Ten years ago, I built this fence with a conventional set of wooden gates for this property. Two years ago, a wider (3m/ 10′) entrance was required and it was decided that the swinging gates required cars to be parked too far back into the property, which would waste precious garden space. I dug out one gatepost and laid a new one to give a wider opening. I used the original timber from the swinging gates and added some strengthening batons to make a single rolling gate. The cost of the timber for this project was about £50, which includes £25 for the new 150mm gate post. Recycling really saves money and a lick of paint every year covers a multitude of sins.

The metal track is laid in concrete with a brushed finish and there is a very sturdy, good-quality mechanism that allows the door to roll. This door is not electrically driven so unlike his neighbours, the owner doesn’t have to pay for expensive repairs every few years. The gate is completely fabricated from timber and weighs about 70kg. It can be opened and closed by a seven-year-old child so the enormous expense and questionable reliability of an electrical mechanism seems hardly justifiable. The gate is very strong when it is fully closed and it had no trouble withstanding the storms during the winter of 2023-2024.

The biggest cost for this project was the rolling mechanism, which cost about £150.00. If you can wait until someone else also wants a rolling gate, I can probably negotiate a cheaper price and use the same delivery fee for two sets.

Simple design saves money in terms of initial cost and it is much easier to fix so it is cheaper in the long run.