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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After
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AfterFast, Reliable Gate Installation Across Burlingame
Gate installation in Burlingame means dealing with two forces that most Peninsula cities don’t face at the same intensity: salt-laden air rolling off San Francisco Bay every morning, and a century-old tree canopy that slowly heaves concrete post footings out of level. We’ve been fixing and installing gates here long enough to know that a standard inland spec fails early in 94010 and 94011. The answer is stainless hardware, deeper footings, and operators rated for coastal corrosion. Hal Gatewood has been running Gatewood Fence & Gate since 2001, and we answer the phone at (877) 610-2993 around the clock. If you want a gate that stays square and swings true ten years from now, call us for a free estimate.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Burlingame’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Our reputation in Burlingame was built one driveway at a time. Homeowners in the flats off Broadway and Burlingame Avenue call us because they’ve seen our trucks in the neighborhood, or their neighbor mentioned that the guy who showed up actually welded on site instead of hauling the gate to some shop. That’s how Hal works. He wants to see the hinge post, the grade, the way water runs across the concrete pad. You can’t diagnose a gate over the phone, and you can’t trust a company that quotes you before looking at the ground under the post.
A live person answers every call, 24/7. Not a voicemail, not a call center. When you call about a swinging gate that’s dragging on the latch side or a sliding gate that’s jumped its track, you’ll talk to someone who can tell you what’s likely failing before we even dispatch. We serve Burlingame directly from our San Francisco Bay Area office, with uniformed, background-checked people on every job. Every gate installation carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not right, we make it right. One call brings Hal back, no runaround.
We publish our address and license number. Hal’s name is on the shop and on every invoice. That’s the oldest form of accountability there is, and it matters in a place like Burlingame where word of mouth travels fast. You’ll see the same face at the hardware store next week. That’s not true of a national outfit.
Our Gate Installation Services in Burlingame
Swing Gate Installation
Swing gates are the most common request we get in Burlingame’s older flat neighborhoods, where 1920s and 1930s Craftsman bungalows and Spanish Colonial Revivals still have original driveway openings sized for a single swinging leaf. A new swing gate operator on a post that’s been tilted by a mature liquid amber root will bind and fail. We set new hinge posts in deeper footings on the 94010 flats, and we use stainless steel hinges and fasteners because the morning marine layer pitted the original steel on gates we’ve pulled from homes off Broadway and Burlingame Avenue.
Sliding Gate Installation
Sliding gates make sense on the western edges of Burlingame where property lines tighten and driveway length shrinks. But a slide gate lives and dies on its track footing. In Burlingame, the city’s canopy of valley oaks and Canary Island palms routinely lifts concrete track footings two to four inches over decades. That throws the gate off its rollers entirely. When we install a sliding gate in 94011, we pour a continuous footing with rebar and set the track on a level line verified before any gate panel goes up. We also spec stainless roller hardware because salt air eats plated steel rollers within a year.
Pedestrian Gate Installation
Burlingame’s vintage pedestrian gates are a specialty of ours. The older flats are dense with original ornamental wrought-iron pedestrian gates whose hinge profiles and latch designs haven’t been made in eighty years. We custom-match the hardware, fabricate replacement hinge barrels when needed, and often reuse the original gate panel because it’s better iron than anything cast today. If the post is heaving from root pressure, we reset it in a deeper footing rather than shimming the hinges and calling it done. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
Driveway Gate Installation
For full driveway gates across Burlingame and the hillside streets bordering Hillsborough, we handle everything from a simple single swing gate to heavier automated systems with operators sized for the gate’s actual weight and wind exposure. The hillside lots on Burlingame’s west side take more wind off the Bay, and an undersized operator will stall on a bad afternoon. We survey the opening, check the grade, and write you a price before any work starts. That price is the price. You’ll see it in writing, and it won’t change at the door.
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 Burlingame
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, and for Burlingame’s coastal conditions we lean toward DoorKing, Viking, and Elite operators because their boards and housings hold up better against salt-driven corrosion than cheaper inland-market units. We stock common parts locally so a failed circuit board or a seized limit switch doesn’t mean waiting a week. If you already have a Ghost Controls or other operator in place, we service those too. What matters more than the nameplate is how it’s installed: sealed connections, stainless hardware, and a properly bonded ground. We handle all of that on every installation in Burlingame.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Burlingame Homes
- Galvanic corrosion at steel-to-aluminum joints. Salt air off the Bay creates a battery effect where stainless or galvanized steel touches aluminum on operator brackets and gate frames. We use isolation washers and dielectric pads on every Burlingame install, or the aluminum pocks out within the first year.
- Root heave tilting gate posts. Mature liquid ambers and valley oaks along the flats push concrete footings out of level. A post that’s moved two inches means a gate that drags, binds, or won’t latch. We reset and deepen the footing rather than grinding the gate shorter.
