The opening
Start from a common job, then replace every figure with your takeoff. Changing style never overwrites a rate you already typed. This is not a fence calculator (posts and walk gates as a barrier) and not a garage-door calculator (springs and a header).
Your crew rates
A $42/h hand loaded at 32% is $55.44. Quoting the raw wage on a published $4,500 kit special is how a 16-foot dual masonry gate that looked fine turns into a two-day loss after the first loop sawcut.
Your bid
- Style and opening
- Material and extras
- Operators and columns
- Crew hours
- Loaded labor
- Kits, leaves, columns, fees
- Travel + equipment
- Overhead
- Total cost
- Profit at this price
- Price per opening foot
- Effective hourly rate
- Walk-away price
A bid link carries your own rates — wage, burden, overhead, and target margin — so the page reopens exactly as you left it. Send it to yourself or your crew. The numbers ride after the #, which is never sent to a server, so copying a link uploads nothing. The customer should get the price, not the link.
Same opening, three styles
Where the hours go
Where the cost goes
Transparent arithmetic from your own inputs. Starting hours and kit rates are common ballpark figures, not an industry standard, a UL 325 determination, or an electrical design — replace them with your own takeoff.
Hand the customer a proposal
The price above is for you. This is the page you print or save as a PDF and give to the customer — your details, their details, the scope, the deposit split, and a line for them to sign. Your business details are saved on this device so you only type them once; the customer’s details are never saved.
Everything on the printed page is text you typed or a number this calculator worked out. It contains no warranty, lien, or cancellation wording — those depend on your jurisdiction and your contract, and this tool is not the place to invent them.
Common questions
What does this gate estimate include?
The price adds up operator kits by leaf count, the gate leaves themselves by opening width and material, new columns or posts when you are not reusing existing hardware, AC trenching or a solar kit, vehicle loops, a keypad, battery backup, extra remotes, edge sensors, a permit line, travel and equipment, overhead, and your target margin — all from the opening, style, and rates you enter, not a flat “automatic gate” price.
Why does a dual swing cost more than a single swing on the same opening?
A dual-swing gate is priced as two operators and typically three new columns against a single swing’s one operator and two columns, and its own starting hours and material rates run a little higher besides. The three-way comparison prices your same opening under single-swing, dual-swing, and slide starting kits so you can see which style actually wins once columns and operators are counted.
Does the gate material change more than just the leaf price?
Yes. Steel and wood carry a weight factor above aluminum, which raises both the leaf material cost and the hang hours for the same opening width, while vinyl and chain-link carry a weight factor below aluminum and lower both. Everything else — columns, power, loops, and access — prices the same regardless of leaf material.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No account and no network requests — the calculator runs entirely in your browser. Your bid is saved in this browser’s local storage between visits, and a bid link you copy carries those same numbers in the page’s URL hash rather than sending anything to a server.
What’s the difference between the bid price and the walk-away price?
The bid price already includes your target margin on top of labor, materials, and overhead. The walk-away price is the total cost underneath it — operators, leaves, columns, power, access hardware, and labor — the point below which the job stops being profitable at all.
Does this check UL 325 safety requirements or electrical code?
No. This is not a gate specification, a UL 325 determination, a permit, an electrical design, or an engineering stamp. Loops, keypads, battery backup, and edge sensors are line items you choose to include; whether a specific installation meets the safety standard is a judgment call for whoever pulls the permit, not something this arithmetic decides.