Georgetown Metal Gates is Central Texas's trusted expert in automated ranch and venue gates, specializing in solar two-leaf entries, trackless cantilever gates, and dark sky gate lighting. We offer galvanized steel leaves with powder coat and off-grid operators for long drives.
Our team provides lighting counts and keypad setups, delivering entries that run without trenching and stay inside the city's lighting rules for both residential and commercial projects. Dripping Springs work carries 3 years of workmanship warranty for welds, hinge alignment, gate sag and gate travel, and you also get the experience of 11 years in business and over 1,412 projects, the smallest a single walk gate in a stucco wall and the largest a 26 ft cantilever across a loading entrance.
From the first city-limits check to the final keypad test, our team handles every Dripping Springs entry, ranch or venue. Serving Dripping Springs and neighboring Bee Cave, Sunset Valley and Lakeway, our location manager plans the gate, the power and the lights as one job.
Book a free estimate, and we will tell you on the first visit which lighting rules apply to your address.
Henrietta, off RR 12, Dripping Springs
A ranch entry far from the house where trenching power would have meant a long run through rock.
Lucius, near U.S. Highway 290, Dripping Springs
An event venue with a gravel service drive where a ground track would have filled with rock and caliche.
Investment and duration figures are estimates. Your written quote sets the final price and schedule.
What you can hold us to
Henrietta's ranch entry off RR 12 sat far from the house, and trenching power out to it would have meant a long run through rock. We built an 18 ft two-leaf ranch entry with solar operator in galvanized steel, powder coat, with battery backup and one low-output shielded keypad light. Henrietta's job was estimated at $6,200 to $7,800 and typically ran 2 to 3 days. Her gate now runs off grid, and the entry light stays well under the city's lighting threshold.
Lucius runs an event venue near Highway 290 with a gravel service drive, where a ground track would have filled with rock and caliche. We installed a 24 ft cantilever across a venue service drive on a counterbalanced carriage, with edge sensors and a keypad for caterers. Lucius's project was estimated at $7,400 to $9,600 and typically took 3 to 4 days on site. Delivery trucks now get in on a code, and the gate never jams on gravel.
Henrietta's off RR 12 entry was a power problem solved with solar, while Lucius's gate near Highway 290 was a gravel problem solved by taking the track off the ground.
The first question on any Dripping Springs gate is whether the address is inside city limits or in the extraterritorial jurisdiction, because many local addresses sit in the ETJ. The city's outdoor lighting article, Article 24.06, states that it does not generally apply in the ETJ unless it is applied through an agreement with the property owner.
Inside city limits, Dripping Springs has been a DarkSky Community since 2014, and about 10,165 residents live under its Outdoor Lighting Ordinance. For Henrietta off RR 12 we confirmed the jurisdiction before drawing her 18 ft two-leaf ranch entry with solar operator, so the lighting plan matched the rules that really applied.
Inside city limits, installing outdoor lighting without a permit is an offense when all the lights put in within any 90-day period total more than 2,500 lumens. Gate pillar lights and keypad lights count toward that total, so a new entry with lanterns can trigger a lighting permit on its own.
The same article prohibits fixtures rated over 3,000 Kelvin, with narrow exceptions, and caps residential outdoor light output at 25,000 lumens per net acre. On Henrietta's ranch entry off RR 12 we used a single low-output, shielded keypad light, which kept the job well under 2,500 lumens and off the permit list. Where an owner wants pillar lanterns on an automated two-leaf swing entry, we add up the lumens first and file the lighting permit before installation if the total runs over.
