Driveway Gate Terminology: The Words on a Quote, a Spec Sheet and an Opener Box, Explained

Every trade has a vocabulary, and gates are no exception: a quote talks about clear openings and hinge posts, an opener box about duty cycles and usage classes, a spec sheet about wall thickness and powder coat. None of it is hard once it is defined. This glossary is organised by the order you meet the words - the opening, the gate, the hardware, the opener, the finish, the delivery - and each entry says what the term is and why it matters to you. Where a term deserves a whole guide, it links to one.

The opening

Clear opening. Inside face of one post to inside face of the other; the width a vehicle passes through. The gate is built narrower than this. See how to measure.

Post to post. The same measurement, said the way fabricators say it.

Apron. The stretch of driveway between the street and the gate. A short apron is why cars stop in the road while a gate opens outward, and why sliders and dual swings are popular.

Swing arc. The quarter-circle a swing panel sweeps as it opens. Must be clear of cars, doors and rising ground.

Run-off (or run-back). The straight length of fence line a sliding gate travels along when open - at least the gate's width for a tracked slider, about one and a half times for a cantilever.

Cross-slope / grade. Ground that is higher on one side of the opening than the other, or rises through the arc. Decides swing versus slide; see the slope guide.

Ground clearance. The gap between the bottom rail and the highest point of the ground the panel passes over. Two to four inches is typical.

The gate

Swing gate. Hinged on a post, opens through an arc. Single (one panel) or dual (two panels meeting in the middle); see single vs. dual.

Sliding gate. Rolls sideways along a ground track. Tracked (rollers on a rail in the driveway) or cantilever (hangs from rollers on posts, nothing on the ground). See swing vs. sliding.

Bi-fold gate. Panels that fold back on themselves, for openings with no room to swing or slide; specialist and uncommon on residential driveways.

Panel (or leaf). One moving section of a gate. A dual swing has two panels.

Frame. The welded perimeter of the panel - top and bottom rails and the two stiles - that carries the load. Ours is 2-inch steel tube.

Rail / stile. Horizontal and vertical members of the frame, respectively. The bottom rail is what clears the ground; the hinge stile is the vertical member the hinges bolt to.

Pickets. The vertical bars between the rails. Single spacing is the classic look; double halves the gap; puppy picket adds short bars at the bottom to keep small dogs in.

Infill. Whatever fills the frame instead of or in addition to pickets - wood boards, sheet, mesh. Ironwood is the dense hardwood we use, oiled rather than painted, in vertical or horizontal boards.

Frame only. A welded frame with no pickets or infill, for your own boards.

Arch top / finial. An arch shapes the top of the panel; finials are the decorative points on the picket tops. Neither spans the opening, so nothing overhead limits tall vehicles.

Pedestrian gate / walk gate. A separate narrow gate for foot traffic beside the driveway gate.

Posts and hardware

Hinge post. The post that carries the panel through the hinges - the loaded one. Latch post carries only the latch. See posts and clearance.

Wall thickness (wall). The thickness of the steel in a tube post, which is what resists bending. Standard 0.120 inch; heavy-duty 3/16 inch.

Footing. The concrete a post is set in. Depth, diameter and drainage decide whether the post stays plumb.

Plumb / level. Vertical / horizontal, exactly. A hinge post out of plumb makes a gate swing on its own.

Hinge. Weld-on or bolt-on; adjustable hinges let you fine-tune the panel's hang after it is up. Rated for panel weight.

Latch / strike. The catch on the panel and the plate it meets on the post (or other panel).

Drop rod (cane bolt). A vertical rod on a dual gate's fixed panel that drops into a sleeve in the driveway to hold it shut.

Gate stop. A block or post that stops a panel at the closed position so the latch meets.

Openers and access control

Opener / operator. The motor that moves the gate. The trade says operator; homeowners say opener; product pages use both.

Arm operator (linear / articulated). A swing operator that pushes and pulls the panel from the post. Underground operator does the same from a box at the hinge.

Chain drive / rack-and-pinion (gear drive). How a slide operator pulls the gate - a chain along the gate, or a toothed rack the motor's pinion gear runs on.

Rating (max weight / max length). The heaviest and longest panel an operator is built to move. Stay under both. See the opener guide.

Duty cycle. How many open-close cycles per hour or day an operator is designed for. Residential is a handful; commercial is dozens.

Usage class (Class I–IV). UL 325's categories from single-family residential to restricted industrial, which set what safety devices are required.

UL 325. The US safety standard for automatic gate operators; see the safety guide.

Entrapment protection. Devices that stop a gate closing on a person or vehicle: photo-eyes (a beam across the opening) and contact edges (a pressure strip on the leading edge). Required, separate from access control.

Manual release. The key or lever that disconnects the operator so the gate can be moved by hand in an outage.

Rolling code. Remotes that send a different code each press so a recorded signal cannot be replayed.

Exit loop / exit sensor. A sensor inside the gate that opens it for a vehicle leaving. See access control.

Keypad, intercom, video intercom, smart controller. The ways a gate is told to open - code, voice, video, phone app.

Solar kit. A panel, charge controller and battery that power a low-voltage operator without a mains run. See solar vs. electric.

Finish and materials

Powder coat. A dry powder applied electrostatically and baked into a hard skin. Tougher and more even than paint. Ours goes over an anti-gassing primer.

Anti-gassing primer. A primer that stops gases escaping from welded steel during baking, which would otherwise leave pinholes in the powder coat.

Galvanized. Steel with a zinc coating for rust resistance; often under powder coat on fence products.

Rust weeping / bleed. Faint rust streaks from crevices a coating cannot reach - cosmetic, and controlled with silicone. See the warranty page.

Mild steel / wrought iron. Mild steel is what modern "wrought iron" gates are made of; true wrought iron is a historic material. The look is the same; the material guide compares them with aluminum and wood.

Ironwood. Dense tropical hardwood used for infill; heavy, rot-resistant, darkens with weather.

Ordering and delivery

Made to order / sized to the inch. Built to your dimensions rather than stock sizes. We charge the same per gate regardless of the inch.

Lead time. Production time before the gate ships; shown on the product page. See the shipping page.

LTL freight. Less-than-truckload - a pallet on a shared truck, how gates ship. Lift-gate lowers the pallet to the ground; residential delivery is an appointment-booked drop at a home.

Delivery receipt / proof of delivery (POD). The paper you sign when the truck arrives. Note any damage on it before signing; see what to do on delivery day.

Will-call. Collecting the order at the factory instead of shipping.

F.O.B. origin. A shipping term meaning ownership transfers when the carrier collects the goods, and the seller arranges and insures the carriage as your agent - the arrangement in our Terms of Sale.

If a term on a quote or a product page is not here, ask the gate expert - it answers in the same plain English, and it will tell you if the thing you are being quoted for is something you actually need.