A custom aluminium gate is made in five stages: quote, design, cutting and welding, powder coating, and installation. The gate is fabricated to your exact opening rather than a standard size, which is the core difference between a custom gate and a kit.
At Premier Gates all of that happens in-house on the Gold Coast, and most people never see what goes on between “here’s your quote” and “your gate’s ready”. So here’s the full walk-through, because knowing how it works makes it much easier to judge any quote you get, from us or anyone else.
Stage 1: The quote
It starts with your measurements and a conversation about what you want the gate to do. Keep the weather out of a side passage? Secure a driveway? Match an existing fence? The answers decide the style, the frame, and whether automation is on the table.
You don’t need laser-perfect numbers to get a quote moving. Here’s how to measure well enough:
- Measure the opening, not the gate. Post to post (or wall to wall) at the top and the bottom, because openings are rarely perfectly square.
- Measure the height you want, keeping in mind any council rules on front boundary heights.
- Note the ground. Flat concrete, sloped driveway, pavers, grass. Slope changes what style of gate will work, especially for driveway gates.
- Photos help enormously. A couple of phone shots of the opening and its surrounds answer half the questions before they’re asked.
Good measurements at this stage mean the quote you get is the price you pay, with no surprises when the tape comes out later.
Stage 2: Design
Once the quote’s accepted, the gate gets drawn up properly. This is where a custom build earns its keep: slat spacing, frame profile, hinge or track positions, and motor placement (if it’s automated) are all worked out for your specific opening before any metal gets touched.
It’s also the stage where the details get locked in. Slat direction, gaps for airflow versus privacy, colour, and hardware. Changing your mind here costs nothing. Changing it after cutting costs a lot, which is exactly why this stage exists.
Stage 3: Cutting and welding
The aluminium is cut to length and the frame is welded up in the workshop. This is the part a flat-pack kit can’t replicate: a welded frame is one rigid piece, not a bundle of extrusions held together by screws and brackets.
Why that matters over ten years of use: a gate is a moving part that lives outdoors. It gets swung, slammed, leant on and cooked in Queensland sun. Welded joints don’t work loose the way mechanical fixings can, which is most of the reason a fabricated gate still swings straight years later.
Aluminium is the material of choice for a reason too. It’s light, which means less strain on hinges and smaller (cheaper) motors for automated gates, and it doesn’t rust the way steel does, which matters this close to the coast.
Stage 4: Powder coating
Raw aluminium then gets powder coated. Powder coating isn’t paint; it’s a dry powder electrostatically applied and then baked on, forming a finish that’s bonded to the metal rather than sitting on top of it. That’s why it doesn’t peel and flake the way painted metal does.
It’s also where colour matching happens. Powder coat colours can be matched to your existing fence, your window frames, or your Colorbond roof, so the gate looks like it was always part of the house rather than bolted on afterwards.
Stage 5: Installation
The finished gate comes back to site for install: posts set, hinges or track fitted, gate hung, and everything adjusted so it swings or slides properly on your actual ground, not a theoretical flat one. If it’s automated, the motor gets fitted, wired and programmed, and you get shown how to use it before anyone leaves.
If you want to get ahead of install day, we’ve covered what to sort out beforehand in our driveway gate installation prep tips.
What to check in any fabricator (including us)
Whoever you’re getting quotes from, these five questions sort the fabricators from the resellers:
- Where is the gate actually made? “Custom” sometimes means “ordered from someone else’s factory in a custom size”.
- Is the frame welded or screwed together?
- Is the finish powder coated or painted?
- Who does the install? The people who built it, or a subcontractor seeing it for the first time?
- What happens if something’s not right? One business handling fabrication and install means one phone call, not two companies pointing at each other.
Ask us the same questions. That’s the point of publishing this.
Thinking about a custom gate?
Have a look at the aluminium gate range to get a feel for styles, then send through your rough measurements and a couple of photos for a quote. Everything’s fabricated here on the Gold Coast, which is exactly why we can build to your opening instead of asking your opening to suit a standard size.