How Much Room Does a Sliding Gate Need?

Whatsapp

If you want to get through your fence and into your property, you’re going to need a gate. If you do it with a vehicle, you’ll need a vehicle gate or driveway gate, and if you’re like many people, you might want a sliding gate.

However, most people don’t realize that you need a specific amount of space for your sliding gate to operate. Here’s what you need to know.

Your Sliding Gate Needs Somewhere to Go

The first thing you need to know about the question of how much room does a sliding gate need is that all sliding gates – regardless of type – need somewhere to go. That means that no matter what kind of sliding gate you choose, you will need to have at least the same size as the gate opening size – and sometimes considerably more space for your gate to slide!

How Much Room Do Different Types of Sliding Gates Need?

Now that you know the golden rule about how much room sliding gates need to work, the next thing you need to know is how much space specific types of sliding gates need to operate.

Cantilever Gates

If you’re in North America, then the most common type of sliding gate in your area is probably a cantilever gate. These gates need at least one and a half times the opening sizes to slide into when they open, and that’s because, as the name suggests, there’s a “trailer” on the end of the gate that acts as a counterbalance to the gate, and that is typically half the opening size plus one foot.

So if you want a cantilever gate, the answer to the question of how much room does a sliding gate need is at least one and a half times the opening size plus one foot.

Rolling Gates

The other type of sliding gate that is common in North America is the rolling gate, which uses a track and bracket system and a carrier wheel, unlike cantilever gates which use roller systems and sometimes gate-mounted tracks.

Rolling gates usually only require the opening size plus about a foot to open fully, but they’re very hard to automate, so if you want an automatic gate, this might not be the best choice.

Rack Style Sliding Gates

In other parts of the world, outside of North America, the most common type of sliding gates are the type that is used with rack-style gate motors. These sliding gates only have to be a foot or two lager than the gate opening to operate.

What Other Options Do You Have?

If you don’t have enough room for your sliding gate to open fully, you do have a few options that you could use when designing your gate:

• You could design a double sliding gate or cantilever gate, which opens in the middle and slides to either side – this is a good compromise if the location of your gate can’t change and if you have enough room for the gate halves to slide
• If you have less space on one side of your gate than the other, you can also do a double sliding gate or cantilever gate that is not in exact halves – so one side can be larger than the other if that’s what space dictates
• You could have your sliding gate latch onto a double swing panel on the other side, which allows you to have gates that can open the full size you need, but limit the room you need for the slider portion of your gate
• You could consider an alternative to sliding gates or cantilever gates – such as a vertical lift gate or a tilt gate – these work differently from sliding gates, but they can be automated, and they take up less horizontal room
• It may be possible to design a concertina style sliding gate that slides on itself, using panel mounted track systems

When you’re designing a sliding gate or cantilever gate for a complicated site and entranceway, it’s always a good idea to call a professional fence or gate company.

They will know exactly what options are available in your area and what kind of solutions will work for your project. They will also be able to advise you about custom solutions, like the concertina style sliding gate we mentioned above.