Wooden Gates vs Aluminium Gates
Wooden Gates are hugely popular in the UK. They can be beautiful and wood is ideal for many different designs. But now, many wooden gates are being replaced by aluminium gates. Why is this? Read on and you’ll see why the benefits of wooden gates cannot beat the best alternative for your driveway gates.
Wooden gates will eventually rot no matter how much they are painted or treated. Wood also absorbs water when it’s wet and dries out in the sun. Consequently, wooden gates change size; they expand when wet and shrink as they dry out. This means that hinges have to deal with the changing weight of the gates they support. Paint cracks and joints slowly open up.
Wood is beautiful but it will weather and eventually look less beautiful.
In an ideal world, it would be possible to buy gates made in a lighter but stronger material. It would be possible to buy gates that had a finish that made them look almost exactly like wooden gates. This finish would be guaranteed for ten years and require nothing more than a wipe down with a wet cloth to keep it looking new. And these miracle gates would cost the same as the equivalent hardwood wooden gates.
So are the pictures on the right of wooden gates or aluminium gates? They’re both aluminium of course.
The following images show a few examples of our customers’ old wooden gates and their replacement aluminium gates.
What Goes Wrong With Wooden Gates?
The images on the right show the typical problems faced by wooden gate owners. These are beautiful gates. There is no denying their style and design are fabulous.
However, there are now huge gaps where there were originally tight joints. The gates have dropped on their hinges so that they no longer meet in the middle properly.
Ignoring the peeling varnish, cracks in the gate posts and the first signs of rot, and it’s got to be disappointing for the gates’ owners that they have been installed for only one year.
Old Wooden Gates Replaced By New Aluminium Gates
Wooden gates that have rotted as much as the ones on the left don’t do any property justice. The sliding aluminium gate replacement looks like wooden gates but only needs an occasional wipe with a damp cloth to stay looking new for years.
These wooden gates show the same issues as the ones above. They rotted, cracked, dropped on their hinges and discoloured. By contrast, the replacement aluminium gates were installed over 15 years ago and this is a recent photo!
Wooden gates are usually painted or treated with a wood preservative such as creosote. They are often quite dark and this can make them imposing and not very welcoming. Stargate aluminium gates are available in a wide range of finishes and customers often choose a lighter solution when replacing wooden gates.
Lighter wooden gates, like the ones on the left, badly show all cracks, rot and any growth of algae etc. The owners cleverly replaced theirs with the same coloured aluminium gates but chose a half boarded design to make their property more inviting.
Here’s a great example of how replacing tired wooden gates with new aluminium gates can also solve problems other than rot and decay. In this instance, rotten wooden swing gates took up lots of space when they opened into the homeowner’s drive. The replacement aluminium gates look like swing gates but are actually a single sliding gate that neatly slides along the wall as it opens.
Wooden Gates vs Aluminium Gates
Aluminium is one of nature’s miracle materials. It is light, easy to cut and shape, can be welded, bonded, riveted or bolted together and it provides years of low to no maintenance in all weathers.
In essence, aluminium is the perfect material for manual or automatic gates.
| Factor | Wood | Aluminium |
|---|---|---|
| Raw material | Requires structuring landscape Creates Omni cultures Requires transport | Requires mining Requires transport Requires processing |
| Manufacture | Uses chemicals for treatments to preserve Uses energy Waste can be turned into other products | Uses energy No waste |
| Lifetime | Limited life Depends on reuse of noxious chemicals | Long life No maintenance |
| After life | Rot or burn, adding to carbon in atmosphere | 99% recycled |
Aluminium Gates
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What Do You Need?
If you’re looking for new gates, Stargate’s ranges of aluminium gates give you the following benefits over alternative materials:
• They look as beautiful and natural as wooden gates but don’t need the maintenance
• They have a tough coating that is guaranteed for ten years
• They are light and strong
• They have a structural guarantee that lasts for five years
• Adding swing or sliding gate automation is easy
• They can be coated in a wide range of coloured and textured finishes including incredibly realistic wooden looking styles
The easiest way to see more examples of installed aluminium gates is in our newsletter. We collect pictures of as many of the latest gates that we can and show them to anyone who’s signed up to receive it.
This is usually before they appear on our website and you only have to go to your email in-box to see new ideas for your perfect gates.
So sign up now to see all our latest installations. See what other people have done and get ideas for your gate project,
