Austin Metal Gates designs and installs automatic driveway gates in Austin, TX, and is Travis County's trusted specialist in complete gate automation, specializing in swing and slide operators, monitored photo eyes and vehicle exit loops. We offer keypad entry and battery backup power.
Our team provides the whole entry under one contract, delivering a drive that opens at the press of a remote for homes and dependable, well-planned access for both residential and commercial projects. We measure the opening and the slope of your drive ourselves, build the leaf in our own shop to drawings you approve, and set the operator up to UL 325 before handing you the remotes.
From placing the hinge posts where the operator arm needs them to wiring the eyes, loops and keypad, our team handles every detail. Serving Austin, West Lake Hills, Lost Creek and Lakeway, we finish every job with a walk-through so you know each way the entry opens.
Why Austin Metal Gates
No stock panels cut down to fit, and no handoffs. The crew that measures your opening builds and installs the gate.
Most owners who call us have an open drive and a clear picture of the result: a gate that opens as the car arrives and closes behind it. Getting there takes five parts that have to be planned together, and buying them from separate trades is where gaps between them appear.
Because one crew plans all five, the hinge posts go where the operator needs them, conduit is in the ground before concrete is poured, and the safety devices are on the drawing rather than bolted on afterwards. If you already own a gate and only want it motorized, our gate operator installation service is the better fit for that job.
The shape of the drive usually chooses the style before taste does. On the site visit we look at three things: how much room sits beside and behind the opening, how the grade runs, and what is near the leaf when it moves.
A single or double leaf on hinges is the classic look and suits a fairly level approach with room for the leaves to travel. The construction standard calls for at least 16 inches between a swinging leaf and a fixed object such as a wall or column, or else added entrapment protection in that zone. A drive that climbs away from the street can stop an inward swing short, so we check the rise across the full arc with a level before anything is drawn.
A sliding leaf travels along the fence line instead of into the drive, which is why it is the usual answer where space is tight or the driveway is steep. A cantilever version rides on rollers set beside the opening with no track across the pavement. Both have their own pages on this site; on an automated system the choice changes the operator type, the device layout and the footing plan. Whatever the style, a sliding leaf has to roll smoothly by hand in both directions before any operator is attached, and a swinging leaf has to hang true on its hinges. We build to that first, then automate.
UL 325 is the safety standard that gate operators are listed to, and ASTM F2200 governs how the gate itself is built. Every automated entry we design is drawn against both from the start.
On the leaf, openings in the lower 48 inches are screened so a 2.25 inch sphere cannot pass through, weight-bearing rollers are covered, and positive stops end travel at fully open and fully closed.
How the gate is told to open matters as much as how it moves. A typical system combines handheld remotes for the household, a keypad or intercom post at the approach for guests and deliveries, and an induction loop saw-cut into the drive on the inside, which senses the metal of a departing car and opens without anyone reaching for a button. Intercoms and code systems have their own page here; on this job they are specified as part of the whole.
Local rules shape the layout, and several cities we serve write them down:
Codes change, so every layout is checked against the current city code and any HOA or POA guidelines at the time we quote.
We do not publish a figure for an automated entry, because two drives on the same street can need very different systems. These are the factors that decide where yours lands:
The honest way to put a number on all of that is to stand at the opening. The on-site measure is free, and the written quote that follows lists each part of the system on its own line.
We measure the opening, shoot the grade across the drive, mark where power can reach, and note what sits in the swing or slide path. Photos and dimensions go back to the shop.
You receive shop drawings of the leaf, columns and device layout. If your neighborhood has an architectural committee, those drawings are what goes into the application, and no steel is cut until you sign off.
The leaf is cut, fitted and welded in our shop, then finished. Posts, conduit and footings go in on site while fabrication runs.
We hang or set the leaf, mount the operator, wire the eyes, edges and loop, program the remotes and keypad, and adjust force and travel limits.
Every safety device is tested in both directions of travel with you watching. We show you how to release the operator and move the gate by hand, where the warning signs are, and how the backup power behaves. You keep the operator manual and a written warranty. Call us to book the free site visit and see what an automated entry looks like on your own drive.
The process
Four steps, and nothing is fabricated until you have signed off on the drawings and the price.
We measure the opening, the slope and where power can reach, and talk through style, automation and access.
You get scaled drawings for your approval and for any HOA or city review, with one written price.
Steel is cut and welded to the approved drawings, then galvanized, powder coated or both.
Columns and posts set, gate hung, operator set up to UL 325 and every safety device tested with you.
Questions
The width of the opening, the gate style, the slope of the drive, the material and finish, the operator, how power reaches the post and which entry and safety devices go with it. We walk through each one on the free site visit and itemize them in the written quote.
It depends on the design, the finish and the operator, and you get a schedule with the quote. Site work such as footings and conduit runs while the leaf is in the shop, so installation is short once fabrication is done.
A fairly level drive with room for the leaves suits a swing gate. A steep drive, a short run between the street and the garage, or a wall close to the opening usually points to a sliding or cantilever design. We settle it with you on site rather than from a photo.
You are the applicant, because the approval is tied to your lot, but we prepare the drawings, finish details and device layout the committee asks for and help put the submission together. Nothing is fabricated until it is approved.
Fire access is part of the layout, usually a key switch or an access box accepted by the local fire district. West Lake Hills requires an ESD 9 approved access box and Lakeway asks for an ESD 6 key switch on coded gates. We confirm what your district expects when we quote.
The systems we design carry a battery that keeps the operator working after mains power drops, and West Lake Hills makes an integral emergency power source mandatory. If the battery runs down, the operator can be released so the leaf moves by hand.
We work across Travis County, including Austin, Rollingwood, West Lake Hills, Sunset Valley, Shady Hollow, Barton Creek, Lost Creek, Steiner Ranch, The Hills, Lakeway and Volente. Call with your address and we will confirm.
Yes. Every automated entry we install comes with a written warranty, and the operator documentation is handed over at the walk-through.
We measure the opening and the grade, look at where power can come from, check the swing or slide path, and talk through how you and your guests will get in and out. It is free and carries no obligation.
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.
