What makes a good Gate?
People call up all the time and say, “I want a vinyl gate how much?”
That is probably not a very good question to ask. Why? Because gates are made in so many different ways. Different colors, styles, sizes, shapes, and other ways.
I tell everybody the same thing when they ask me for a quote for a vinyl gate. ALL VINYL GATES ARE NOT THE SAME. You will love vinyl fences, vinyl patio covers, vinyl gazebos, but you will not like vinyl gates – IF THEY ARE NOT MADE CORRECTLY!
People call up all the time and say, “I want a vinyl gate how much?”
That is probably not a very good question to ask. Why? Because gates are made in so many different ways. Different colors, styles, sizes, shapes, and other ways.
I tell everybody the same thing when they ask me for a quote for a vinyl gate. ALL VINYL GATES ARE NOT THE SAME. You will love vinyl fences, vinyl patio covers, vinyl gazebos, but you will not like vinyl gates – IF THEY ARE NOT MADE CORRECTLY!
How thick a gate makes a big difference in strength, although it’s not the only important factor to understand. Many companies will sell you a “vinyl fence panel” then say put that on hinges for your gate. This is the worst type of way to make a gate. Others will pop rivet the corners with no inserts inside the gates. These gates tend to loosen in the corners and be fairly narrow and not as strong. Most vinyl gates are 1.5″ to 2″ thick, the corners are held together with pop rivets, and they are hung with wood gate hardware that is opened with a string or closes with ugly springs.
We have gone to great effort designing a gate that is the strongest and best-engineered vinyl gate in the industry. If you are looking for a gate that requires no maintenance and does not depend upon small rivets for strength. It’s not worth chancing premature failure due to loosened rivets. If you are looking for a gate that won’t sag and drag, our vinyl gates are the answer. Our heavy duty Stainless Steel self-closing hinges are the best in the industry. Both wood and riveted vinyl gates will require continued adjustments and maintenance. There are different types of latches – locking and not locking.
There are “man” gates for smaller openings and double gates for areas like a driveway or where you need a bigger opening some time. Double gates usually come with one drop rod to keep one gate fixed while the other gate is the gate that you would usually open.
Many “gate kits” that are sold in hardware stores require gluing the corners. That type of construction never holds up long term and the glue become dry and brittle and the gate fails after a very short time. “Kits” can also have a lot of limitations are far from being able to be customized for widths and heights.
It’s all a bit hard to explain in an email and I highly recommend that you take the time to look at vinyl gates before you buy them. We have a showroom with ours and our competitor’s gate on display. You should come see the difference before you spend between $550 to $800 on gates and hardware (including installation and removal of the old gate).
Please refer to our new updated website www.finylvinylfencing.com for further information to review.