A two-leaf automated swing entry in Dripping Springs is generally estimated at $4,000 to $8,000 for the full system, and a trackless cantilever at $6,000 to $10,000. The table lists the Dripping Springs jobs we quote most.
| Dripping Springs job | Est. investment | Est. time on site |
|---|---|---|
| Automated two-leaf swing entry | Est. $4,000 to $8,000 for the full system | Est. 2 to 3 days |
| Cantilever gate clearing a wide or sloped entry | Est. $6,000 to $10,000 for the full system | Est. 2 to 4 days |
| Motorizing an existing ranch or drive gate | Est. $1,800 to $3,800 with the opener kit | Est. one working day or less |
| Iron fence sandblast, rust treatment and powder coat | Est. $30 to $50 a linear foot | Est. 1 to 3 days |
| Decorative pedestrian walk gate | Est. $600 to $1,500 for each gate installed | Est. 4 to 8 hours |
Henrietta's 18 ft solar entry landed near the top of the two-leaf range because of the wide opening and battery package. Lucius's 24 ft venue gate sat in the middle of the cantilever range, since the drive was level and needed no extra post work.
Owners with an older ranch gate often start with an opener retrofit at an estimated $1,800 to $3,800 before replacing the leaves. Every figure here is an estimate and is subject to change; your Dripping Springs site visit and written quote set the final price and schedule.
Dripping Springs owners most often ask for ranch entry gates at the road and cantilever gates for wide or gravel drives. When trenching a 120V conduit to the gate costs too much, a 10W to 30W monocrystalline solar panel with dual 12V AGM deep-cycle batteries can support 10 to 30 cycles a day here, as long as the panel faces south with nothing shading it. Gate frames are G90 hot-dip galvanized steel tube under electrostatic polyester powder coat 3 to 5 mils thick, and leaves hang on ball-bearing barrel hinges sized to the leaf weight.
A Dripping Springs job runs in five steps, with the jurisdiction settled first. First we visit, measure the opening and confirm city limits or ETJ. Second we draw the gate, the power plan and any lights, choosing between an automated two-leaf swing entry and a cantilever gate clearing a wide or sloped entry. Third the shop fabricates and powder coats the leaves while any lighting permit is filed. Fourth, posts are set 24 to 36 inches deep in concrete after the free Texas811 marking, cored into rock where needed. Fifth, the crew hangs the leaves on ball-bearing barrel hinges sized to the leaf weight, wires the operator and tests photo eyes, edge sensors and the keypad before handing over the remotes.
Dripping Springs owners hire us because we plan for rock, gravel and long drives before the first post goes in. Our Georgetown welders build every leaf in our own shop, and 1,412 finished projects include ranch entries, venue gates and hillside drives. On a venue drive near Highway 290, a trackless cantilever with edge sensors keeps caterer and guest traffic moving without a track to clean.
We cover the ranches off RR 12 and the venues and homes along Highway 290, out toward Onion Creek. Nearby, see our Bee Cave pool fences and swing gates, Sunset Valley gate services and Lakeway private driveway gates, or browse every area we serve.
A new Dripping Springs entry often gets a solar gate operator where power is far away, or gate access control with video intercom, keypad or phone entry with delivery codes for a venue.
They apply inside city limits; the city's lighting article does not generally apply in the ETJ unless an agreement with the owner applies it.
Inside city limits, once your new lights add up to more than 2,500 lumens, gate and keypad lights included.
Yes, a solar operator with battery backup suits a long drive, as on Henrietta's entry off RR 12.
A trackless cantilever, like Lucius's gate near Highway 290, because there is no ground track to fill with rock.
A two-leaf automated entry is typically estimated at $4,000 to $8,000 for the full system, and the written quote after the visit sets the exact price.
A cantilever gate clearing a wide or sloped entry typically takes an estimated 2 to 4 days on site, and Lucius's venue gate took 3 to 4.
Call us today, and our crew will check your Dripping Springs address, plan the gate and its power, and give you a free written quote.
Your local contact
Names, photos and stories are on our about page.
Location manager covering Dripping Springs
Runs the Dripping Springs schedule from the first site measure to the final safety test.
Where we work
Call us or send the form, and we will book a site measure and a written estimate.
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