How To Choose The Right Driveway Gates
If you’re looking to alter the frontage of your home, driveway gates are a great choice. They’re a simple addition, yet will lift the look of your property and driveway whilst also adding privacy and security with a touch of elegance. This all means that choosing the right gate is important.
Here at Juke’s Timber Solutions, we offer a wide range of wooden driveway gates, and we want to make sure that our customers find the perfect gate for their property. Read on for our guide on how to choose the right driveway gates for your home, plus tips on materials, planning permissions and more.
Considering Your Space
The first thing you should think about when choosing the right driveway gates, you should consider the exact space you have.
Whatever the space on your driveway, to make sure that your gates will fit, you need to make sure that your gate is measured properly, allowing some space for fitting and installation.
What Styles and Colours Are Available?
A driveway gate doesn’t have to be just standard iron bars any more. From more traditional and classic designs to more modern finishes, you can find a wide range of styles and colours in the form of a wooden driveway gate.
Whatever era or aesthetic your home may be, your driveway gates can be designed completely bespoke to match perfectly.
Say you have a more traditional home, a pair of curved wooden driveway gates may suit better than the flat-top driveway gate that suits a modern home.
Keeping Privacy and Security In Mind
When you’re deciding as to what driveway gate you want for your home, it’s best to think about privacy and security.
Do you want your property to be private? Do you want to restrict access to your home, or are you happy for your property to be seen by passersby?
Open-design wooden gates will allow a passer-by to see into your property but will keep a sense of openness and will create a feeling of a welcoming atmosphere. However, they will expose any clutter on your property!
Closed-design wooden gates will give an increased sense of privacy and will prevent passers-by from seeing into your property. They also reduce the opportunity for burglars and intruders to assess your home, acting as a deterrent. However, they will limit natural light.
Planning Permissions
Before you start shopping for your new driveway gate and deciding what style and design you want, it’s important to know about planning permission for gates.
Essentially, you won’t need planning permission to install a new gate or alter an existing one, as long as the following criteria are met:
- If the gate is going to be next to a highway used by vehicles, it can’t exceed one metre in height from ground level. If the gate is used elsewhere, the height can’t be over two metres in height. If your existing gate exceeds these limits, as long as you don’t make the gate any higher, you won’t need planning permission.
- Your home must not be a listed building or within the land of a listed building.
- The gate must not form a boundary with a neighbouring listed building or its land.
- The right to put up or alter a gate must not have been removed by an Article Four direction or planning condition.
As long as your driveway meets these conditions, you will not need planning permission. It is recommended however that you check with your local council to be sure that your plans are permitted.
Maintaining Wooden Driveway Gates
Wooden driveway gates will benefit from some maintenance. This will help to preserve the colour of the wood and will reduce movement throughout the seasons, extending the lifespan of your gate and keeping it looking as excellent as the day it was installed.