Carlsbad Metal Gates Group is greater North County's top-rated team for courtyard entry gates, specializing in arched steel walk gates, scrollwork drawn from the house, and self-closing gate hardware. We offer keyed and keypad latches and matching side yard gates.
Our team provides survey-to-install fabrication for walled courtyards, delivering a gracious front entry for homes and secure, low-upkeep pedestrian gates for both residential and commercial projects. Our 14 years in business, our 2-year workmanship warranty and over 1,326 completed projects cover everything from one garden gate to full courtyard enclosures with fencing and railings.
From templating an out-of-square stucco arch to setting the closer so the gate shuts without a bang, our team handles every detail. Serving Carlsbad and neighboring Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe and Encinitas, we make courtyard gates that look as if they came with the house.
Call us today for a free estimate, and we will template the opening in your courtyard wall before we draw the gate.
What you can hold us to
Olivia, Tudor Revival cottage with a walled courtyard, Del Mar
A courtyard entry with a rusted, mismatched pair of walk gates
Investment and duration figures are estimates. Your written quote sets the final price and schedule.
Olivia's Tudor Revival cottage with a walled courtyard in Del Mar had a courtyard entry with a rusted, mismatched pair of walk gates. We made two arched walk gates, front courtyard and side yard, in steel, satin black powder coat, and took the scroll pattern from the window grilles of the house so the gates read as original. Both gates hang on self-closing hinges with a keyed latch. Olivia's project was an estimated $1,900 to $2,800 and took an estimated 1 to 2 days on site, and the pair now suits the cottage and closes on its own.
A courtyard gate is joinery to a wall, so we survey the stucco opening before anything is drawn, because no two openings are square. Many Spanish Colonial Revival and Mediterranean homes greet visitors through a walled courtyard, a plan the style has used since the 1915 Panama-California Exposition popularized it across San Diego. In Rancho Santa Fe, where Lilian Rice set the Spanish Colonial Revival character of the village, and in Del Mar, which mixes that style with Tudor Revival, the courtyard gate is often the first thing a guest touches.
Scale is the difference from a driveway job. A courtyard gate is sized to a doorway, typically 3 to 5 ft wide, and people open it every day, so the hardware matters more than the size.
Every arch is shaped to its own opening rather than ordered in a stock size, so we take a full template of the curve before the shop cuts any steel. A stucco arch in a 1970s Solana Beach or Encinitas home is rarely a true radius, and a stock arched gate leaves a gap at the shoulders that shows from the street.
The hardware on a courtyard gate decides whether it works for 20 years, so we use self-closing hinges, a keyed or keypad latch and a stop that keeps the gate from slamming into stucco. Self-closing hardware is also a safety rule where a courtyard opens onto a pool: California Health and Safety Code 115922 calls for pool barrier gates that open outward, away from the pool, and are self-closing and self-latching.
The pattern comes from the house, so we copy the window grilles, balcony rails or lantern brackets already there rather than choosing from a catalogue. Spanish Colonial Revival homes in Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch usually take simple scrolls and a round arch, Tudor Revival cottages in Del Mar suit a heavier square bar, and 2010s homes in Harmony Grove often want clean flat bar instead.
| Gate type | Best for | Finish | Est. price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom arched steel walk gate | Stucco courtyard walls and side yards | Galvanized, then powder coat | Est. $600 to $1,500 per gate |
| Pair of arched walk gates | Front courtyard plus side yard | Satin black or bronze powder coat | Est. $1,900 to $2,800 per pair |
| Hand-forged wrought iron fence beside the gate | Entry courts that need forged scrolls | Galvanized and painted | Est. $85 to $130 per linear foot |
A custom arched courtyard walk gate is typically an estimated $600 to $1,500 per gate installed, and the arch, the scrollwork and the latch hardware move the price most. Most courtyards need a pair or a gate plus fencing, which is where a project grows.
