Automatic Gates and Everyday Visitors: Planning for Real Life

When people picture an automatic gate, they usually picture the car. You pull up, press the remote, the gate opens and you drive in. That’s the main job, but it’s only part of how a front gate gets used. In a normal week you’ll also have the postie, parcel drivers, a friend dropping by, kids walking home from school, the gardener and maybe a tradie or two.

If the gate is planned only around the car, all those other comings and goings end up as workarounds. Someone leaves the gate open all day. Parcels get left on the footpath. Guests stand outside ringing your mobile. A bit of thought at the planning stage avoids most of that, and it’s a conversation we’re happy to have at the site inspection.

Give people on foot their own way in

The single most useful thing for everyday visitors is a pedestrian gate, separate from the driveway gate. It means someone walking in doesn’t have to open the full vehicle gate, and it keeps people out of the path of a large moving gate. For families with young children or anyone who walks a dog through the front, that separation counts for a lot.

Eastern Garage Doors builds custom made gates, including pedestrian gates, so the walk-in gate can be designed to match the driveway gate rather than looking like an afterthought. Things to think about:

• Where people naturally walk from the street to the front door
• Whether the pedestrian gate needs to lock, and who should have a key or code
• How it will look next to the main gate and the fence line
• Whether anyone in the household uses a pram, wheelchair or walker

If your block slopes, the walking path and the driveway may sit at quite different levels, which can affect where a pedestrian gate makes sense. That’s something we’d look at on site rather than guess at from a photo.

The letterbox and the parcel problem

It sounds minor, but the letterbox is one of the most common afterthoughts. If the letterbox ends up inside a locked gate, mail delivery becomes awkward for everyone. Keeping it on the street side of the gate, built into the fence or a pier, lets mail arrive without anyone needing access to the property.

Parcels are harder, because they’re bigger and you usually want them out of sight. Before the gate goes in, think about where a driver could leave a parcel if nobody’s home. Some households plan a covered nook or a parcel box near the front, outside the gate line or just inside the pedestrian gate. Others prefer to have deliveries sent elsewhere. There’s no single answer, but deciding early means the fence and gate layout can leave room for whatever you choose.

If you’re thinking about cameras or an intercom at the gate, raise that at the planning stage too. We can integrate security features such as intercom systems, cameras, keypads and locking mechanisms with a custom gate, and it’s simpler to plan cabling and mounting positions before the gate and fence are finished.

Letting guests and regular visitors in

Handing out remotes to everyone who visits regularly gets messy fast. Remotes go missing, and it’s hard to keep track of who still has one. There are other ways to manage access, and the right mix depends on who comes and how often.

A keypad is handy for people who visit often but don’t need a remote, such as a cleaner or a family member who drops in. Keypads and smartphone app control may be options for an automatic gate, but they depend on the confirmed opener and accessories. Merlin offers a Gate myQ Connectivity Kit for listed compatible gate openers, so ask us or check the current Merlin information before deciding whether an existing motor can support the access method you want.

Merlin’s myQ app lets you check and operate compatible equipment from your phone, which can help when a guest arrives and you’re not home. What it can do for a particular gate depends on the opener and accessories installed, so check with us or the product manual for your exact model rather than assuming. If you also have an automatic garage door, we can fit a receiver so the gate and the garage door work from the same remotes, which cuts down how many remotes the household needs.

For guests who only come occasionally, plain old habits work well. Let them know to park on the street and come through the pedestrian gate, or open the gate for them yourself and watch it close again once they’re through.

Safety when the gate is busy

The more people use the front of the property, the more it matters that the gate is set up safely. Safety equipment depends on the confirmed gate opener, accessories and site. Ask what has been specified for the installation and how the completed gate will be tested before it is handed over. Even so, nobody should walk through a vehicle gate while it’s moving, and children shouldn’t play near it or treat the remote as a toy.

If the gate starts behaving differently, such as stopping partway, reversing unexpectedly or making new noises, stop using it as normal and have it looked at. Those are signs worth checking, not proof of a particular fault, and adjustments to sensors, settings or wiring are a job for a technician. Our automatic gates page explains how we inspect, design and install gates for homes in Templestowe, Doncaster and the rest of the east.

Planning a new gate, or wondering how your current one could work better for visitors? Send us an enquiry and we’ll arrange a time to look at your site and talk it through.