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 Piedmont
Gate repair in Piedmont usually means one thing: an older gate that needs a skilled hand, not a sales pitch. We work on the customs and originals that dominate this town. Whether it’s a sagging Tudor swing gate on St. James Drive or a seized wrought-iron driveway gate on Crocker Avenue, our crew comes prepared to weld, realign, and repair on site. Call (877) 610-2993 and Hal will talk you through what he’s seeing before anyone rolls a truck.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Piedmont’s Preferred Gate Repair Company
A lot of gate companies will look at a 1920s ornamental iron gate, see rust and a crooked post, and tell you it’s time for a new one. We don’t. Hal Gatewood has been fixing gates since 2001, and his philosophy has not changed: repair what’s there unless replacement is genuinely the only sane option. In Piedmont, that matters more than anywhere else in the East Bay, because the city’s design review process treats gate replacement as an exterior modification. Homeowners who want to avoid that review need a company that can actually restore period ironwork. That’s us.
We’re locally owned and owner-operated, with a published address and license number anyone can look up. Calls are answered by a live person 24/7, not a voicemail or a queue. When you call about a gate in Piedmont, you talk to someone who knows the difference between a 1920s pintle hinge and a modern barrel hinge. And every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not done right, we come back. Plain as that.
Our Gate Repair Services in Piedmont
Hinge & Post Repair
Most of the sagging gates in Piedmont don’t sag in the middle. They sag at the post. Older brick and stone pillars on hillside lots shift a little every winter, and that throws the hinge alignment off until the gate drags on the driveway. We set new post footings, weld cracked hinges, and re-hang gates so they swing true. The goal is keeping the original post and the original look.
Weld & Rust Repair
Marine fog and salt-laden air from the Bay sit on metal surfaces overnight in Piedmont. That’s why wrought-iron gates from the 1910s and 1920s develop rust at the bottom rails and seize at the pintle hinges. Our crew welds on site, in your driveway, so the gate never leaves the property. We can splice new steel into rotten sections, repair hairline cracks at stress points, and match the original fabrication style so the repair doesn’t look like a patch.
Gate Realignment
Hillside driveways in Piedmont put constant pressure on gate hardware. A gate that scrapes the driveway or won’t close all the way is usually a post alignment issue, not a hinge failure. We check the post first, then the panel, then the hardware, and we fix what’s actually wrong. No swapping parts that don’t need swapping.
Electric Gate Repair
Older automatic gate operators, especially legacy LiftMaster and FAAC units from the 1990s, fail without much warning. The control board goes dark and the gate won’t move. We carry and source boards for older models that most suppliers stopped stocking years ago. If a board is truly obsolete, we’ll tell you straight and give you options that don’t involve a full system replacement unless that’s the cheaper path over the next five years.
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 Piedmont
We work on FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking operators, among others. For Piedmont homes with legacy systems, that’s important: most of these gates were installed decades ago, and tracking down the right board or limit switch for a 1996 FAAC 750 or a Linear LRA-series operator isn’t something a stock-panel company will do. We keep common wear parts on the truck and know the older model numbers by heart. If the part isn’t on the truck, we source it fast and come back.
Common Gate Repair Problems We See in Piedmont Homes
- Seized pintle hinges on 1920s wrought-iron gates. Salt fog condenses overnight and works into the hinge barrel. The gate gets stiffer each year until the operator burns out trying to move it.
- Obsolete control boards in legacy LiftMaster and FAAC operators. Homes built with automatic gates in the 1990s now have boards nobody stocks locally. The gate blocks the driveway with no warning.
- Shifted brick or stone pillars on hillside lots. Piedmont’s hillside lots move with winter rain. A quarter-inch shift at the post means the latch strike misses and the gate drags.
- Rust-through at bottom rails and hinge leaves. The lower sections of old iron gates take the worst of the fog and road splash. We regularly cut out and weld new steel into sections other companies would condemn.