- Premature powder-coat failure. The morning marine layer that sits over Burlingame most days keeps surfaces damp and salty. Standard powder coat on steel gates and operator housings fails visibly in three to five years. Marine-grade pretreatment and a two-coat finish lasts far longer.
- Vintage latch and hinge wear on 1920s-1940s gates. The original wrought-iron pedestrian gates all over the older Burlingame flats have hinge pins worn thin and latch strikes pitted from decades of salt air. We custom-machine replacements that match the original profile so the gate keeps its period look.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Burlingame, CA
A typical driveway swing gate installation in Burlingame runs $3,800-$7,200 for a single operator and steel or aluminum gate panel, depending on size and finish. A sliding driveway gate runs $5,500-$11,000 because of the track footing and heavier frame. Pedestrian gate replacement or custom vintage matching runs $900-$3,400, and a simple ornamental pedestrian gate with no automation starts around $700. The Burlingame premium over nearby Millbrae or San Bruno is driven by two things: stainless hardware requirements for salt air, and the extra footing depth we spec to survive the tree roots. Every estimate is free and written before work starts. Call (877) 610-2993 for an exact quote.
We Also Serve Cities Near Burlingame
Our crews work throughout the mid-Peninsula. We serve Burlingame, Hillsborough, Millbrae, San Mateo, and San Bruno with the same local focus and the same 90-Day Done Right Promise. If you’re just over a city line, call us and ask. We’ll tell you straight whether we cover your street. Learn more about our Gate Installation services across the Bay Area.
Serving Burlingame, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Burlingame 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 Installation in Burlingame
Root systems from Burlingame’s century-old canopy of Canary Island palms, liquid ambers, and valley oaks can and do lift concrete post footings two to four inches over decades. That throws automated swing gates out of level and slides gate panels off their rollers. For any new installation, we bore footings deeper than standard and set posts below the active root zone where possible. On a 1930s Spanish Colonial Revival off Burlingame Avenue, our crew reset a pedestrian swing gate whose original wrought-iron hinge post had been lifted nearly three inches by a mature liquid amber. We bored the new footing twelve inches deeper, switched to stainless hinge hardware because the salt air had pitted the original steel, and custom-matched the vintage latch so the homeowner kept the gate’s original look. We also recommend checking tree roots before setting any automated gate in the 94010 flats. Call (877) 610-2993 to have us look at your property.
Burlingame sits directly on San Francisco Bay, and the daily marine layer carries chloride-laden moisture that accelerates galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals. Plated steel hinges, fasteners, and operator brackets fail visibly within a year or two. We specify stainless steel or properly isolated hardware on every Burlingame installation, and we avoid steel-to-aluminum contact without dielectric separation. Galvanized steel helps but does not solve the problem long term. Marine-grade stainless is what actually lasts here. For an exact hardware spec on your gate, call (877) 610-2993.
Yes, this is work we do regularly in Burlingame’s older flats. The original ornamental wrought-iron gates on 1920s through 1940s homes use hinge profiles and latch strikes that aren’t manufactured anymore. We custom-machine replacements that match the original dimensions and patina, and we can fabricate hinge barrels in steel that matches the vintage iron. The goal is to keep the gate original and make it function like new. Call (877) 610-2993 with a photo of your gate and we’ll tell you what’s possible.
The right operator is sized for the gate’s actual weight, leaf width, and wind exposure, not for the cheapest unit on the shelf. Hillside lots on Burlingame’s west side take more wind off the Bay, and an undersized operator stalls. We typically spec Viking or DoorKing 24V operators for heavier gates because their duty cycles and limit controls hold up. A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle, and the same principle applies to operator sizing. We survey the grade and wind exposure before recommending anything. For a free written estimate, call (877) 610-2993.
Yes, automated gate installations in Burlingame must comply with UL 325 entrapment protection standards, which require monitored safety edges or photo eyes, plus gate speed and force limits. This is federal standard adopted through California building code, and it applies to residential as well as commercial gates. A gate that closes on its own and reverses only at full force is failing. We install entrapment protection on every automated gate we put in, and we test it before we leave. Call (877) 610-2993 if you want to know whether your existing gate meets code.
Call Gatewood Fence & Gate for Your Burlingame Gate Installation
If you’re in Burlingame and you want a gate installed by someone whose name is on the invoice, call us. Hal Gatewood has been running Gatewood Fence & Gate since 2001, and he still shows up on job sites himself. We offer free estimates, upfront pricing that doesn’t change at the door, a written 90-Day Done Right Promise, $40 off any repair over $200, no trip charge inside the county, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. Call (877) 610-2993 and a live person will answer. Tell us what your gate is doing or what you’re picturing, and we’ll take it from there.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Burlingame and the mid-Peninsula since 2001.