Carlsbad Metal Gates Group is greater North County's top-rated team for sliding driveway gates, specializing in heavy-duty cantilever gates, ground-track slide gates, and slide gates for steep and crowned drives. We offer rack-and-pinion slide operators and sealed ground tracks.
Our team provides counterbalance and roller carriage setup, delivering a gate that works on a hillside for homes and a jam-free entrance for both residential and commercial projects. Built on 14 years in business and backed by our 2-year workmanship warranty on gate travel, we've completed over 1,326 projects, from an 18 ft slide gate on a flat lot to cantilever gates across sloped truck entrances.
From measuring the run-back space along the fence line to setting the last guide roller shield, our team handles every detail. Serving Carlsbad and neighboring Elfin Forest, Bonsall, Poway and Encinitas, we fit slide gates where a swing gate would hit the grade or the car.
Call us today for a free estimate, and we will measure your slope and side clearance before recommending a gate type.
What you can hold us to
Nora, steep chaparral-edge driveway, Elfin Forest
A steep drive where a swing gate could not clear the grade
Tyler, rural lot near the river valley, Bonsall
A short, flat drive with no room for a swing gate to open
Investment and duration figures are estimates. Your written quote sets the final price and schedule.
Nora's steep chaparral-edge driveway in Elfin Forest was a steep drive where a swing gate could not clear the grade. We built a 20 ft cantilever gate on a sloped drive in galvanized steel, black powder coat, rolling across the slope on a level counterbalance with a battery-backed operator for fire season outages. It was an estimated $7,400 to $9,800 and took an estimated 3 to 4 days on site, and Nora now has a gate that works on the slope and still opens when the power is cut.
Tyler's rural lot near the river valley in Bonsall had a short, flat drive with no room for a swing gate to open. We set an 18 ft ground-track slide gate along the fence line with a sealed track and battery backup, an estimated $3,200 to $4,600 job that took an estimated 2 to 3 days. Tyler's gate now opens in its own footprint along the fence.
A swing gate fails on a drive that rises behind the opening, on a short apron where the leaves would hit a parked car, and on a crowned drive where the bottom rail drags at mid-swing. A slide or cantilever gate moves sideways along the fence line instead, so the slope of the drive no longer matters to its travel.
Hillside lots in La Costa, Olivenhain and Elfin Forest are where we see this most, along with Del Mar and Solana Beach homes with only a few feet between the street and the garage.
A ground-track slide gate is the lower-cost answer on a flat, clean drive, and a trackless cantilever gate is the answer on slopes, gravel and anywhere debris would clog a track.
| Gate type | What it needs | Best on | Est. price per complete system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground-track slide gate | A level track across the opening | Flat paved drives with no swing room | Est. $1,500 to $5,000 |
| Heavy-duty trackless cantilever gate | Run-back space for its counterbalance tail | Slopes, gravel, debris and busy entrances | Est. $6,000 to $10,000 |
| Custom dual swing driveway gate with operator | A clear arc on both sides | Level drives with room behind the posts | Est. $4,000 to $8,000 |
Because a cantilever gate never touches the ground, nothing builds up under it, which is why the 28 ft cantilever across a truck entrance we built in a Carlsbad business park uses the same design.
Run-back space is the clear, straight run along the fence line that the gate slides into when it opens, and it decides whether a slide gate fits at all. As a planning rule, installer guidance puts a track slide gate at roughly one opening width of run-back and a cantilever at roughly one and a half, because of its counterbalance tail.
Our estimator measures the opening, the run-back, the cross-slope along the fence line and anything in the way: a pillar, a planter, a tree, a meter box. On Nora's Elfin Forest drive the run-back was there but sloped, which is why the counterbalance was set level on its own footing. We check ground clearance too: 2 to 3 inches over lawn and 1 to 2 inches over a paved driveway apron.
A slide or cantilever gate is only as good as the posts and rollers under it, because a heavy leaf hanging off two carriages puts its whole weight on those footings. Our standard is 24 to 36 inch deep bell footings, 10 to 12 inches across, in 3,000 to 4,000 PSI concrete for the carriage and guide posts.
Safety on a sliding gate is set by two standards: ASTM F2200 covers the gate construction, including positive stops and guarded rollers, and UL 325 covers the operator, calling for two independent means of entrapment protection in each direction, so slide gates carry monitored sensors on both sides of travel.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ground-track slide gate | Est. $1,500 to $5,000 per complete system | Est. 2 to 3 days |
| Heavy-duty trackless cantilever gate | Est. $6,000 to $10,000 per complete system | Est. 2 to 4 days |
| Opener retrofit on an existing gate | Est. $1,800 to $3,800 per operator system | Est. 4 to 8 hours |
A ground-track slide gate in Carlsbad typically costs an estimated $1,500 to $5,000 per complete system, and a heavy-duty trackless cantilever gate is typically an estimated $6,000 to $10,000. Gate length, the run-back fencing it needs, the slope and the operator size move the price most, and a cantilever costs more because the frame carries its own counterbalance.
Most of our hillside cantilever jobs in Elfin Forest and Rancho Santa Fe land in the upper half of that range. California caps the deposit at $1,000 or 10% of the contract, whichever is less.
Slide gate prices here are estimates and subject to change. Your written quote after we measure the run-back and slope sets the final price and the install schedule, depending on the gate length, the footings and the operator.
Our estimator measures every slope and run-back, from Lake San Marcos to the coast, before a gate type is chosen, and our owner signs off the layout in the shop. We have built slide gates across a 40-mile radius for 14 years, and the 2-year workmanship warranty on welds, hinge alignment, gate sag and gate travel covers each one.
A slide gate can carry any infill, from rust-free aluminum coastal gates near the Solana Beach bluffs to ornamental steel pickets or horizontal slats for privacy.
We build sliding gates across North County, with frequent hillside work in Elfin Forest, Bonsall horse and rural lots, Poway and Encinitas, plus every town on our North County service area list.
Almost every slide gate we build, from Fairbanks Ranch to Lake San Marcos, gets an operator from our gate automation and openers team, and many add keypad or intercom entry; where a swing gate fits after all, we fabricate a custom driveway gate.
A heavy-duty trackless cantilever gate is typically an estimated $6,000 to $10,000 per complete system, and your written quote sets the final price.
Yes, a cantilever gate rides above the ground, so a slope under the opening does not stop it, as Nora's 20 ft cantilever gate on a sloped drive shows.
Plan on roughly one opening width beside a track gate and about one and a half for a cantilever; we measure yours.
On slopes, gravel or debris it is, because there is no track to clog; on a clean flat drive, a track gate costs less.
Most slide gates take an estimated 2 to 3 days on site, and a cantilever an estimated 2 to 4 days.
Yes, a battery-backed operator keeps it running, which is why Nora's gate in Elfin Forest has one.
Yes, Tyler's 18 ft ground-track slide gate in Bonsall is one of many we have set in the inland valleys.
Request a free estimate and we will measure the slope, the run-back and the opening, then write an itemized quote for the gate that fits.
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.
