Ornamental Steel Sliding Driveway Gate Installation — Playa Vista
Completed November 2022- Scope
- Fency Builders Inc installed a custom ornamental steel sliding gate at a residential driveway entry in Playa Vista, California. The gate features a serpentine wave top rail with pointed spear finials and a lower horizontal rail with circular decorative cutouts, traveling on a ground-mounted track rail. An All-O-Matic motorized slide operator was mounted at the inside post to automate the gate.
- Materials
- The installation uses welded steel tube and flat bar construction with vertical pickets, a wave-profile top rail, spear-tip finials, circular ring details along the bottom rail, a galvanized ground track, flat black powder-coat finish throughout, and an All-O-Matic slide gate operator in a matching dark enclosure.
- Site challenge
- The flat, engineered lot typical of Playa Vista leaves the driveway entry with limited lateral clearance, requiring a sliding rather than swinging gate to avoid encroaching on the paved courtyard or adjacent hardscape. The existing pink-toned split-face masonry perimeter wall established a fixed structural boundary that the gate hardware and track had to integrate with precisely.
- How we solved it
- A bottom-rolling slide configuration was used, with the track rail anchored flush to the paver driveway surface so the gate travels parallel to the perimeter wall without consuming swing space. The All-O-Matic operator is positioned tight against the inside face of the end post, keeping mechanical components within the property boundary. The gate panel's wave top rail and spear finials are consistent in scale with the masonry wall height, maintaining a continuous streetside profile.
- Result
- The finished gate presents a uniform flat black powder-coat surface against the existing masonry wall, with ornamental detailing visible and mechanical hardware contained within the property line. The ground track, operator mounting, and gate alignment are all visibly level and plumb on the flat paver approach. Applicability of City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety requirements, Playa Vista community design guidelines, and HOA design review should be confirmed for any automated driveway gate of this type.