We are the proud installers of the first (to the best of our knowledge) Comunello Ranger telescopic gate system in Los Angeles.

This beautiful mix of pre-galvanized steel and horizontal garapa hardwood made for an eye-catching facelift for these homeowners in Santa Monica.

Their front yard has a slop from the front of the property towards the house, so having anything that swung in would've had to also swing up to compensate for the grade.

This simply meant that any kind of swinging gate solution for both the driveway and the front pedestrian gate were out of the question.

Naturally, this made the option for using a sliding gate system our next consideration.

But a typical sliding driveway gate needs at least the width of the driveway plus another 18-24" for the tail of the gate that is necessary for basic chain link gate operators to run through.

Sure, a rack and pinion style operator might cut that down drastically, but nevertheless the real issue remains: you need clearance equal to and greater than the width of your gate.

That means that an 11-foot wide gate needs at least another 11' to either side to accommodate the full opening.

But the pedestrian walkway was less than 8' from the driveway, so that kind of room is not available.

The solution to that is to create a telescopic sliding gate.

These tandem sets of sliding gates are linked to each other.

Their combined widths equal the width of the driveway, but when fully open the leaves of the gate are on separate tracks stacked parallel to the front property line.

This means when the gate is fully open, it only takes up one-half to one-third of the width of the driveway.

So now we can have a sliding gate for the 11' driveway because when fully open it only needs about a 7'-wide space.

And that fits perfectly between the driveway and pedestrian path.

There are a few different designs for doing telescopic gates.

One style uses a pulley system; another uses chain-link.

However, those styles are not the cleanest when it comes to the finished look.

The both have visible hardware along the bottom edge.

For many homes, this is not a huge consideration.

However, some homeowners are interested in premium products that feature state of the art technology.

The Comunello Ranger telescopic gate system represents that cutting-edge premium solution.

Based in Bassano del Grappa, Italy, Comunello is a family-owned business founded 50 years ago and run today by the second generation of fine gate craftsmen.

Their custom gate hardware solutions are crafted from the hight quality stainless steel and aluminum machining process.

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Now, this is a bit of a rare circumstance, but this situation also required us to use a sliding gate for the front pedestrian gate too.

It all has to do with the slope from the front of the property along the sidewalk towards the house.

The grade is too steep to do a swinging gate in a reasonable way.

The sliding pedestrian paired with the telescopic sliding driveway gate made for a nice combination that made sense.

Sliding pedestrian gates require a different type of lock: one with a hook bolt.And when it comes to pedestrian gate locks, we always recommend Lockey brand locks.

This are commercial-grade digital entry systems that are mechanical versus electric.

They also have a security feature that prevents tampering built-in to the lever.

These particular ones are also marine-grade to minimize corrosion over time in a beach city environment.

In addition to the Lockey marine-grade lock with hook bolt, we added a double-cylinder hook bolt above it.Double-cylinder deadbolts require a key on both side.

This means someone cannot unlock the gate even from the inside without the key.

It is an added security feature we recommend for protection during trips away, for example.

The track for the front sliding pedestrian gate is recessed.

It is placed into the ground below the surface to leave a clear walkway.

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This fence project for the front yard also added an improved trash bin corral.

We laid a new concrete pad that had a ramp down the the sidewalk.

Then, we added a pedestrian gate for in and out entry.

This time we went with a swinging gate.

We made sure to add heavy duty self-closing gate hinges to ensure safety as it was necessary to swing out towards the sidewalk.

The addition of self-closing hinges ensured that the gate could never be left open and become an obstacle or danger to people walking by.

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The final cool detail for this fence improvement project was the addition of the dVault package drop.

These high-quality mailbox and package drops are becoming a popular solution for secure postal delivery.

They feature a mail slot with outbound mail compartment, as well as a large package drop drawer that prevents theft.

The rear of the dVault has keyed compartments to also prevent theft before retrieving your mail and packages.

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www.burkhardtcustom.com

https://www.comunello.com/gate/