Custom steel gates, fencing & gate automation in Utah
Grandview designs, fabricates, and installs custom steel driveway gates, pedestrian gates, and ornamental fencing across Utah County and Salt Lake County — posts, footings, hinges, and finish all sized for the wind and soil they’ll actually live in. Where you want an automated gate, we coordinate the operator, power, and safety devices as part of the same contract.
Who a custom steel gate or fence is right for
A fabricated steel gate makes sense when an off-the-shelf panel can’t do the job: a driveway opening that isn’t a standard width, a slope that needs a raked or stepped fence line, an HOA or historic-district design requirement, or a property where security is the point and a hollow aluminum frame won’t cut it. Custom fabrication means the gate is built to your opening, your grade, and your hardware — not the other way around.
We build them for homeowners who want a driveway gate that matches the house instead of the catalog, for commercial and multifamily owners who need durable perimeter fencing with controlled vehicle access, and for anyone replacing a sagging gate that was never framed for its own weight. Steel earns its keep on wide spans and windy lots — a 16-foot double swing gate in steel holds its geometry for decades where lighter frames rack and drag.
If what you actually need is an interior or deck guardrail rather than perimeter fencing, that’s our metal railings and handrails scope — same fabrication standard, different rulebook. And when the perimeter calls for wood, vinyl, or chain link instead of ornamental steel, our fencing services cover those systems too.
What’s included — and what we coordinate
The core scope is ours end to end: design and shop drawings, steel fabrication, welding, finish, footings, and installation. For automated gates, the operator itself and its electrical supply involve licensed trades — Grandview holds the contract and manages licensed electricians for operator power, loop wiring, and low-voltage runs; we coordinate, sequence, and quality-check their work within your project. You get one contract and one accountable point of contact either way.
- Driveway gates — single swing, double swing, and sliding/cantilever configurations
- Pedestrian and garden gates, matched to fencing or standing alone
- Ornamental steel fencing — pickets, panels, and custom infill designs
- Security fencing and controlled-access perimeters for commercial and multifamily properties
- Gate automation — swing and slide operators, keypads, remotes, intercoms, and code-required safety sensors, coordinated with licensed electricians
- Concrete post footings and mow strips, formed and poured as part of the scope
- Repair and refit of existing steel gates — new hinges, posts, or a rebuilt leaf on the original layout
Finish options run from shop primer and paint to powder coating and hot-dip galvanizing. At Utah’s elevation, UV exposure is harder on exterior finishes than most people expect, so for south- and west-facing installations we usually recommend galvanizing under powder coat — the zinc handles corrosion, the powder handles color and sun.
How the process works, from opening to operator
Most gate and fence projects run four to eight weeks from approved design to swinging gate, with fabrication — not installation — taking the longest stretch. We are fond of straight lines and straight answers, and a fence is a public test of both.
- Site measure and design. We measure the opening, shoot grades along the fence line, and check utility locations before anything gets drawn. You get a design with dimensions, infill pattern, finish, and hardware — plus the automation layout if the gate will be powered.
- Approvals. Fence height limits and permit triggers vary by city — many Utah cities cap front-yard fences around 3 to 4 feet and rear fences around 6 feet, so we verify with your local building department. In HOA-dense newer developments like Lehi, Saratoga Springs, and Eagle Mountain, we build the HOA architectural review into the schedule instead of discovering it later.
- Fabrication. The gate and fence panels are cut, fit, and welded in the shop to the field dimensions, then finished. Shop fabrication is why the installed product fits the first time.
- Footings and posts. Post holes are dug below frost depth and poured with air-entrained concrete — along the Wasatch Front, footings see roughly a hundred-plus freeze–thaw days a year, and an air-entrained mix is what keeps them from spalling apart. On bench lots with expansive or collapsible soils, we size and bell footings for the ground that’s actually there; the Utah Geological Survey maps these soil hazards across the Wasatch Front for good reason.
- Installation and automation. Panels and gate leaves are hung, hinges and latches adjusted, and — where the gate is automated — the operator, safety sensors, and access controls are installed and commissioned with the electrician on site.
- Walkthrough. We cycle the gate with you, hand over remotes and codes, and leave you a maintenance rundown: what to grease, what to watch, and when to call.
What does a custom steel gate cost in Utah?
As ballpark planning numbers: custom steel pedestrian gates typically run $1,500–$4,000 fabricated and installed; custom driveway gates run roughly $6,000–$18,000 depending on span, design, and finish; adding automation usually adds $3,000–$8,000 for the operator, electrical work, and safety devices. Ornamental steel fencing generally lands between $75 and $160 per linear foot installed. Site conditions move every one of those numbers.
