village of The Hills service, and drainage permit review and approval as a Hurst Creek MUD service. A fence line crossing a drainage path or a floodplain lot is a job where one of those may apply, and we confirm it before scheduling.
For fire code, the village adopts the 2021 International Fire Code as adopted by Travis County ESD No. 6, and names the ESD 6 fire marshal's office as the fire code official. How a responder opens an automatic lot gate is settled with ESD 6 at quote time, not assumed.
State law also applies. Texas SB 711, in force since September 1, 2025, bars an HOA from prohibiting a perimeter fence, while still letting it regulate type and material and keep a recorded rule against fencing forward of the front building line. How that meets The Hills' own deed restrictions is a question for the committee, and we plan to the answer.
Entry Gates, Arm Bars and Operators for the POA
Because the POA owns the community's vehicle access control, it is also a buyer of gate work. That is a commercial job, and we run it as one: a site survey of each entry, shop drawings for the gate leaves and columns, operators listed to UL 325 at a commercial duty cycle, loops, photo eyes and edges, and the arm bars and access control the guard staff use.
An entry cannot simply close for a week. We phase the replacement so one lane keeps working, schedule around the guard contract, and hand the board a written scope it can put in front of members at the monthly board meeting, which the packet says is held on the fourth Tuesday.
The village code has its own gate rule too. Section 9.01.001 requires a developer who connects streets into the village to build, at its own cost, a boundary fence, gated entrances or both, to plans the village approves. For a developer in that position, we build to the approved plan.
What Drives the Cost of Gate Work in The Hills
There is no posted price, because the scope is set by your lot and the committee's approval. The drivers, all reviewed at the free site visit:
- Opening width and leaf count, and whether a courtyard or driveway opening swings or slides.
- Slope and grade. A lot that falls away from the road needs a slide or cantilever design or a raked bottom rail.
- Steel, aluminum or ornamental iron and the gauge of pickets and frame.
- Finish. Galvanizing under powder coat in the color the committee approves.
- Columns and footings dug into Hill Country limestone.
- Operators and power, trenched or solar, with photo eyes, loops and edges.
- Access control, from a lot keypad to a full association entry system.
- Approvals through the POA, and the village or MUD where a lot needs them.
Call to book the measure. The work carries a written warranty.
The process
From Site Visit to a Gate That Runs
Four steps, and nothing is fabricated until you have signed off on the drawings and the price.
Free site visit
We measure the opening, the slope and where power can reach, and talk through style, automation and access.
Drawings and a written price
You get scaled drawings for your approval and for any HOA or city review, with one written price.
Fabricated in our shop
Steel is cut and welded to the approved drawings, then galvanized, powder coated or both.
Installed and tested
Columns and posts set, gate hung, operator set up to UL 325 and every safety device tested with you.
Gates, Fences and Ironwork We Build
Questions
The Hills: Gate and Fence Questions
Who approves a new gate or fence in The Hills?
The POA's Architecture Committee, through an architectural modification request submitted before any work begins. We prepare the drawings; you submit them through the resident portal.
How does your crew get through the guard gate?
Guest access in The Hills runs through QuickPass. You add our crew and delivery vehicle for the booked dates, and we plan each trip with you.
Can you work on the community's entry gates?
Only for the POA. The packet lists all vehicle access control, including gates and arm bars, as the POA's responsibility, so that work is commissioned by the board, and we scope it as a commercial job.
Do I need a village permit for a fence?
The POA handles construction approval under its governing documents. The village handles floodplain permits and Hurst Creek MUD reviews drainage permits, so a lot in a floodplain or drainage path may need one. We confirm it at quote time.
What does the fire department need for an automatic lot gate?
The village names the ESD 6 fire marshal's office as fire code official. Responder access for an automatic gate is confirmed with ESD 6 before the gate is built.
My drive slopes. Swing or slide?
A swing gate needs level ground across its arc, so on a steep lot a slide, cantilever or raked design is often the answer. We measure the grade at the site visit and draw the option that fits.
What happens in a power outage?
Operators can carry battery backup or a manual release, and a solar operator runs from its own battery. We set it up so the gate still opens.
What happens at the site visit?
We measure the opening and slope, read the Architectural Rule Book with you, look at power and drainage, and leave you with a written scope and a drawing plan for the committee.
Talk to us about a gate in The Hills
Free on-site measure across Austin and the west side. We call you back to set a time.
Calls only, we do not receive text messages.