Ask someone about their gates and they will describe the driveway gate. Then watch the house for a day and you will see the truth: the little side gate is the one that actually gets used. It is the path the family takes from the carport, the way the dog gets to the backyard, the route for the bins on collection day, and the gate every delivery driver swings open. It is small, and it does more work than anything else on the property. That is exactly why it deserves real design attention instead of being treated as leftover hardware at the end of a fence job.
We build custom steel pedestrian and side gates across Metro Vancouver, from simple side-yard access to secured pool-enclosure gates. Here is what actually matters when you build one to last.
The hardware is the whole game
A driveway gate is a fabrication challenge. A pedestrian gate is a hardware challenge. The gate leaf itself is straightforward steel. What determines whether it still swings sweetly in five years is the hinges, the latch, and the closer.
Hinges have to be sized to the gate’s real weight, not guessed at. An undersized hinge sags, and a sagging gate drops onto the latch or the post and stops closing properly. The latch has to be weather-rated, because in our damp coastal climate a cheap zinc latch seizes solid within a couple of winters. We had a Burnaby homeowner who bought the cheapest latch available, and six months later it had corroded shut while the hinges sagged the gate into the post. We push people toward stainless or properly finished hardware for a reason, and we go deeper on this in our post on custom steel gate hardware, hinges, and latches.
Pool and hot-tub gates: this one is not optional
If a side gate is part of a pool or hot-tub enclosure, the hardware requirements stop being a preference and become a safety matter. That gate should be self-closing and self-latching, with the latch mounted high and out of a small child’s reach. The whole point is that the gate cannot be left open by accident, because a pool gate that gets propped open defeats the entire enclosure.
We build pool-enclosure gates to close and latch on their own every time, with an adjustable closer tuned so the gate shuts firmly enough to latch but softly enough not to slam. If your side gate borders a pool anywhere in Vancouver or North Vancouver, tell us up front so we detail it correctly from the start.
Security without the fortress look
A pedestrian gate is also a security decision. The good news is you can make it secure without making it look like a prison door. Options run from a simple keyed latch to a deadbolt, a keypad, or an electric strike tied to an intercom or a smart lock.
Keyless entry is a common request across Metro Vancouver, because it lets kids and guests get in without carrying a key, and it lets you grant access remotely. If the gate has a powered lock, that is electrical work, and the permit and inspection follow your municipality’s process. For the access-hardware side, our guide to pedestrian and side gates covers the equipment in more detail.
Match it to the fence and the driveway gate
A side gate should disappear into the design, not stand out as the odd piece. When we build a pedestrian gate, we fabricate it in the same steel, the same slat spacing, and the same finish as the driveway gate and the fence infill, so the whole streetfront reads as one intentional design. Matching a new side gate to an existing fence is one of our most common requests in Vancouver and Burnaby, and it is very doable, we replicate the profile and finish so the new gate looks original to the fence.
If you are planning the fence at the same time, our metal fencing work and our custom metal gates post show how the pieces come together. The goal is a gate, a fence, and a driveway entrance that clearly belong to each other.
Height, permits, and the Vancouver rules
Gate and fence height is governed by your city’s zoning bylaw, and the limits differ by yard. In the City of Vancouver, front-yard fences and gates face tighter height limits than side and rear yards, and the rules vary between municipalities across the region. Because of that, we confirm the allowable height for your specific property and yard location before fabricating, rather than assuming. Our post on Vancouver permits for railings, gates, and fences walks through how the permitting works.
A simple non-electric pedestrian gate usually rides along with your fence’s requirements. Add a powered lock or operator and the electrical work needs its own permit. We flag which category your gate falls into before we start.
Sizing it to real life
One last practical point. A pedestrian gate around 900 millimetres to a metre wide suits comfortable walking access. But if you regularly move a wheelbarrow, a lawnmower, or bins through it, size it wider so you are not fighting the opening every week. We size the gate to how you actually use the path, which sounds obvious and is exactly the detail cheap gates get wrong.
The side gate is the smallest gate we build and often the one that shapes daily life the most. Get the hardware right, match it to the fence, and secure it the way you actually live, and it becomes the quiet workhorse of the property. If you are planning a pedestrian or side gate anywhere from Vancouver to Coquitlam, request a quote and we will scope the gate, the hardware, and any powered locking with you.
