Gates near you

Start from what has to pass through. A garden gate needs room for a wheelbarrow, a mower and the garbage bins; a driveway gate has to clear a car, a trailer or a snowplow with space to spare, which makes it a bigger, heavier structure.

A swinging gate is simpler to build and service, but it needs a clear arc on the side it opens toward, and the ground within that arc has to stay below the gate. A sliding gate moves along the fence line, so it suits short driveways, uphill slopes and spots where a car parks close to the gate, but it needs room beside the opening to slide into.

A powered gate is heavy machinery that moves on its own, and it can crush or pinch anyone caught between the gate and a post, a wall or the end of its travel. Children are drawn to ride or play on moving gates, so safety devices and placement matter as much as the motor. The opener should be matched to the gate's weight and width and installed following its manufacturer's instructions, with every safety feature in place.

The power supply isn't a DIY job. The Electrical Safety Authority advises hiring a Licensed Electrical Contractor for permanent outdoor wiring and outlets, and in Quebec, electrical contractors are qualified through the CMEQ. The trench for the cable to the gate also needs utility locates before digging.

A gate in a pool enclosure is a safety device first. Toronto's fence and pool enclosure rules treat anything on private property that can be used for swimming, wading or bathing and is 60 cm deep or more at any point as a swimming pool. On a single residential property the enclosure must be at least 1.2 metres high, and its gates must hang on substantial hinges, be self-closing and self-latching, and stay locked except when the pool area is in use; double gates need a lockable drop bolt. Quebec has a provincial residential pool-safety regulation with its own rules for enclosure doors, which the pool contractors page explains.

Parachute, Canada's injury-prevention charity, recommends a 1.2-metre, four-sided fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate, and explains that a properly installed gate closes and latches every time it is opened, which prevents unsupervised access by children.

A swinging gate hangs its whole weight off one post, and the wider the leaf, the harder it levers the top of that post toward the opening. Frost adds seasonal movement: when the hinge post and the latch post rise by different amounts, the latch stops meeting its keeper, and a gate that closed easily in the fall has to be lifted in February. Sound footings below the frost line on both sides of the opening, a rigid frame and adjustable hardware keep the two sides working together.