Security Gates in Quartz Hill, CA

Security in a required front yard has a low ceiling here. Section 22.110.070.B.1 caps a fence or wall in a required front yard at 3 feet 6 inches, and we build a gate in that line to the same height. A required interior side or rear yard allows 6 feet under B.2. On a corner lot the side street run gets 6 feet only once it is 5 feet or more back from the highway line. So a tall RV gate usually sits beside the house or along the back, and a gate in the required front yard stays low and heavy.

Heavier means the tube wall goes up, the joints are welded rather than bolted, and the hinges and rollers are sized for a gate that takes hits from trailers and wind. On our drawings a panel up to 6 feet gets a 2.5 inch square post, and gate posts step up toward 4 inch square as the leaf gets wider.

Posts in soft ground are where heavy gates fail first. We set gate posts at least 36 inches deep in concrete, a figure that is our shop practice and not a code, and go deeper for a wide leaf or a solid face. A heavy leaf on a shallow post leans the post, and a leaning post lets the latch side drop until the gate no longer closes true.

An RV or equipment gate on a big Quartz Hill lot is often wide. A swing gate needs room to arc inside the yard and a fairly level surface under it. A slide gate needs a clear run beside the opening about as long as the gate. On a yard with a tractor or trailers parked close to the fence, that parking space is often what decides it.

Before anything sharp or wire goes on top, ask county planning. The county section we work from sets heights, and we do not build toppers on a guess. If the gate will be automated, ASTM F2200 bars protrusions on an automated gate except for a short list the standard names, so spikes on a powered leaf are usually out regardless.

The use of the site sets the operator class under UL 325. Class I is residential for one to four families. Class II is commercial or five or more units. Class III is industrial with no public access. Class IV is guarded restricted access. Each entrapment zone needs two independent means of protection, reversal begins within 2 seconds, and at least two warning signs are posted.

A powered slide gate on Classes I, II and III also has to meet the ASTM F2200 slide gate rules: guarded rollers 8 feet or less above grade, positive stops at both ends, and screening against a 2.25 inch sphere across the gate and the fence it covers when open. Those slide gate provisions do not apply to a Class IV gate. Mesh added after the fact puts sail area on rollers that were sized lighter, so infill gets settled on the drawing.

For the finish, galvanizing under ASTM A123 with an AAMA 2604 class powder over it, prepped to ASTM D7803. Bring the clear opening width, the largest vehicle that passes through, which yard the gate sits in, and whether a motor is coming now or later.

This work runs out of our shop on Division Street in Lancaster. Read the full security gates details, or call (818) 220-8704 and we will come out.