What does Southern Consider When Building Your Gate Project?

 

When the time comes that you need a gate to complete your vinyl fence or rail project, Southern can provide you with a vinyl gate for nearly any application, size and style of fence or railing that we offer. In most cases we can closely match a vinyl fence or railing style from another manufacturer. Southern can even help you design a custom gate using unique profiles, such as bent & curved rails to create that one of a kind gate. The possibilities are virtually endless.

Southern Vinyl manufactures every gate to order. The items below are what we consider when you request a gate. 

 

What we need to know:

 

1.         STYLE. Does your gate need to match a standard Southern Vinyl style of fence or railing? Visit our online catalog  at www.svmllc.com to see our offerings in the Essental, Executive and Estate lines of products.  These are "Good...Better... Best" styles that offer several price points on your project. Or call Customer Service at 888-919-1941 for instant help.

 

            If you are matching a Southern style, then simply specify the style or item # of the fence or railing. The item # is most helpful to our customer service representatives; however a brief description will help us identify the style of gate you are looking for. For example, an item number might be Z04 or G04. A “Z” in front of a number signifies that this item is either a fence or railing panel. The “G” in front of a number signifies a gate. The number “04” is specific to the style of fence or railing. In Southern's numbering system, this number tells us that you want a routed picket fence or gate with a 3” picket and a ~3” spacing. Item numbers can be found in our online catalog.

 

            If you want us to match another manufacturer's style of fence or rail, no problem. We just need a little more information from you. Our Customer Service Team will ask you about the following. 

 

            1)   The style of fence or railing (i.e. privacy; picket; shadowbox; T-Rail; etc.).

            2)   Rail and picket dimensions (height, width and length).

            3)   The spacing (or gap) between the pickets, if any.

            4)   The measurement from the top of the gate upright to the topof the top rail.

                        We will need to know if this measurement includes the gate upright cap.

5) The number of rails. While most fences and railings have two rails (1 top & 1 bottom), some fences may have three rails (1 top, 1 middle & 1 bottom).

6)   The measurement(s) between the rails.

7)   The measurement from the underside of the bottom rail to the bottom of the gate upright.

8)   Any other information specific to your application that you feel is critical to the design of the gate you are requesting.

 

 

2.         COLOR. Although the majority of vinyl fences and railings are white, we also offer almond. Please specify the color at the time of requesting a quote. For more information on colors, see FAQ #10 “What colors do you offer?” Special conditions apply when ordering a color other than white.

 

3.         HEIGHT. If the height of the gate you are requesting matches a standard Southern style, you simply need to supply us with a nominal height (i.e. 4ft. high or 6ft. high). A standard Southern gate is designed to match the corresponding standard Southern fence or railing. If the height of the gate you are requesting does not match a standard Southern style, please provide us with your specific height measurements. (An item # can be extended to include the height of your gate. An example of this is GO4-48. This number tells us that you desire a 4’ high routed picket gate w/ a 3” picket and a ~3” spacing.

 

4.         TYPE. We offer two different types of gates, “Walk Gates” and “Double Gates”. Walk gates are single leaf gates, basically doors in your fence. A typical walk gate opening is 4 feet wide, used for people to gain access to a fenced in area. Double gates are constructed of two leaves, used when access to the fenced in area is needed by vehicles, riding lawnmowers, etc. A typical double gate opening is 10 feet wide. Let us know if you need a walk gate or a double gate.

 

5.         HARDWARE. All Southern gates include the necessary hinges, latch and (for double gates) a drop rod,  to install your gate. All of Southern’s standard gate hardware is stainless steel construction with a black powder coated finish. We use specific hardware as a standard depending on the style of gate whether or not the gate requested is a standard Southern gate or a custom gate.

a) Executive Privacy (G01 & G56) and Executive Privacy with Lattice (G08 & G57) gates are supplied with adjustable non-self closing privacy hinges (item # 48778) and an executive latch (item #89256).

b) All other Executive gates are supplied with adjustable self closing hinges (item #45985) and an executive latch (item #89256).

c) All Essential gates are supplied with essential self closing hinges (item #64023) and an essential latch (item #45523).

d) All Equestrian double gates are supplied with a 48” drop rod (item #82436).

e) All other double gates are supplied with a 24” drop rod (item #52198).

 

Please let us know if the standard hardware will accommodate your gate application or if you are in need of special order hardware (or no hardware) at the time you request a quote. *Due to certain design elements, Essential gates can only be supplied with Essential gate hardware.

 

6.         WIDTH. There are two ways that you can order the width of your gate.

1)   The first method is to tell us exactly how wide you want the gate. This is what we call the “actual” gate width. Don’t forget to factor in tolerances for your hinges and latch. Below is a table that you can reference to determine your actual gate width based on your rough opening or how wide to make your rough opening based on your gate width..

 

 

 

2)   The second and easiest method is to tell us your desired rough opening. We call this the “opening” gate width. Just like the window and door industries, we determine the width of gates based on rough openings. Your rough opening is the distance, post-to-post. We factor in the tolerances for the hinges and latch for you and manufacture your gate to fit your rough opening.

 

Every standard Southern gate is designed and manufactured to fit a standard rough opening. All you need tell us is the rough opening, set your gate posts accordingly and we’ll handle the rest. For example, if you ask for a 4’ wide Z04 walk gate, we will provide you with a gate that has an actual gate width of 45⅝” and the necessary hinges and latch to fit a rough opening of 48”. (If you are ordering with an item #, it can be extended to include the width of your gate. An example of this is GO4-48-048. This number tells us that you desire a 4’ high gate, manufactured for a 4’ wide rough opening, w/ a 3” picket and a ~3” spacing.

 

 

7.         OTHER: We also need to know any other pertinent information such as…

 

            a)   Choice of picket cap (i.e. Dog Ear or Spade)

            b) Choice of post cap. Southern uses apex (pyramid) caps on every gate upright unless you ask for a different cap. (i.e. Gothic or Dome. Due to design restrictions, New England caps are not available for use on gate uprights).

            c)   Do you have a need for a curved or bent rail?

            d)   Do you have a situation with the grade of the terrain where the gate is to be installed on your project?

            e)   Do you need the gate to be shorter to accommodate a sidewalk?