Galvanized steel, powder coat, ball-bearing hinges, photo eyes
Sized for the opening and the trailer turn
For slopes, debris and commercial entrances
For flat drives with no swing room
Motor, photo eyes, battery backup, remotes
Added to a new or existing automated gate
4 to 6 ft galvanized and powder coated
5 to 6 ft custom forged pickets and scrolls
The rust-free coastal choice
60 inch barrier, self-closing, self-latching gate
Steel or wrought iron, balusters under 4 inches apart
316 stainless cable on steel posts
Kit or custom, set on its own footing
Steel and glass, floor-mounted pivot
Investment and duration figures are estimates. Your written quote sets the final price and schedule.
| Job | Est. investment | Est. duration on site |
|---|---|---|
| Custom arched walk gate | Est. $600 to $1,500 per gate | Est. 4 to 8 hours |
| Hand-forged wrought iron fence | Est. $85 to $130 per linear foot | Est. 3 to 6 days |
| Pool safety fence and self-closing gate | Est. $30 to $45 per linear foot | Est. 1 to 3 days |
| Stair and balcony railing | Est. $65 to $135 per linear foot | Est. 5 to 10 hours |
Olivia's two Del Mar gates, which replaced a courtyard entry with a rusted, mismatched pair of walk gates, fell at an estimated $1,900 to $2,800 for the pair, and most courtyard jobs that add a forged fence or a matching balcony railing land well above a single gate. California caps a home improvement deposit at $1,000 or 10% of the contract, whichever is less, and we never ask for more.
All courtyard gate prices here are estimates and are subject to change. Your written quote after we template the opening sets the final price and the install schedule, and it depends on the arch, the pattern and the hardware you choose.
Galvanized steel under a powder coat is our standard courtyard gate, hand-forged iron is for entries with forged work on the house, and aluminum suits bluff-top lots where salt spray is constant. Owners matching a courtyard gate to the rest of the property often look at ornamental iron and steel fencing and rust-free aluminum gates for coastal homes.
Our owner still lays out custom gates on the shop table, and courtyard gates get the same care as a driveway gate because they are opened far more often. Courtyard gates in Lake San Marcos and Harmony Grove get the same template-first process as an estate entry, and the crew that templates your arch is the crew that hangs the gate.
We make courtyard gates across a 40 mile radius of Carlsbad, with many going to Del Mar Tudor and Spanish Revival homes, Rancho Santa Fe courtyards and Solana Beach homes near the bluffs. We also cover Lake San Marcos, Poway and Bonsall, listed on our service areas page.
A new courtyard gate often leads to a steel pivot entry door behind it, iron stair and balcony railings that share its pattern, or pool gates and code-compliant fencing where the courtyard opens onto a pool.
A custom arched walk gate is typically an estimated $600 to $1,500 per gate, and your written quote sets the final price after we template the opening.
Yes, we copy the pattern from your window grilles, balcony rails or lantern brackets, as we did for a Tudor Revival cottage with a walled courtyard in Del Mar.
Rarely, because most stucco arches are not a true radius, so we template the curve and build the gate to it.
Yes, self-closing hinges and an adjustable closer let it shut and latch every time, which a pool barrier requires.
Yes, video intercom, keypad or app entry can be fitted to a walk gate, with low-voltage wiring run through the wall where possible.
Most courtyard gates take an estimated 4 to 8 hours to hang once fabricated, and a pair typically takes 1 to 2 days.
Yes, both are where many of our courtyard gates go, along with Fairbanks Ranch and Poway.
Request a free estimate and we will template your courtyard opening, photograph the ironwork on the house and send a drawing with your written quote.
Start to finish
We measure the opening, the grade and the swing or slide path before anything is drawn.
You approve a scaled drawing, the metal, the finish and the operator before steel is cut.
The gate is welded in our shop, then galvanized and powder coated for the salt air.
We set the posts, hang the gate, wire the operator and test every photo eye and safety edge with you.
Where we work
Call us or send the form, and we will book a site measure and a written estimate.
Calls only, we do not receive text messages.
