How to Quote a Sliding Gate

A sliding gate is one of the bigger jobs a gate shop quotes. It is also one of the easiest to get wrong. The metal is the part everyone thinks about, but it is rarely where the money goes.

This guide breaks the quote into lines you can price one at a time. Measure first, get a cutting list, then cost each line and add your margin. A quote built this way is quicker to write and easy to defend when the customer asks why.

What do you need before you can quote a sliding gate?

A site measure. A sliding gate price depends on things you only find out standing at the driveway. Before you leave, you want:

• The clear opening width between the posts, and the height the customer wants.
• The fall across the opening, measured from a level line.
• The run-back: how much clear, straight room there is beside the opening.
• The ground: sealed concrete, pavers, gravel or dirt.
• Where power is, if the gate will have a motor.
• Which way the gate opens, and whether anything is in the way.

The run-back and the ground decide if it is a tracked gate, a cantilever gate or a telescopic gate. That choice moves the price more than anything else. If you are not sure, read cantilever gate vs sliding gate first. For sloping sites, see how to measure a sliding gate on a sloped driveway.

What goes into a sliding gate quote?

Six lines, plus the small stuff that always gets forgotten.

On an automated gate, the metal is often the smaller part of the price. Labour, the motor and the slide hardware carry a lot of it. Quote the metal only and you will lose money on every gate.

How do you price the metal for a sliding gate?

Off a cutting list, not off the opening width. A sliding gate is always longer than the opening:

• It carries an overlap past each post, usually 50 to 150 mm a side.
• A tracked gate may carry a short tail for the motor.
• A cantilever gate carries a counterweight tail of about 40 to 50% of the opening. On a 4000 mm opening, the bottom rail ends up close to 6 m long.

Infill adds up faster than people think. Take a 4000 mm wide, 2 m high gate with 40 mm battens at 20 mm gaps. That is about 67 battens, or roughly 125 m of tube before off-cuts. Count it from the list. Do not eyeball it.

Round each member up to the stock lengths you actually buy, then price at your supplier rate plus your handling markup. Use today's price, not last quarter's. Metal prices move.

How do you price the slide hardware and the motor?

Price the slide kit to the gate weight, not just the width. Wheels, rollers and tracks step up as the gate gets heavier, and a cantilever kit is rated for a set weight and length.

For a tracked gate that means the wheels, the track, the guide rollers and the end stops. For a cantilever gate it is the roller carriages, the channel, the end caps and the catcher. Get your supplier's price for the real gate, tail included.

Automation is its own line: the gate motor, the gear rack, remotes, and any photo-eyes or keypad. List each one so the customer can see what an extra remote or a keypad adds.

How do you price the finish?

Powder coaters and anodisers price by surface area and colour. Give them the real area, or the full gate drawing, and get a price back. Do not use a flat add-on.

A slatted or battened gate has far more surface than its outline suggests. A box section batten has four faces to coat. A non-standard colour usually costs extra too. Quote the colour the customer picked, not the cheapest one on the chart.

How do you work out the labour?

Price it by stage, in hours, then multiply by your shop rate. The stages for a sliding gate are:

1. 1

   Cut and prep

   Cut every member to the list, deburr, mark up.

2. 2

   Weld the frame

   Jig it, tack it, check the diagonals, weld it out.

3. 3

   Fit the infill

   Battens, slats or louvres, plus any end caps.

4. 4

   Prep for finish

   Grind, clean and drop off at the coater.

5. 5

   Install and commission

   Set posts and footings, lay the track, hang the gate, fit the motor and set its limits.

The best numbers come from your own jobs. Time your next few sliding gates stage by stage and you will quote the one after that with real hours, not a guess.

Your shop rate has to cover wages, the shed, the machines, the vehicle and your own time. If you have not worked it out properly, the fabrication shop hourly rate guide shows how. The how to quote a fabrication job guide covers margin and markup in more depth.

Should you quote a fixed price, and what should you leave out?

Fixed, once you have measured and have a drawing. A range invites the customer to remember only the bottom number. A fixed price off a cutting list is one you can stand behind.

Then list what is not included, in plain words:

• Power to the motor and any trenching for cable.
• Ground work: cutting in a level track, pouring a slab, removing old concrete.
• Removing and dumping the old gate.
• Extra remotes or keypads beyond what you listed.

When the customer changes the size, and they will, a clear quote makes the variation a quick chat. With a drawing tool you can redraw and reprice the same afternoon.

Common questions