Automatic gate installation in Encino
A motor is the easy part. The safety and the access are the job.
Fitting the motor is quick. Making the gate open for the right people, stay shut for everyone else and never close on a car takes planning. This page covers each piece so you know what to ask for. We connect you with an installer, licensed for gate work in Encino, whether your gate is new or already standing.
Start with the gate
An operator can only move a gate that's ready to move. Before anyone talks motors, the gate should:
If your gate fails any of these, fix that first, or the new operator inherits the problem. Gate repair in Encino
- Swing or roll freely by hand, with no drag, bind or tight spots.
- Be stiff enough not to flex or rack when pushed from one end. A gate that wobbles by hand will fight the operator every day.
- Hang on posts that do not move. A post that leans under load soon throws the gate out of line.
Swing operators
Swing gates usually have an arm on each leaf, on the property side. Linear arms push from a bracket on the pillar to one on the leaf. Articulated arms fold like an elbow and suit pillars too deep for a linear arm. Underground operators sit in a box below the hinge and hide almost everything.
Settle three things: an arm rated for the leaf's weight and width, the swing checked on a sloping drive before choosing the arm, and the two leaves of a double gate timed to meet cleanly.
Slide operators
A slide operator sits on a concrete pad beside the opening and drives a gear along a toothed rack on the gate. It suits heavy gates, long openings and sloping drives. It needs a solid level pad, a rack fixed straight along its length, and a gate that rolls freely before the operator is connected.
Safety is not optional
An automatic gate is heavy moving steel where cars, children and pets pass. Every automated gate should have:
- Safety eyes across the opening, low enough to see a small car or a child, wired to stop or reverse the gate when the beam breaks.
- Edges on a slide gate's leading end and at pinch points, which stop the gate on contact.
- A separate walk gate so nobody walks through the vehicle opening while it moves.
- Clear space at the end of a slide gate's travel and behind a swing gate's arc, so nobody gets caught against a wall.
Ask for a safety listed operator with the eyes and edges set up as its instructions require, and a demonstration that the gate reverses when the eyes are blocked, before sign off.
Getting in and out
Remotes
The simplest way in. Each remote must match the operator's receiver, so note the make.
Keypad
A code on a post at car window height, set back so the car is fully off the street. Codes can change for guests, cleaners and trades.
Intercom with camera
A call button that rings a phone or indoor station, with video so you see who's there before opening. Handy for deliveries and visitors.
Phone control
Many current operators can join a phone app, so you can open the gate from anywhere. It depends on the operator and on Wi-Fi or a cellular module reaching the gate.
The exit sensor
Most people want the gate to open by itself as they drive out. That's usually a loop: a wire in a thin saw cut on the property side that senses a car above it. It goes in a solid slab, or under new pavers before they're laid. A wireless probe works where cutting the drive won't.
Power
The operator needs power at the gate, usually a conduit run from the house. On a new driveway, lay that conduit, plus a spare for the keypad or intercom, before the surface goes down. A backup battery keeps the gate working through an outage; without one, you use the manual release. Solar can run a light gate with modest use, but struggles in shade under big trees.
On a hillside driveway
Steep drives change the plan. A swing leaf can hit the rising slope, so a slide gate or a different arm may be needed, and a waiting car needs room to stop level. Where a hillside gate would sit in the public right of way, the city's permit manual says a road narrower than twenty feet in front must be widened to twenty feet of paving as a condition of the permit. (LA Bureau of Engineering, Revocable Permit manual)
LA Bureau of Engineering, Revocable Permit manual.
Height and setback still apply
A motor doesn't change the front yard limits: three and a half feet on R zoned lots, six feet on RA or A zoned lots, eight feet only with a Zoning Administrator's approval (LAMC 12.22 C.20(f)(2)). On an arterial street, a gate in the public right of way should sit twenty feet back of the curb face. Encino gate height rules
LAMC 12.22 C.20(f)(2).
Questions about automatic gates
Can my existing gate be automated?
Often, if it moves freely by hand, is stiff enough not to flex, and hangs on posts that stay put. A gate that drags, wobbles or leans needs fixing first, and some light or older gates aren't worth motorizing. Ask the installer to check the gate and posts before choosing an operator.
Swing or slide operator, which is better?
It depends on the gate and the driveway. Swing arms suit most double gates on a level drive. A slide operator suits heavy gates, long openings and sloping drives. Where the leaves would hit a rising driveway, a slide gate or a different arm is usually the answer.
What happens when the power goes out?
With a backup battery, the gate keeps working for a number of cycles. Without one, you open it with the manual release, which usually needs a key. Ask where the release is, and keep the key somewhere you can find it in the dark.
Do I need a keypad and an intercom?
Not always. Remotes cover the household. A keypad adds codes for guests and services, and an intercom with a camera lets you see and talk to someone before opening. Many people start with remotes and a keypad and add an intercom later, so run a spare conduit now.
Tell us about the gate
Call, 8am to 7pm every day(818) 873-7383- One licensed gate installer who covers your street gets your note.
- They call you back to talk it through and set a time.
- The quote, the work and the warranty are theirs.