Rollingwood · Sunset Valley · Shady Hollow · Barton Creek
Metal Gates in West Lake Hills, Built to the City's Gated Driveway Code
Austin Metal Gates builds metal gates in West Lake Hills, TX, and is a leading Travis County gate fabricator, specializing in inward-swing driveway gates, cantilever slide gates and battery-backed gate operators. We offer muted-finish iron fencing and deep-set front yard runs.
- Free on-site measure
- Shop drawings you approve
- Operators set up to UL 325
- One written price
Gates and ironwork in West Lake Hills
Our team provides access boxes, keypads and intercoms, delivering quiet, reliable entry for homes and code-ready hardware for both residential and commercial projects. Every opening is measured on site by our own installers, and every panel is welded in our shop to shop drawings you sign off before we start.
From an ESD 9 approved access box on the gate post to a front run set 30 feet back and screened with native plants, our team handles every detail. Serving West Lake Hills, Rollingwood and Barton Creek, we check each job against the city code as it stands on the day we quote.
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.
The West Lake Hills Gated Driveway Rule, Section 22.03.173
Few cities spell out gate design the way West Lake Hills does. Section 22.03.173 of the city code has a part titled gated driveways, and it reads like a specification. A gated driveway has to let entering and exiting vehicles stop completely off the street. The gate itself shall open parallel to, or away from, the street.
Those two sentences decide the layout before style comes into it. The gate sits far enough up the drive that a waiting car clears the roadway, and it either swings inward, toward the house, or slides across the opening. An outward swing pair at the curb is not something we will draw here.
On a sloping drive, an inward swing can hit the rising grade before it opens fully. That is where a slide or cantilever earns its place: the leaf travels sideways across the slope, and a cantilever hangs on rollers beside the opening with no track across the pavement. We read the grade at the site visit and tell you which type the drive actually allows.
Backup Power and an ESD 9 Access Box on Every Automated Gate
The same section goes further than most codes on automation. Electric or electronically controlled driveway gates shall have an emergency power source as an integral component of the system. For us that means a backup battery sized to the operator, wired in from day one rather than offered as an extra.
Every lockable gate must also carry a security access box approved by Travis County ESD No. 9, the fire district that covers the city. When the rule arrived, existing lockable gates were given six months to retrofit, so the requirement reaches older installations too. We plan the box position on the post during drawings, confirm the approved model with ESD 9 at quote time, and mount it where a fire crew will look first.
Around those two requirements the rest of the system is standard: an operator matched to the leaf weight and daily cycles, photo eyes across the opening, a keypad or intercom at the approach, remotes for the household, and a manual release. Operators are set up to UL 325, the safety standard automatic gate operators are listed to in the United States.
Front Yard Iron Fencing: Set Back, See-Through and Screened
West Lake Hills discourages front-yard fences, and where it allows one the rules are specific. The fence must allow at least 80 percent visibility and be screened on the street side with native plants covering 80 percent of the exposed area. The minimum setback from the pavement edge is 20 feet on lots under 0.75 acre and 30 feet on lots of 0.75 acre or more.
The permit application asks for more than a sketch. It wants a street-view elevation, a landscape plan, a depiction of three years of plant growth and a post-to-post fence elevation showing picket size and spacing. We produce the fence elevation from our shop drawings, so the picket and spacing numbers on the application match the steel that arrives on site.
An open picket design in slim steel, with the screening planted in front of it, meets both halves of the rule. It also tends to look better from the street than a heavy panel would, because the planting reads first and the iron reads second.
Muted Colors, No Spikes, and the City's Height Limits
Finish is regulated too. Fences in West Lake Hills must be muted in color, and a material with a bright or shiny finish must be primed and painted a natural color. Barbed wire and any other sharp, pointed or penetrating material are prohibited on new fences, so spear-point finials are off the table and every top we draw is flat or capped.
Height depends on where the fence stands. The limit is 6 feet inside a setback and 8 feet outside the setback where the fence is at least 80 percent transparent. Electrified fences are capped at 4 feet.
Our steel is mild steel, which is what nearly every modern fence marketed as wrought iron is made of. For a West Lake Hills finish we galvanize it first, dipping it in molten zinc for a bonded corrosion barrier, then powder coat it in a low-sheen color chosen to satisfy the muted rule. The city decides what counts as natural, so we bring the color choice into the permit conversation instead of guessing.
What Drives the Cost of a Gate or Fence in West Lake Hills
We quote each job in writing after measuring it, because the code items above change the scope from lot to lot. The main cost drivers:
- Gate type. An inward swing is simpler to build; a slide or cantilever carries more steel and hardware but solves a sloped or tight drive.
- Opening width, leaf count and the frame and picket gauge the design needs.
- The operator and its duty cycle, the mandatory backup power source, and whether power reaches the gate by trench or by solar panel.
- The ESD 9 access box, the keypad or intercom, photo eyes, and safety edges.
- Columns and footings, including masonry columns and digging through rock.
- Fence length at a 20 or 30 foot setback, plus stepped panels where the grade changes.
- Galvanizing and powder coat in a muted color.
- The permit package: elevations, the landscape coordination and filing.
None of that can be priced honestly from a photo. The site visit is free and ends with a clear scope.
From the Site Visit to a Finished West Lake Hills Gate
We begin at the property. The installers who will hang the gate measure the drive, the distance to the street, the grade and the pavement edge, and note where power and the access box can go. That tells us whether the drive takes an inward swing or needs a slide.
Shop drawings come next: gate elevation, travel path, operator and battery location, box position, and for a fence the post-to-post elevation the city asks for. You approve them, then we check the package against the current code at quote time and prepare the permit.
Everything is cut and welded in our shop, galvanized, and powder coated before it leaves. On site the crew sets columns and posts, hangs the leaves, installs the operator with its backup power, and tests the photo eyes and the manual release in front of you. The job is handed over with 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
West Lake Hills: Gate and Fence Questions
Can my West Lake Hills driveway gate swing out toward the street?
No. Section 22.03.173 requires a driveway gate to open parallel to or away from the street, and the drive must let a car stop completely off the road. We design an inward swing or a slide, set far enough up the drive to meet both rules.
Does my existing gate need an ESD 9 access box?
The code requires every lockable gate to carry a security access box approved by Travis County ESD No. 9, and existing lockable gates were given six months to retrofit when the rule came in. If yours has none, we can add one and confirm the approved model with the district.
What happens to my gate in a power outage?
The city requires an emergency power source built into every electric driveway gate, so ours ship with a backup battery sized to the operator. A manual release is also fitted in case the battery is ever exhausted.
What does a new gate cost in West Lake Hills?
It turns on the gate type, opening width, steel gauge, operator and power, the access box and access control, the columns, and galvanizing and powder coat. We measure first and give a written quote, with no number offered before we have seen the drive.
Swing or slide for a sloped West Lake Hills driveway?
An inward swing can hit a rising drive before it opens fully. A slide or cantilever moves sideways and avoids that. We read the grade at the site visit and recommend the type the drive actually allows.
Can I build an iron fence in my front yard?
Sometimes. The city discourages it, and where it is allowed the fence must be 80 percent see-through, screened with native plants and set 20 or 30 feet back from the pavement depending on lot size. We prepare the elevation the permit application asks for.
How long does fabrication take?
It depends on the design and the permit timing. We give a written fabrication date once the drawings are approved, and galvanizing and powder coat are built into that date.
Is there a warranty?
Yes. Every gate, operator installation and fence we build carries a written warranty, handed over at the final walkthrough.
Talk to us about a gate in West Lake 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.