The Orinda fog cycle is the design constraint nobody expects. Marine air rolls over the Berkeley Hills overnight and burns off by ten, which means every exterior surface here wets and dries daily. Finishes that survive Danville heat will cup and grey in Orinda within two seasons, so our driveway gates for Orinda Downs and Glorietta are specified around dew tolerance first.
Most Orinda driveway gate projects start with a site survey: we measure the opening, check soil and slope, identify utility lines, and confirm clearances against fences, gateposts, and the road. From that survey we recommend a configuration — swing, sliding cantilever, V-track, bi-parting, or bi-fold — and then design the gate from scratch around your home's architecture.
Construction is hardwood, steel, or a hybrid. Sapele mahogany is our most-specified species for the Bay Area because its Janka hardness (1,510) and natural rot resistance hold up to NorCal sun and dew cycling. Steel frames are welded and powder-coated or hand-finished in blackened patina. Hardware is marine-grade bronze, stainless, or hand-forged depending on the design.
Footings in Orinda are engineered for local soils — expansive clay across the I-680 corridor, decomposed granite in the foothills, and bay-mud edges in the East Bay flats all get different pier depths and reinforcement. We never reuse an existing post without verifying it.
Driveway gates can be manual or automated. For automation we install FAAC, LiftMaster, Viking, and Nice operators, with UL325-compliant safety systems (loop detectors, photo eyes, edge sensors), keypad or intercom entry, and smart-home integration where requested.
Estate-scale Mediterranean, Tudor revival, and modern hillside homes dominate Orinda's tree-lined private drives. Coastal fog rolls in over the Berkeley Hills, then bakes off by mid-morning — finishes must handle both UV and dew cycling without cupping.
Three renderings, one finish sample left outside through a fog cycle, then eight weeks in the shop. The arch radius was set off the home's entry portico so the two curves agree from the street.
Built to match a 1931 front door we could not touch. We took the clavos spacing off the original and had matching heads forged rather than approximating with catalog hardware.
The owners wanted to see who was at the gate without a camera. A single quatrefoil opening at head height solved it, and picked up the same motif from the home's stair balustrade.
The signature Orinda commission: an arched Sapele leaf with a hand-forged iron grille at the upper third, so the gate reads solid from the road but lets light and view through at eye height.
Tudor-revival homes here want heavy vertical boards, exposed clavos, and oversized strap hinges. We forge the straps rather than buying stamped stock; the difference is obvious at three feet and invisible at thirty, which is exactly why it matters on a Tudor.
The contemporary hillside rebuilds want an unbroken plane with a hidden frame. We laminate a steel armature behind the Sapele so the face can stay flat and unbraced over a 9' leaf.
"We compared three builders. Heartwood was the only one who showed up with a 3D rendering and a finish sample we could leave outside for a week. Three years in and the gate still looks new."
Heartwood Gates is headquartered in Concord, CA, roughly 11 miles from Orinda. We serve the whole of Contra Costa County within a 150-mile service radius of the shop, with a dedicated install crew on the road most weeks.
Swing gates are ideal when you have driveway depth and a level approach. Sliding (cantilever or V-track) is the answer for narrow driveways, steep approaches, or sites where a swing arc would block a sidewalk. We recommend the configuration during the site visit.
Yes. We can match an existing fence in species, slat profile, finish, and hardware — or build a complementary contrast piece if you want the gate to stand on its own.
Two to four days on site for most builds: post setting and concrete cure, gate hanging and adjustment, operator install and automation wiring, then final finish touch-up.
Browse all custom gate services, see the full Bay Area service map, or view recent driveway gates projects in the gallery.
Browse the full Heartwood Gates journal for materials, joinery, and design deep-dives from projects across Northern California.
Tell us about the entrance you want to build. We respond same-day to consultations booked before 2pm, next business day after.
