Free on-site gate assessment - hinges, posts, and your LiftMaster or Nice gate operator checked before anything is quoted
The assessment is free and the quote is the invoice.
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AfterFast, Reliable Gate Repair Across Arlington
A gate that won’t close in Arlington is a problem you want fixed the same day, not next week. Gatewood Fence & Gate has been repairing gates, posts, and openers in Arlington since 2001. We’re the owner-operated shop that shows up, diagnoses the actual problem, and fixes it in your driveway rather than hauling it off or selling you a replacement you don’t need. Call (877) 610-2993 and you’ll get Hal Gatewood or a member of his crew on the line, not a voicemail tree.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Arlington’s Preferred Gate Repair Company
Arlington homeowners call us because we understand what this town’s gates actually go through. The houses here off Massachusetts Avenue and in neighborhoods like East Arlington, Arlington Heights, and Jason Heights were built between the 1890s and the 1930s. Many still have their original ornamental iron gates and brick pillars. Those gates were set in footings far shallower than what Massachusetts building code requires today, which means every freeze-thaw cycle works against them. That’s not a problem a national chain’s phone rep knows anything about. It’s the problem we solve a dozen times each winter in Arlington.
We’re also the shop whose name is on the invoice and on the door. Hal Gatewood has been doing this since 2001, and his address is published, not hidden behind a PO box. Every repair in Arlington carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not done right, one call brings us back. No runaround, no “that’s normal wear.”
Our Gate Repair Services in Arlington
Electric Gate Repair
Electric gate openers fail for predictable reasons in Arlington: moisture intrusion into the control board, worn limit switches, and connections that corrode during long New England winters. We service Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, and Elite openers, and we carry common parts on the truck so most Arlington repair calls are completed in one visit. If your opener is older but the motor is still sound, we’ll repair it rather than push a full replacement.
Automatic Gate Repair
When an automatic gate stops responding in Arlington, the issue is usually mechanical before it’s electronic. A gate that’s out of alignment drags on the ground or catches on the post, which overloads the operator and burns out the motor or control board. We check the gate’s swing and alignment first, then move to the operator. You can’t fix an automatic gate by throwing parts at it. The gate has to move freely before any opener work will last.
Hinge & Post Repair
This is the most common repair we do in Arlington and East Arlington specifically. Original early-1900s gate posts sit in footings only 24 to 30 inches deep. Massachusetts frost penetration reaches 36 to 48 inches. Every winter, the ground under those posts freezes, heaves, and settles unevenly, and by spring the hinge post has moved enough to pull the gate out of plane and make it bind or drag. We reset the post, pour new concrete footings to current depth standards, and rebuild the hinge mounting so the gate swings true again.
Gate Realignment
A gate that sags isn’t a gate problem, it’s a post problem. If the hinge post has moved, no amount of hinge adjustment will fix it for long. We use a magnetic level and a string line to establish true plumb, then reset the post or shift the hinges so the gate hangs square. On Arlington’s older properties, where brick pillars from the 1920s have settled independently from each other, we often have to correct the post position before any latch or hinge work will hold.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Arlington
We’re certified to service nine major gate opener brands, but the ones we see most in Arlington are Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, and Elite. Because we work on them every week, we know their failure points and we stock the common replacement parts for Arlington jobs. That means we’re not waiting on a parts shipment every time a control board burns out or a limit switch fails. More of our Arlington repairs are finished the same day because the parts are already on the truck.
Common Gate Repair Problems We See in Arlington Homes
- Freeze-thaw post heave. Homes built in the 1890s through 1930s around Arlington Center and East Arlington have gate posts set in shallow footings. After a winter of 100+ freeze-thaw cycles, those posts move. The gate starts dragging, the latch won’t line up, and the opener motor strains until it dies. We reset the post and pour a footing that reaches below the frost line.
- Wind load on solid infill gates. Nor’easters and coastal storms push hard against solid wood and wrought-iron gate panels. The hinges loosen, screws strip out of the post, and the panel warps or twists. Arlington’s dense side streets off Massachusetts Avenue funnel wind between houses, which makes the problem worse than it is in open lots or newer developments.
