Nobody quotes you a driveway gate. They quote you a project, and the number that comes back is somewhere between four thousand and twenty, which is not information.
So here’s the material cost broken into parts, with the ranges that actually move the total. Prices are US, mid-2026, and lumber swings enough by region that you should treat these as proportions more than absolutes.
Short version: a DIY wood double-swing gate on a 12-foot opening runs $700 to $2,100 in materials. Add an operator and you’re at $1,900 to $4,600. A contractor doing the same work bills $6,000 to $15,000.
The four things that decide your number
Before the tables, understand what you’re actually paying for, because the wood is not it.
Opening width. Under 12 feet you can swing two leaves off wood posts. Past 14 feet, wood posts start losing the argument with physics and you’re into steel or a slider. The jump from 12 to 16 feet roughly doubles the hardware cost and can double the post cost.
Swing or slide. Swing is cheaper and simpler. Slide needs level ground, a track or a cantilever frame, and clear space alongside the opening equal to the gate width. Cantilever sliders cost more than everything else on this page.
Automation or not. This is the single biggest line. A manual gate you get out of the car to open is a $900 project. The same gate with an operator, safety sensors, and a keypad is $2,400.
Who digs the holes. Two 6×6 posts at 4 feet deep in clay, by hand, is a genuinely bad Saturday. Renting an auger is $80. Hiring it out is $300 to $600 and worth considering if you value your back.
Posts and footings
This is where people underspend and then rebuild.
| Item | Spec | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Wood posts | 6×6 pressure treated, 12 ft, qty 2 | $110 – $190 |
| Steel posts (alternative) | 4″ schedule 40, 10 ft, qty 2 | $220 – $380 |
| Concrete | 60 lb bags, 12 – 16 total | $75 – $110 |
| Gravel | 2 bags for footing drainage | $12 |
| Auger rental | Half day, two-person | $70 – $110 |
A driveway gate post is not a fence post. Go 6×6 minimum for wood, never 4×4. Hole diameter three times the post width, so 18 inches for a 6×6. Depth at least 4 feet, and past your frost line whatever that costs you.
Four to six inches of gravel in the bottom so water drains instead of sitting against end grain. Crown the concrete above grade so it sheds. A post set in a concrete bathtub rots from the bottom and you won’t see it until the gate tells you.
If you’re going automated, run conduit to at least one post while the trench is open. Doing it later means cutting your own driveway.
The gate leaves
For a 12-foot opening, two leaves at roughly 5 feet 10 inches each.
| Item | Spec | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Frame lumber | 2×4 cedar or PT, ~10 pieces | $90 – $170 |
| Steel frame (alternative) | 1.5″ square tube, welded | $180 – $340 |
| Cladding | 1×6 cedar, ~24 boards | $190 – $430 |
| Exterior screws | 5 lb, hot-dip or coated for ACQ | $35 – $50 |
| Wood glue | Titebond III, 16 oz | $12 |
| Finish | Solid stain or exterior paint, 1 gal | $45 – $75 |
Cedar versus pressure-treated is the swing here. Cedar is roughly double and worth it if the gate is visible from the road. PT is fine if you’re painting it solid anyway.
Weight check: a 5’10” by 6′ clad wood leaf runs 110 to 160 pounds. Write that number down, because the hardware section depends entirely on it.
Hardware
Where the DIY builds fail. Do not buy the gate hardware kit next to the mailboxes.
| Item | Spec | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Barrel or J-bolt hinges | 5/8″ or 3/4″, hot-dip galvanized, qty 4 | $90 – $220 |
| Drop rod / cane bolt | 3/4″, 24″ with ground sleeve | $35 – $70 |
| Latch | Heavy gravity or lockable | $40 – $130 |
| Anti-sag cable kits | Cable + turnbuckle, qty 2 | $40 – $60 |
| Post caps | qty 2 | $25 – $50 |
Two hinges per leaf on anything over 100 pounds, and I’d argue three. J-bolt hinges thread into the post and adjust, which you will need, because the gate will settle in the first season no matter how well you set the posts.
The drop rod is not optional on a double gate. The inactive leaf has to be pinned to the ground or both leaves work against the latch every time the wind blows.
Automation, if you’re going there
| Item | Spec | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Swing gate operator | Dual arm, 12v or 24v | $650 – $1,700 |
| Solar kit (alternative to trenching) | Panel, battery, charge controller | $250 – $600 |
| Safety photo eyes | Required pair | $80 – $180 |
| Keypad or intercom | Wireless keypad to full video intercom | $60 – $900 |
| Conduit, wire, misc electrical | $80 – $200 | |
| Electrician, if hardwiring | $300 – $800 |
On safety sensors: gate operators sold in the US fall under UL 325, which requires entrapment protection. Photo eyes are not an upsell and skipping them is not a budget decision. An automated gate closing on a child is the failure mode this rule exists for.
Solar is genuinely competitive if your gate is far from the house. A 100-foot trench across a driveway costs more than a panel and a battery.
Totals
| Build | Materials |
|---|---|
| Manual wood double swing, 12 ft | $700 – $1,400 |
| Same, but cedar and better hardware | $1,200 – $2,100 |
| Automated wood double swing, 12 ft | $1,900 – $4,600 |
| Steel frame, 16 ft, automated | $3,400 – $7,200 |
| Cantilever slider, 16 ft, automated | $5,500 – $11,000 |
| Contractor installed, 12 ft automated wood | $6,000 – $15,000 |
The gap between the DIY column and the contractor column is mostly labor, permits, and someone else carrying the warranty. That last one has real value if the gate crosses the only vehicle access to your house.
What people forget to budget
The permit. Many jurisdictions require one for a driveway gate, and some have setback rules that dictate how far back from the road the gate has to sit so a car can pull off while it opens. Check before you dig, not after.
Utility locate. Free in most of the US, and the one phone call between you and an extremely expensive afternoon. Call 811 or your local equivalent and wait the required days.
The second gallon of finish. Everyone buys one. A 12-foot double gate clad both faces is close to 140 square feet of surface and rough cedar drinks the first coat.
Grade change. If your driveway slopes up through the opening, a swing gate will hit the ground before it’s fully open. Measure the rise across the arc before you commit to swing. This one sinks projects at the very end.
Where I’d spend the extra money
Posts and hinges. Nowhere else.
You can cheap out on cladding and re-clad in ten years for a few hundred dollars. You cannot cheap out on a post and fix it without removing the gate, breaking out concrete, and starting over. Every driveway gate failure I’ve looked at closely was a post or a hinge, and the wood was fine.
