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 Installation Across Cambridge
A new driveway or pedestrian gate in Cambridge typically runs $2,800-$9,500 installed, depending on material, operator type, and whether the existing posts survive the job. Most installations take one to two days on site, though Cambridge Historical Commission review can add a week or two before we even start digging. If you live in Cambridge and your gate is original wrought iron, plan on restoration and retrofitting before you think about ripping it out. Call (877) 610-2993 and you get a live person, not a queue. That person will tell you straight whether your gate is a repair or a replace.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Cambridge’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Hal Gatewood started Gatewood Fence & Gate in 2001, and the name on the shop is the name on every invoice he writes. Hal doesn’t sub out Cambridge jobs to a faceless crew. The person who measures your gate is the person who welds it, and the person who welds it signs the receipt. Our published address and license number are checkable in five minutes. Cambridge homeowners tend to want that. They should.
Response time to Cambridge is same day for gate failures, and we schedule measured installations within the week in most cases. Cambridge customers rate us highly for showing up inside the window we promised. Hal has been servicing Cambridge’s ironwork since the days when a gate sagging into the sidewalk on Brattle Street was fixed by a blacksmith, and he carries that same patience now. If you want to drive to the shop and look him in the eye before you sign anything, that’s the way it should work.
Our Gate Installation Services in Cambridge
Swing Gate
Swing gates are the dominant gate type in Cambridge, because they match the architecture. This side of the Charles is built on Victorian, Federal, and early-20th-century brick row houses with original ornamental iron hung on masonry pillars. We install and repair single and double swing gates in Cambridge more than any other type. The hinge post is the whole job. Set it wrong and the gate sags inside of a winter. Hal has been correcting hinge posts other companies set wrong since the early 2000s.
Driveway Gate
Driveway gates in Cambridge are usually narrower than you’d expect. Side yards off shared driveways, often 9 to 12 feet wide in Cambridgeport and East Cambridge, need a gate that opens with very little swing radius. We measure the actual clearances on site, including the arc the gate sweeps as it opens toward the house or the fence line. A driveway gate on a shared triple-decker is not a toy. Three households pull in and out every day, and the gate has to latch every single time. Hal hangs driveway gates with that expectation.
Security Gate
A security gate in Cambridge usually means a pedestrian gate at the side of a row house or a locked courtyard gate serving a small condo association. The goal is not just to close, but to keep honest people honest. We install keypad, card reader, and intercom operators from brands like DoorKing and Elite so the gate opens only for the people who should be behind it. Hal’s 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on security gate jobs too. If a hinge loosens or a latch drifts, one call brings him back.
Pedestrian Gate
Pedestrian gates in Cambridge are the ones people touch every day, the small side-yard iron gate that leads to the back door or the courtyard. They suffer more than any other gate on the property because they get slammed, yanked, and leaned on by kids. We install pedestrian gates sized to the original opening, which in many Cambridge row houses is an odd width you will not find in any catalog. Custom fabrication is often the only honest answer, and that is exactly what we do in our shop.
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 Cambridge
We are certified to service nine major gate brands, including Viking, Ghost Controls, and DoorKing. That matters in Cambridge because a lot of these operators were installed years ago on original gates that predate modern safety rules. We keep parts on hand for those older units so you are not waiting two weeks on a control board while your gate sits open. Hal will not sell you a new operator when your old one needs a limit switch and a set of batteries. That is the difference between a guy who fixes gates and a guy who sells them.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Cambridge Homes
- Wrought-iron gates hung before modern safety requirements. These gates have no photo-eyes or edge sensors. Install a new operator and it is non-compliant until those are added. Hal retrofits entrapment protection onto old iron every month in Cambridge, and he does it without ruining the original look.
- Freeze-thaw heaving of post footings. Cambridge gets 30 to 40 freeze-thaw events every winter. Posts set in decades-old concrete shift, and a gate that closed square in October is dragging on the latch by February. In a Cambridge side yard, anything less than a properly drained footing will fail.
