Custom Steel Gates in Lancaster, CA

What we measure

We come out and take the opening from post to post, and note which way the drive falls across it. We look at how much room there is inside the property for a leaf to swing, or beside the opening for one to slide. We note whether power runs near the gate, in case a motor goes on now or years from now, and where the meter and any utility lines sit near the post lines. Those numbers go back to the Lancaster shop, and every piece of steel is cut to them.

How tall the gate can be

A gate standing in a fence line is planned to that fence's height, and inside city limits the height depends on the setback. Lancaster Municipal Code 17.08.130 allows 4 feet within the front yard setback or a corner lot side yard setback, and 6 feet within a side or rear setback. Before the frame is drawn, ask the planning counter how they read a gate in your particular line.

The code reads height from finished grade at the base to the top edge of the steel, under section 17.08.130.C. A drive that falls across the opening therefore gives a different reading at each end of the gate, and we draw the frame so the low end still lands inside the limit. More height takes paperwork: section 17.08.130.E lets a director's review approve up to 25 percent over the limit, which turns 4 feet into 5. That is a submittal and a wait, so it gets decided before any tube is cut.

A mailing address in Lancaster does not settle which code applies. Unincorporated county land runs right up against the city, and there LA County Code 22.110.070 allows 3.5 feet in a required front yard and 6 feet in interior side and rear yards. The parcel record answers the question.

Swing or slide

Swing leaves need clear arc space inside the property and ground close to level where they open. A slide gate needs a clear run beside the opening, about as long as the gate is wide, to park in when it is open. A drive that climbs from the street favors a slide, because a swing leaf would scrape at the bottom of its arc. With a double swing, the weight is split between two posts; a single leaf hangs the whole opening from one.

Open or solid

Infill decides looks, privacy and wind load together. Open pickets let most of a gust pass through. A solid face stops all of it and hands it to the hinges and the post. Wind here is not a small number: at the National Weather Service station at Fox Field in Lancaster, April 2026 averaged 13.6 mph and reached a sustained 40 mph on April 2. A solid gate gets a heavier post and a deeper footing than an open gate of the same width.

Frame, hinges and posts

Every gate is a frame of steel tube, cut and welded to the measured opening. The post carries the real load. The leaf hangs off one face of it, so the demand on the post is the weight of the leaf multiplied by how far that weight reaches out. Widen the gate and the load on the post climbs faster than the width. Gate posts run heavier than fence posts and grow with the leaf, up to 4 inch square tube on the widest, and a swing opening wider than roughly 16 feet gets two leaves instead of one. We cut gate posts long enough for at least 36 inches below ground, more for a wide or solid leaf. That is our practice, not a code minimum.

Built ready for a motor

Tell us at the measure if a motor might come later. The frame, hinges and posts get sized for the extra work an operator adds, and a sleeve is welded through the post so a wiring path exists inside the steel. Once a gate is powered, ASTM F2200 governs how it is built: the leaf must not fall more than 45 degrees from vertical if it comes off its hardware, and the openings in a slide gate, from the ground up to 72 inches or the full height of a shorter gate, must stop a 2.25 inch sphere. Those are cheaper to weld in at the start than to add afterward. The operator, its wiring and its controls come from other trades.

Apartment developments

On a multifamily development, which the code defines as several buildings of three or more units each in the MDR and HDR zones, section 17.08.130.G allows a masonry wall, a tubular steel fence or a comparable material up to 6 feet. A picket gate in a tubular steel run fits that plainly. For a solid gate on one of those developments, ask planning how they will read it before the frame is ordered.

Finish

The gate leaves the shop finished. Hot dip galvanizing to ASTM A123 goes on first, then a powder topcoat. The American Galvanizers Association rates that duplex pairing at 1.5 to 2.3 times the combined life of either coating alone. ASTM D7803 sets out the heat step that keeps the zinc from outgassing pinholes into the powder. For color, ask for an AAMA 2604 class powder rather than the basic 2603 tier.

When it is done, the gate leaves Division Street on a truck. To change or fix a gate you already own, see gate welding in Lancaster. For a fence to match, see steel fences in Lancaster. The custom steel gates page covers frame sizing and the operator standards in more depth.