Building masonry columns on each side of an iron or aluminum driveway gate can make for a breathtaking entryway to your home. However, there are 3 reasons why you will want to choose your driveway get BEFORE you build those columns.

Combining an aluminum or iron driveway gate with masonry columns made of stone, brick or stucco can make for an awesome and breathtaking entrance to your home. However, its also the driveway gate project that we see folks struggle with the most and run into lots of install problems with.

So today, I wanted to go over 3 reasons why you want to choose your driveway gate BEFORE you plan and build your columns to avoid future headaches.

Reason #1 is the immense variance in driveway gate spacing requirements

The number 1 issue we see week-in and week-out with driveway gates is folks building the columns first and then going gate shopping second. Why is this an issue? Because rarely does the stated gate width equal the spacing needed to hang it. Building two columns 16ft apart and expecting a 16ft gate to fit is a recipe for disaster when it’s time to get your gate. Stated sizes usually don’t include hinge and latch spacing needs or metal posts.

Compounding the issue further is the fact that driveway gate spacing requirements almost never match from manufacturer to manufacturer. A 16ft wide gate from 3 different manufacturers is going to likely have 3 different column spacing requirements. The reason it varies so much comes down to gate construction, the style of the gate, the hinge and latch hardware used, single or double gate, plus the posts being utilized to hang the gates. And that takes us to reason #2.

Reason #2 to choose your gate before building masonry columns is deciding whether to mount the driveway gate on metal posts or to the columns directly.

Much like reason #1, this is going to be a major factor in the final spacing requirements between your columns. A 16ft gate mounting directly to columns may require 16ft 8in of spacing between. That same 16ft gate mounted on metal posts may need almost 18ft to fit between the masonry columns.

Now you may be thinking “why would I use metal posts if I’m building columns? Isn’t that what the columns are there for?”. Well, it depends.

While it is possible to attach your gates directly to the columns, you need to make sure the column is engineered to take the weight and leverage force of the gate. Many columns are simply decorative are not constructed to safely hold a gate. We will always recommend using the metal gate posts if you can. The metal posts are stronger and work better with standard gate hardware available on the market. Metal gate posts also make for a much more DIY friendly installation.

We can provide all the hardware you need to install your gate against metal posts. If you want to install the gate directly to the columns, there is no ‘connect to column’ gate hardware kit on the market. This is because column construction varies so much. So, you will need to engineer your gate connections to the columns on your own vs having instructions from us. Now, does that mean you can’t connect your iron or aluminum gate directly to your columns? Not necessarily, but if you elect to mount the gates directly to the column, you’ll need to work closely with a mason that can help advise on the best column construction and hinge attachment method to support your specific gate’s weight and leverage force.

Final reason #3 to choose your driveway gate before building your columns is taking underground considerations into account.

Underground considerations revolve around pre-planning for several below ground things that could impact your gate post and column placement.

The first underground consideration is buried utilities such as gas, water and drainage lines. Before you get too deep into the gate or column planning process, make a phone call to 811 or visit call811.com to have your utilities marked. This is a free service offered around the US where you can have someone come mark your utility lines before you dig. Keep in mind that 811 can only mark public utilities. Make sure you don’t have any drainage gutters, landscape lighting or invisible dog fence wires hiding underground near the driveway that could be impacted as well by your underground column or metal post foundations.

Another underground consideration is the interaction between the foundations of your metal posts and columns. If you are mounting your gate directly to the column, then this won’t be an issue. However, if you are using the metal gate posts with your columns like we recommend, you want to account for the underground foundations of the post and column as they could affect how close the two are above ground.