- Salt corrosion on hinges and latch hardware. Cambridge streets get heavily salted all winter. Off-the-shelf powder-coated steel hinges corrode in two seasons. Hal specifies greased or stainless components on any Cambridge install, because he knows the alternative.
- Historic District design review. Many Cambridge properties are under the Cambridge Historical Commission’s jurisdiction. A replacement gate on a pre-1940 property often requires design review and must preserve historic character. That means wrought-iron restoration, not a generic aluminum panel. Hal has guided Cambridge homeowners through this process for years.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Cambridge, MA
A basic single swing gate installation in Cambridge runs $2,800-$4,200 for a steel driveway gate hung on existing sound posts. A custom wrought-iron pedestrian gate with full masonry work on brick pillars in a Historic District runs $5,500-$9,500. Adding an automatic operator like a Viking or Ghost Controls opener is $1,500-$2,800 on top of the gate itself. If Historic District review is required, expect the timeline to stretch, not the quote. Cambridge’s ornate iron already on your property is typically worth restoring, and restoration often costs less than a full custom replacement. Hal quotes every Cambridge gate job before any work starts, so the figure is on the table before the gate is off the hinges. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free, no-nonsense estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Cambridge
Gatewood Fence & Gate covers Cambridge and the surrounding Middlesex County communities. We handle Gate Installation work in Somerville, Brookline, Medford, and Boston. If you live in any of these towns and need a gate hung square, you get the same crew, same promise, and same live-person answer. Gate Installation in Cambridge means Hal Gatewood shows up with his phone number on the van. That is the whole pitch.
Serving Cambridge, MA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Cambridge 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 Cambridge
Yes, and we do it regularly. The operator mounts to the hinge post or pillar, and we add current entrapment protection, photo-eyes or edge sensors, so the finished gate meets modern safety rules without altering the historical character. The Cambridge Historical Commission may require design review before any physical changes, and Hal can present the plan in language the Commission recognizes. Call (877) 610-2993 and ask about retrofitting your existing iron; it is almost always cheaper than full replacement.
Repair the rack and pinion in most cases. The rack is a replaceable rail, and the pinion gear is a bolt-on part. If the frame and post are sound, replacing those two components gets you years more service for a fraction of new-gate cost. Hal will weld the new rack on site and realign the drive so the gate stops groaning. Call (877) 610-2993 and send a photo if you can. He will tell you honestly which path saves you money.
Yes, a loop detector is the right answer for a shared driveway gate. It senses a vehicle’s metal mass and tells the gate to stay open until the car clears, so three households do not get their bumpers pinched. On a triple-decker driveway in Cambridgeport, a loop detector is not an upgrade. It is the difference between a gate that works and a gate that hits a car once a month. Call (877) 610-2993 to have one buried in a day.
Yes, and solar is often the cleanest answer in Cambridge courtyards where trenching a power line means cutting through brick or granite. Ghost Controls and Viking both make reliable solar-operator kits sized for pedestrian gates. The panel mounts on a post or courtyard wall with good southern exposure, and the battery runs the gate through New England’s gray stretches fine. Hal has installed these in tight Cambridge courtyards where a conventional power run was simply not worth the excavation. Call (877) 610-2993 for a site look.
Replacing the gate is the easy part. The real work is the pillar. Old Cambridge brick pillars crack and spall from freeze-thaw expansion, and the hinge anchors work loose. Hal repoints the masonry, installs threaded anchor bolts into fresh grout, and lets it cure fully before hanging the gate. Skip that step and the pillar shatters the first cold snap. We have reset hinge posts and pillars on Brattle Street and in East Cambridge side yards for years, and the job always starts with the post, never the panel. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free measure.
Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate on any gate installation in Cambridge. Hal Gatewood will answer the phone, give you a straight price, and put the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it is urgent, say so. If you want to drive to the shop, the door is open.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Cambridge gate installation and repair since 2001.