What Gets Checked Before Anybody Digs at the Entrance
Locate Before Excavation, Every Time
The strip of ground at a driveway entrance is one of the busiest underground corridors on a property. Water service, electrical supply, telecoms, irrigation and sometimes gas all cross it, because that is where they came in from the road. A locate request is free, takes a few days, and is the difference between a routine footing and an incident. Nothing about the fact that a previous owner put a fence post nearby is evidence that the ground is clear.
Establish Where the Boundary Actually Is
The line people believe is the boundary is frequently the line of an old fence, a hedge, or the edge of a driveway, none of which are the same thing. A gate is a permanent structure with a footing, so building it in the wrong place is expensive to undo and awkward to leave. Where there is any doubt, the survey plat settles it before the design does.
Walk the Swept Path
The arc a leaf will travel through has to be clear, level enough, and stay that way. Slope across the path is the item most often missed, because a driveway that looks flat frequently falls a few inches over the width of a gate. That fall decides whether the gate can swing inward, outward, or only one way, and it is a design input rather than something to discover at hanging.
Local Requirements Are Worth a Phone Call
Height limits, setbacks from the road, sight line requirements at the entrance, and any applicable homeowners association rules all exist in some form. They vary enough between jurisdictions and neighborhoods that assuming is unwise. One call before ordering steel is cheaper than a fabricated gate that has to be modified.
Access for the Work Itself
A vehicle gate arrives as a heavy awkward object and a footing needs concrete delivered. Whether a truck can reach the entrance, whether there is room to set out and lift a leaf, and where spoil from the excavation goes are practical questions that shape the day. Sorting them in advance is the difference between a scheduled installation and an improvised one.