A driveway gate around Hammond has no single typical price, because the parts that make one up vary so much from job to job. Width, material, frame bracing, the hinge posts, swing or slide, and whether it is automated each change the cost. The one part with a dependable local range is the standard walk gate, at $150 to $600 each.
Palisades Hammond Fence installs walk gates, double drive gates, sliding gates and automatic gates in Hammond and across Tangipahoa Parish, western St. Tammany and eastern Livingston Parish. Installation is carried out by licensed and insured fence contractors. This guide breaks a gate into the parts it is priced by, explains what moves each one, and lists what a complete quote should include. The walk gate figure is a typical budgeting range, not a company price. For fence prices by type, see the fence installation cost guide.
A gate is priced as separate parts
A gate quote that gives one number hides where the money goes. Breaking it apart shows what you are paying for and what is missing.
| Part | What it covers | What moves its price |
|---|---|---|
| Gate leaf or leaves | The frame and infill | Width, material (wood, aluminum, steel, vinyl, chain link), frame bracing, design |
| Posts and footings | Hinge and latch posts, or the slide’s support posts | Post size and material, depth, footing size, wet ground |
| Hardware | Hinges, latch, drop rod, stops, wheels | Leaf weight, hinge type, self-closing or lockable hardware |
| Installation | Setting posts, hanging the gate, adjustment | Grade across the opening, access, post curing time before hanging |
| Automation (optional) | Operator, power, controls, safety devices | Gate weight and width, power run distance, control type |
Walk gates use the first four parts in their smallest form, which is why a dependable range exists for them. A 12 to 16 ft double drive gate uses the same parts at a size where each one is a decision.
What drives a walk gate within $150 to $600
A 4 ft wood gate on the fence’s own posts with simple hinges and a gravity latch sits at the low end.
The top of the range comes from wider leaves, steel or aluminum frames, heavier gate posts, self-closing hinges, lockable or pool-rated latches and an opening across uneven ground. In a wood fence, the gate’s hinge post is the one most likely to move, and homeowners report gate posts rotting at the ground years before the rest of the fence. A heavier post set for drainage is the part of a walk gate worth paying for. The gate installation page covers the build.
Driveway gates: swing, double and sliding
Double swing gates
A double drive gate splits a wide opening into two leaves on two hinge posts, held closed by a drop rod into the drive. Its cost moves with the total width, the frame material, diagonal bracing, the size and depth of the hinge posts, and the drop rod and latch.
Homeowners report large double gates whose latches and drop rods stop lining up within a year or two; that is almost always the hinge posts moving or the leaves racking, which better posts and bracing prevent. Around Hammond, the USDA soil survey maps mostly poorly drained silt loams with a shallow seasonal water table (USDA NRCS), which makes the post footings especially important.
Sliding gates
A sliding gate rolls sideways along the fence line. A track gate runs on wheels along a rail across the drive; a cantilever gate hangs on rollers mounted on posts beside the opening and needs no track, but its frame extends past the opening by a large share of its width.
A sliding gate’s cost moves with the opening width, track or cantilever, the frame, the run-back space along the fence and the operator if it is automated. The swing vs sliding gates guide compares the two. A chain link rolling gate is a common commercial version of the track design.
Width for vehicles and equipment
Homeowners planning an addition or a pool ask how wide a gate must be for trucks and equipment. Wider means heavier leaves and bigger posts, so settle the width needed before pricing. A gate opening is easier to size right the first time than to widen later. On a farm or pasture fence, field gates follow the same logic with braced posts on both sides.
What automation adds
An automatic gate adds a set of items that each carry their own cost:
- Operator: a swing or slide motor sized for the gate’s weight and width.
- Power: a run from the house or a panel, trenched to the gate; distance and the route set the cost.
- Access controls: remotes, a keypad, an intercom or phone entry, and a free-exit sensor.
- Safety devices: photo eyes and contact edges that stop or reverse the gate. UL 325 covers gate operators and ASTM F2200 covers the construction of automated vehicular gates.
- A stronger gate: a motor drives a gate harder than a hand does, so frames and hinges are often upgraded.
What a complete gate quote includes and leaves out
| Usually included | Often left out unless written in |
|---|---|
| The gate leaf or leaves and their frame | Removing an old gate and its posts |
| Hinge and latch posts with footings | Electrical permit or electrician for the power run |
| Hinges, latch, drop rod and stops | Concrete cutting for a track or drop-rod hole in a slab |
| Hanging and adjusting the gate | Access-control extras beyond the basic remote |
| Driveway or lawn repair after trenching |
Ask the quote to say which column each item is in. Gates in a metal fence carry their own hardware choices, covered in the aluminum fence cost guide, and a gate that has already sagged is a gate repair question before it is a new gate.
What’s inside a Hammond gate price
| Part of the price | What sets it | Public figure or what to check |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | Hours and local wages | Louisiana fence erectors: mean $19.92 an hour, about 18% under the $24.29 national mean (BLS); Hammond-metro construction laborers: $19.63 vs $25.02 nationally |
| Permit | Hammond UDC Appendix H | The fence permit is $10 residential, $50 commercial, doubled if work begins first; whether a gate alone needs one is confirmed with the Building Department |
| Sight clearance | Hammond UDC 4.1.8 and 10.1.2 | Driveway-street sight triangles and the 3 ft limit within 30 ft of an intersection can rule out a solid gate near the street (City of Hammond UDC) |
| Swing direction | Local permit forms | Covington’s fence form asks whether a vehicle gate opens toward the street |
| Locate | La. R.S. 40:1749.13 | Louisiana 811 notice 48 to 120 hours before digging post holes or trenching power |
| Materials and operator | Gate design, motor, controls | No public local price list |
A wage is not a billing rate. The installed price also carries materials, the operator, insurance, licensing and overhead.
Getting a gate priced
Measure the opening, note the slope across it and toward the house, decide swing or slide, and list what the gate must do: keep a dog in, let a truck through, open from the car. Gates in a new fence can be added to the fence cost estimator. For a driveway gate, see driveway gate installation or call (985) 866-3827 for a written scope.
Get a gate priced
Send the opening width, the slope, swing or slide, and whether it should open on its own.