Pricing for Gate Repair in Piedmont, CA
A hinge and post repair in Piedmont typically runs $350 to $800 depending on whether we’re resetting one post or two and how much fabrication the bracket work needs. Weld and rust repair generally runs $250 to $650 per section, though a full bottom-rail rebuild on a wide driveway gate can push toward $900. Gate realignment runs $200 to $450. Electric gate repair, including a new control board for an older FAAC or Linear unit, typically lands between $450 and $1,100 installed. Every price is quoted and agreed in writing before any work starts. Standing offers: $40 off any repair over $200, free second opinion on any written estimate, and no trip charge inside the county. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Piedmont
While this page is for Piedmont, our crew works throughout the East Bay. We regularly take calls from Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, and Orinda, and a live person answers around the clock. If your gate is down and you’re a few blocks over the Piedmont line, call anyway. We’ll be honest about when we can get there.
Serving Piedmont, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Piedmont 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 Piedmont
No. Piedmont’s Planning and Building Department treats gate replacement as an exterior modification subject to design review approval. Repair and restoration of the existing gate does not trigger that review. Our weld-and-restore work on 1920s ornamental iron is designed to match the original period fabrication, so the gate stays authentic and the city stays out of it. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you whether your gate is a repair job or a replacement job before you file anything.
Usually, yes. On St. James Drive, our crew realigned a 1930s Tudor’s sagging swing gate by cutting out the rotten top section of the original redwood hinge post, setting a new steel post footing in concrete, and re-hanging the gate with period-style strap hinges after weld-repairing a hairline crack at the bottom rail. The homeowner kept the original gate and avoided the city’s design review entirely. That’s the approach we take first in Piedmont.
Not necessarily. If the motor runs but the gate crawls, the board may be fine and the problem is mechanical: seized hinges, a shifted post, or a failing capacitor. If the board is dead, the gate usually won’t respond at all. We diagnose on site and only replace a board when it’s actually failed. Call (877) 610-2993 for an exact quote, and bring the operator model number if you have it.
Yes. California law requires entrapment protection on automatic gates, regardless of the gate’s age. An older gate installed before modern safety requirements is not grandfathered in. We can retrofit photo eyes, safety edges, and reversing mechanisms onto legacy operators without replacing the whole system. It’s the right thing to do and it keeps the gate legal. We’ll quote it before we touch anything.
Almost always. Slide gates jump the track when the rollers wear down, the track shifts, or the post moves. On Piedmont’s hillside lots, post movement is the usual culprit. We realign the track, replace the rollers if they’re worn, and reset the post if it’s moved. The operator rarely needs replacement. Call (877) 610-2993 and describe what you’re seeing. We’ll tell you over the phone what’s likely going on and what it’ll take to fix it properly.
Keeping Period Gates Working Without Design Review
Piedmont’s Planning and Building Department reviews all gate replacements. That’s a real constraint, not a footnote. Owners who want to avoid design review have one reliable path: keep the existing gate and repair what’s failing. But weld-and-restore work on 1920s ornamental iron has to match the original period fabrication, not just pass inspection. A stock weld bead on a hand-forged scroll looks wrong, and in a town of 11,000 people with an extremely active neighborhood culture, word travels fast. We cut, fit, and finish each repair to match the original profile and texture. It’s slower work. It’s also the only kind of work that belongs on a Piedmont gate.
That’s the spine of how we work here. Older gates and legacy operators around Piedmont: obsolete control boards, worn posts and hinges, and gates hung before modern safety requirements existed. Some can be retrofitted. Some honestly can’t, and when replacement is the cheaper long-term answer, we’ll say so. But we’ll never push replacement because it’s easier for us. The name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road. That’s the oldest accountability there is.
If your gate is sagging, seized, or dead in Piedmont, call (877) 610-2993. Hal or one of his crew will answer, talk through what’s happening, and give you a straight answer about what it’ll take. Free estimates, no trip charge inside the county, and every price agreed in writing before work starts.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving the East Bay since 2001.