Gleave Construction Outlines Safety Standards for Residential Gates

FORT WAYNE, IN – October 19, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –

Northeast Indiana is heading into the months when the ground freezes, thaws and shifts under the posts that carry a driveway gate. Ahead of that season, Gleave Construction, a family-owned company in business since 1970, has outlined the safety and construction standards it applies to the automated gates it installs, including UL 325, a safety standard for powered gate equipment.

Gleave Construction installs four types of residential gates, and the company’s website explains how each works. Swing systems operate like a door, opening from a fixed hinge point. Slide systems move horizontally along a track or guide. Barrier-style access gates raise and lower a single arm rather than a full gate panel, and pedestrian and yard gates handle foot traffic.

The motor unit that opens and closes a gate is called a gate operator. The company says it works with established gate equipment manufacturers whose products are used in both residential and commercial access systems. It also states that its systems are installed to recognized safety requirements, including UL 325. The company’s website lists obstruction response, meaning how a gate reacts when something is in its path, as a measure that protects people and vehicles.

A gate that moves by itself is a machine, and safety rules treat it as one. The standard comes from UL, the product safety organization, and covers door, drapery, gate, louver and window operators and systems. Its central concern for gates is entrapment, the risk of a person being caught by a gate in motion. The protective devices associated with it include photoelectric sensors, which monitor the opening with a light beam, and contact edges, which are pressure-sensitive strips mounted on the gate.

According to the company, gate failure is commonly caused by poor foundations, incorrect sizing and shortcuts, meaning steps skipped during installation. Its website separately notes that the region’s soil shifts seasonally and that ground movement causes misalignment over time. Constant weight, the company adds, stresses the posts, hinges and anchor points that hold a gate in place.

Wendy Vie, co-owner of Gleave Construction, said, “People shop for the opener the way they would shop for an appliance, and the opener is the easy part. The work that matters is underground and inside the conduit, where nobody looks once the driveway is finished. That is also the first place a low bid gets cut, and the homeowner finds out in the second or third winter.”

The company’s stated approach starts below ground. Its published guidance emphasizes proper footings, the buried concrete bases that support the posts, and load control, the practice of managing the weight and force a moving gate exerts on its hardware. On wiring, the company says electrical systems must be integrated from the start instead of added later, and it notes that improper electrical setup causes erratic gate behavior. Gleave Construction says its gate systems are planned for freeze-thaw cycles, snow load and seasonal ground movement, and that each gate project is led by a foreman with at least 10 years of field experience.

Gleave Construction says it is returning to the residential market, and its gate work is part of that. Its website lists gate repair alongside installation. Installation labor is covered by a one-year workmanship warranty, and the company reviews warranty details with homeowners at the estimate appointment.

Homeowners can learn more about the company’s work in the Fort Wayne area. For more information, call Gleave Construction at (260) 744-2757.

About Gleave Construction

Gleave Construction is a family-owned fence and construction company founded in 1970 by Terry and Karen Gleave in Fort Wayne, Ind. Now run by the second generation, Wendy Vie, Adam Gleave and Seth Gleave, the company installs residential and commercial fencing in wood, vinyl, aluminum and chain link, along with decks, concrete work and gate operators across Northeast Indiana. The company has been licensed, insured, and incorporated in Indiana since 1981 (Entity ID 98112-490). Gleave Construction is located at 532 E. Hawthorne St, Fort Wayne, IN 46806. For more information, visit https://gleaveconstruction.com.

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For more information about Gleave Construction, contact the company here:

Gleave Construction
Adam Gleave
(260) 744-2757
Info@gleaveconstruction.com
532 E. Hawthorne St, Fort Wayne, IN 46806

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