Carlsbad Metal Gates Group is North County's go-to team for custom iron and steel entry doors, specializing in steel and glass pivot doors, thermally broken door frames, and wide modern front entries. We offer hinged iron double doors and matching sidelights.
Our team provides shop-welded frames glazed with insulated glass, delivering a striking front entry for homes and secure, weather-tight doors for both residential and commercial projects. We back each door with 14 years in business and a 2-year workmanship warranty, and we've completed over 1,326 projects, from a single garden gate to oversized pivot doors on full remodels.
From sizing the floor pivot to the weight of the leaf to sealing the frame against wind-driven fog, our team handles every detail. Serving Carlsbad and neighboring Encinitas, Del Mar and Solana Beach, we build front doors that swing with one hand and stay dry inside.
Call us today for a free estimate, and we will measure the opening and the floor before a door is drawn.
What you can hold us to
Daniel, Olivenhain modern farmhouse, Encinitas
A remodel that wanted a wide entry and a door that would not swell or rust near the coast
Investment and duration figures are estimates. Your written quote sets the final price and schedule.
Daniel's Olivenhain modern farmhouse in Encinitas was mid-remodel and wanted a wide entry with a door that would not swell or rust near the coast. We built a 5 ft wide steel and glass pivot entry door, a steel frame with clear glass, black finish, set on a floor-mounted pivot with a thermally broken frame and a coastal-grade finish. The Olivenhain modern farmhouse door was an estimated $9,500 to $14,000 and took an estimated 1 to 2 days to install once the door was fabricated. Daniel now has a wide, light entry that swings with one hand and seals against the weather.
A custom steel front door combines welded framing, glass and weather seals, so it comes out of a metal shop, not a door catalogue, and estates in Rancho Santa Fe order one to match their gates. Steel lets the frame stay slim around large panes of glass, which is why modern farmhouses in Olivenhain and remodels along Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia ask for it. It also outlasts wood near the beach, where marine layer mornings swell and cup a timber door.
A pivot door is engineered around its weight and the pivot hardware, so it suits a wide, heavy leaf, while a hinged door suits a standard opening or a pair of doors. The pivot sits in the floor and the head of the frame, set in from the edge, so the leaf turns on its own axis and a 5 ft wide door can still be opened with one hand.
| Feature | Pivot door | Hinged door |
|---|---|---|
| Typical width | Wide single leaf, often 4 to 5 ft | Standard single or a double pair |
| Hardware | Floor and top pivot rated to the leaf weight | Three or four heavy butt hinges |
| Floor work | Pivot box set into the slab or subfloor | No floor work |
A thermal break plus good seals stops condensation forming on steel in the damp coastal air, so every door we build near the coast has a thermally broken frame and insulated glass. Steel conducts cold, and without a break between the outside and inside faces, a foggy Encinitas or Del Mar morning leaves water running down the inside of the frame. Thermally broken pivot doors use a polyurethane barrier inside the frame, and perimeter seals plus a drop or threshold seal keep wind-driven rain out.
We fit the framing to the door rather than squeezing a door into whatever framing exists, so we survey the rough opening and the floor before the shop cuts any steel.
A custom steel pivot entry door is typically an estimated $3,000 to $9,500 for a simpler single leaf, and the width, the glass area and the finish move the price most. Wide steel and glass doors with thermal breaks, like the one in Olivenhain, sit higher.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Steel pivot entry door, simpler single leaf | Est. $3,000 to $9,500 per door | Est. 1 to 2 days |
| Steel pivot entry door, wide steel and glass | Est. $9,500 to $20,000 per door | Est. 1 to 2 days |
| Video intercom, keypad or app entry | Est. $2,400 to $3,900 per system | Est. 4 to 8 hours |
| Stair and balcony railing | Est. $65 to $135 per linear foot | Est. 5 to 10 hours |
Daniel's 5 ft wide door in Encinitas came in at an estimated $9,500 to $14,000, the lower half of the wide band, for a remodel that wanted a wide entry and a door that would not swell or rust near the coast. California limits the deposit on home improvement work to $1,000 or 10% of the contract, whichever is less, and our payments follow that rule.
These steel door prices are estimates and remain subject to change. Your written quote after the measure sets the final price and the install schedule, and it depends on the door size, the glass and the finish.
Our standard entry door is galvanized steel, black powder coat, with bronze tones for Spanish Revival houses. Owners in Harmony Grove matching the door to the front yard often look at aluminum gates for coastal homes or modern horizontal slat gates and fences in the same finish.
Our owner lays out every custom piece on the shop table, the same habit behind 1,326 projects, and a front door gets the same weld and finish standard as an estate gate. The 2-year workmanship warranty on welds, hinge alignment, gate sag and gate travel extends to the pivot adjustment on every door we hang, and we work within a 40 mile radius of the shop.
Most of our pivot doors go to Encinitas homes in Olivenhain, Leucadia and Cardiff, Del Mar homes between the two lagoons and Solana Beach homes on the bluffs. We also build them for Rancho Santa Fe, Fairbanks Ranch and Harmony Grove, listed on our service areas page.
A new front door on a Bonsall or Elfin Forest ranch house often pairs with an arched courtyard entry gate in front of it or iron stair and balcony railings in the same finish.
A simpler steel leaf is typically an estimated $3,000 to $9,500, wide glass doors like our 5 ft wide steel and glass pivot entry door in Encinitas run higher, and your written quote sets the final price.
Not with a thermally broken frame and insulated glass, which is why we build every door that way, from Encinitas to Lake San Marcos.
Yes, the pivot box is set into the slab or subfloor, so we check the floor at the measure.
Most pivot doors take an estimated 1 to 2 days on site once the door is fabricated and the pivot box is set in the slab.
Yes, video intercom, keypad or app entry works through an electric lock built into the steel frame, and we test it with your phone before we leave.
Yes, we build them across a 40 mile radius of the shop, including Poway, Lake San Marcos and Elfin Forest homes.
Request a free estimate and we will measure the opening and the floor, then send a drawing and a written quote for your door.
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.
