Gates are no longer installed only for security purposes but also make a beauty statement for a home. According to Robert Mutesasira, the director of Robert Metal Fabrication, in Entebbe and Kyengera, gates have evolved over the years.

What seemed to be a plain plate held together by pipes, has become a beauty statement that a homeowner cannot do without. “Simply put, a gate is not only meant to keep away stray animals and thieves but is a canvas for fashion through design,” Mutesasira says.

Fiber-glass gates

These in-vogue gates not only give a homeowner a platform to be creative but add beauty to the property and act as a background for tough iron bars to be wringed into beautiful secure designs. Like plain plates, fibreglass prevents unwelcome stares while giving an illusion of metal on glass.

Fiber-glass gate

Facial board gates

Facial board gates give an impression of wood-on-metal appeal. However, once one takes a closer look, there is nothing woody about the gate. Whether single or double-faced, these gates are strong. They are laid on metal, offering great visual appeal. Some property owners have taken it a step further and demanded for the combination of facial board, metal plate-woven with pipes gates. The pipes can either be round or square.

For security purposes, the pipes used are welded horizontally for a strong, firm gate, explains Mutesasira.  He also adds that on the other hand, facial board gates do not come cheap because of the materials that must be used together.  For instance, they are likely to set the property owner sh4m back from their budget of a standard gate of 12feet.    

Laser-cutting plate gates

These are the new kids on the block, says Gaudy Nakyejwe, a marketing executive with a metal fabrication firm. As the name suggests, the metal plate is cut into different designs that a property owner desires and the edges either finished with facial-boards or a combination of facial-boards and pipes.

“The cuttings in the metal plate can take on any design and when vanished, they give off a delicate appeal,” Nakyejwe says. Design plate gates have been on the market for some years now and are still a force to reckon with, says Nakyejwe. Here the plate (sheet) comes with designs or the plate is welded into a design that will make it stand out from the other by how they plates are joined onto the angel lines. Alternatively, a client can order for no-design plate gate; which is also known as a plain-plate gate (ordinary plates without a design), adds Nakyejwe.

Square pipe gates

Any property owner who desires a strong gate will not hesitate to settle for the beautifully-designed square pipe gates. These are horizontally welded and depending on what the client wants, can be plain without any designs or with designs on the edges so as to avoid interrupting the pipe arrangement.

This trend of welding pipes gives off a strong gate, that is not easily tempered with. Depending on what the customer wants, the pipes used can be of 80X40, 60X40, 40X40 thickness. A gate made from pipes will cost between sh5m and 7m, depending on the pipes used.