- Rust at the post base near Spy Pond. The low-lying areas around Spy Pond on the east side of Arlington hold seasonal moisture that accelerates rust on iron hardware and rot at the base of wooden posts. We see this pattern repeatedly: a gate that looks fine at eye level but is failing where the post meets the ground.
- Shared driveway confusion. Many of Arlington’s two-family homes share a driveway and a gate. When the gate fails, the neighbors often disagree about who’s responsible for the repair. We write our estimates in plain language and show both parties exactly what’s broken and what it costs, which tends to settle the discussion faster than a handshake.
Pricing for Gate Repair in Arlington, MA
A hinge and post reset in Arlington typically runs $250 to $550 depending on whether we’re doing one post or two, and whether the footing needs to be excavated and re-poured. Gate realignment alone, without post replacement, usually lands between $150 and $300. Automatic gate opener repairs range from $180 for a limit switch or photocell replacement up to $700 for a control board or gearbox rebuild on a Gate Repair job. Electric opener troubleshooting with no parts needed is often under $200. The price we quote is the price you pay. We agree on the number before any work starts, and there’s no trip charge inside the county. We also take $40 off any repair over $200, and seniors and veterans always get 10% off. Call (877) 610-2993 for an exact quote. Estimates are free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Arlington
Our Gate Repair in Arlington customers often ask us to cross the town line, and we do. We serve Belmont, Winchester, Medford, and Watertown with the same owner-operated crew and the same 90-Day Done Right Promise. If you live nearby and your gate is down, call us. The truck’s already in the area.
Serving Arlington, MA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Arlington area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Gate Repair in Arlington
Your gate post is almost certainly sitting in a footing that’s too shallow for Massachusetts frost depth. Arlington homes built between the 1890s and 1930s often have original posts set only 24 to 30 inches deep. Frost penetrates 36 to 48 inches in this climate, so every winter the ground heaves the post up and settles it back slightly off plumb. If you’re realigning or adjusting it every spring, the fix is to reset the post in a new concrete footing poured below the frost line. It costs more than tightening a hinge, but it lasts decades instead of months. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you if your post is a candidate for a reset.
Every automatic gate opener has a manual release mechanism, usually a pull cord, a keyed cylinder, or a lever on the operator itself. It disengages the motor so the gate swings freely by hand. If you’re not sure where yours is, call us and we’ll talk you through it over the phone. We also check and lubricate the manual release on every opener repair we do in Arlington, because a release that seizes up is useless during a nor’easter. A word of caution: if your gate is heavy and off its tracks or bindings, don’t force it manually. A pinched finger or a sprung hinge is avoidable with a phone call first.
In most cases, yes. The moisture in the ground around Spy Pond and the lower elevation of East Arlington accelerates rust on iron gate hardware, but rust at the base usually doesn’t mean the whole gate is done. We grind the affected section back to clean metal, weld in a new section if the tubing has lost structural integrity, and treat and paint the repair so it blends. On-site welding means we do this in your driveway, not in a shop across town. If the post itself is rusted through at ground level, that’s a post replacement rather than a repair, and we’ll tell you that before any money changes hands.
This is a job we’ve done many times in Arlington Center and East Arlington, where early-1900s brick pillars have settled independently over 100 years. The answer depends on the condition of the pillar’s footing and the brickwork itself. If the brick is sound but the footing has sunk, we can sometimes jack the pillar and re-level it. More often, the permanent fix is to rebuild the footing and reset the gate hardware. If the brick mortar is crumbling, a mason may need to repoint the pillar before we rehang the gate. We’ll give you an honest read on what’s needed. The estimate is free, and the repair is quoted before work begins.
Yes. Automatic gate openers in Massachusetts are required to have functioning entrapment protection, which means photoeyes or contact edges that stop and reverse the gate if something is in the way. This isn’t optional, and it protects kids, pets, and delivery drivers. We install and test safety photocells and contact edges on every automatic gate repair we touch in Arlington. If your opener’s sensors are missing or disabled, we won’t repair the operator and send you home unsafe. We fix it. Call (877) 610-2993 if you want us to test yours.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Arlington since 2001.