What moves the price up or down
Span and configuration matter most — a 20-foot cantilever slide gate carries far more steel and engineering than a 4-foot garden gate. After that: infill complexity (simple pickets versus scrollwork or laser-cut panels), finish (shop paint at the low end, galvanized-plus-powder-coat at the top), automation and access controls, trenching distance to power, and footing conditions. Rock, expansive clay, or a fence line that steps down a slope all add excavation and layout time. Long runs of fencing get cheaper per foot; short custom runs don’t.
Those figures are planning ranges, not a quote. After a site visit we’ll give you a budget range you can make decisions with, then a firm written proposal before fabrication starts.
How do canyon winds change gate and fence design?
Wind is the design load most gates are never sized for. Canyon-wind events along the Wasatch Front — the same downslope gusts that hit Centerville and Farmington hardest — can fold a poorly anchored gate, and a solid or tightly-infilled steel panel catches that load like a sail. We size posts, hinges, latches, and footings for the panel area the wind actually sees, especially on bench lots and near canyon mouths.
In practice that means open picket infill where privacy allows, heavier wall-thickness posts on wide leaves, positive latching so a gust can’t throw the gate, and operators rated for the leaf’s real weight and wind exposure rather than its catalog category. For automated gates it also means specifying wind-tolerant force settings so the safety reverse doesn’t trip every time a storm rolls through. A gate that still swings true after a canyon-grade windstorm was footed and framed for it on day one.
Where a fence runs along a retaining wall or a graded slope, we sequence the two together — post locations, drainage, and wall loads are one design problem, not two trades pointing at each other. That work pairs naturally with our retaining wall scope.
Questions we actually get
Do I need a permit for a steel fence or gate in Utah?
Often not for the fence itself, if it stays under your city’s height limits — commonly around 6 feet in rear yards and 3 to 4 feet in front yards. Taller fences, retaining-wall combinations, and automated gates with new electrical work usually do trigger permits. Rules vary by city, so verify with your local building department — or let us handle it as part of the project.
Can you automate my existing gate, or does it need to be replaced?
Usually we can automate an existing gate if the frame is square, the posts are sound, and the hinges aren’t worn oval. We inspect it first: an operator forcing a racked or dragging gate burns itself out fast. Sometimes the honest answer is new hinges and a post reset before automation — cheaper than replacing an operator in two years.
What’s the biggest constraint on an automated driveway gate?
Power. The operator needs a dedicated electrical circuit, and trenching from your panel to the gate is often the largest variable cost on the project. Solar operators exist for remote locations, but they have duty-cycle limits. We coordinate licensed electricians for the circuit and wiring within the same contract, so the trenching gets planned before the footings are poured — not after.
How do steel gates hold up to Utah winters?
Well, if they’re built for it. Hot-dip galvanizing or a zinc-rich primer under powder coat handles snow, ice melt, and road salt at the driveway; air-entrained concrete footings below frost depth handle the freeze–thaw cycling that heaves shallow posts out of plumb. The failures we’re called to fix are almost always finish and footing shortcuts, not the steel itself.
What drives the cost difference between two similar-looking gates?
Mostly what you can’t see: wall thickness of the tube, footing depth and size, hinge quality, and finish system. Two 14-foot gates can differ by thousands of dollars because one is framed from heavier steel, galvanized before coating, and hung on sealed bearing hinges. We’ll walk you through exactly where your money is going before you commit.
Are you licensed for this work?
Yes. Grandview Contractors holds a Utah DOPL B100 general contractor license, #14282236-5501, verifiable at dopl.utah.gov, and we’re insured. Fabrication, welding, footings, and installation run under that license; electrical work for gate operators is performed by licensed electricians we contract and manage.
Related steel and exterior work
Gates and fencing are one scope in our steel, welding & specialty family. If your project includes engineered connections, frames, or repairs, see structural steel & welding; for exterior stairs to go with the fence line, see steel stairs. And when the gate is part of a larger driveway or entry rebuild, our concrete driveway and flatwork crew can pour the approach, apron, and mow strips in the same mobilization. Commercial perimeter work often pairs with bollard installation for storefront and equipment protection.
Tell us about your gate or fence line
Send a photo of the opening, a sketch, or just the address and what you have in mind. We reply within a couple of hours during business hours — a day at most — with a straight read on design options, feasibility, and budget before anyone commits to anything.