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 Citrus Heights
A new driveway or side gate in Citrus Heights typically costs between $900 and $2,800 for the gate itself, with motorized operators adding $700 to $1,900 depending on the opener type and power run. Most installations we schedule in the 95610, 95611, and 95621 zip codes are quoted and completed within a week once materials are confirmed. Call (877) 610-2993 and you’ll get Hal or a member of his crew on the line, not a recording.
We’ve worked on hundreds of gates in Citrus Heights, so we already know what’s under your feet before we dig: heavy adobe clay that shifts with every wet winter and dry summer. That soil moves posts. It moves whole fence lines. A gate that swings true in October can drag by February, and you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s the ground, and we plan for it.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Citrus Heights’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Hal Gatewood founded this shop in 2001, and his name is on every invoice and every truck that rolls into Citrus Heights. That matters in a city built on word-of-mouth trust. When we install a gate on a street off Sunrise Boulevard or Van Maren Lane, we know the neighbor is watching. We also know they’ll call us next if the job looks right.
Our Gate Installation team does the work the way Hal would want it done at his own house. We don’t haul your gate to some shop across the county. We weld on site, in your driveway, so you can watch. If a hinge post is the problem, we say so. If the operator is fine and just needs a new limit switch, we say that too. Repair first, replace only when it’s cheaper over the long run.
Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something isn’t right after we leave, one call brings Hal back. No runaround, no “that’s normal.” And a live person answers the phone 24 hours a day, every day. No voicemail tree, no call center three states away.
We also respect your budget. $40 off any repair over $200. A free second opinion on any written estimate you’ve gotten from another company. No trip charge inside the county. And a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. The price you agree to is the price on the invoice, quoted before we start.
Our Gate Installation Services in Citrus Heights
Citrus Heights ranches from the 1960s through the 1980s came with side-yard gates that were never meant to last this long. We install replacements that actually handle the clay soil and the 100-degree summers without needing adjustment every spring.
Driveway Gate
A driveway gate in Citrus Heights usually means a sliding or swing design sized for a standard suburban lot, often with a motorized operator and a keypad or remote. We handle the full install: posts, gate fabrication or assembly, operator mounting, safety edges, and power run from your panel to the gate. On clay soil, we set posts in deeper footings with rebar rather than the minimum code footing, because we know what the winter heave does.
Pedestrian Gate
These are the side-yard and backyard walk gates on most Citrus Heights properties. The dominant failure we see is a steel hinge plate that has corroded over 40 years of hot summers and wet winters, finally snapping and dropping the gate onto the latch side. We replace the gate and the post when needed, build a wider gate if you need to move a wheelbarrow or mower through, and align everything so it latches without a shove.
Sliding Gate
Sliding gates work well on lots where a swing gate would block the driveway or where the grade slopes. In Citrus Heights, we pay close attention to the track and roller alignment, because a clay-heavy lot can settle and leave a track end a half-inch low by spring. That half-inch makes a gate grind instead of glide. We use adjustable rollers and set the track on a compacted base that resists the seasonal shift.
Swing Gate
Swing gates are the original Citrus Heights style for double-wide driveways and ranch side yards. We build and hang single and double swing gates, set new hinge posts where old ones have rotted below grade, and retrofit modern operators onto existing gates where the panel itself is still solid. If your old gate’s wood is sound but the operator predates current safety standards, that’s a retrofit conversation, not a full replacement.
Double Gate
A double driveway gate in Citrus Heights gives you full-width access with lighter leafs that are easier on hinges and posts. We align both leafs so they meet cleanly in the middle, install a center drop rod and cane bolt where needed, and set the slave leaf stop so wind doesn’t slam the gates past each other. On the older ranch lots, this often means moving the hinge posts entirely, because the originals are shallow-set and out of plumb.
Security Gate
If you’re on a busier stretch off Auburn Boulevard or Greenback Lane, a security gate often means a welded steel frame with a mesh or solid infill and an operator with battery backup. We fabricate on site to fit your exact opening, so you’re not stuck with a modular panel that leaves gaps. Access control options include keypads, remotes, and vehicle loop detectors.
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 Citrus Heights
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, and for Citrus Heights homeowners the names that come up most are LiftMaster, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, and Linear. We keep common parts for these brands on the truck, so a failing operator or safety photocell doesn’t mean a two-week wait for a shipped part. If your existing operator is a brand we service, we’ll repair it before we talk you into replacing it. If it’s an obsolete board that’s no longer made, we’ll tell you straight and give you new options that fit the existing gate.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Citrus Heights Homes
- Post heave from adobe clay. The Sacramento Valley’s expansive clay soil pushes shallow-set posts up and sideways each winter as it absorbs rain, then settles unevenly each summer. Most original Citrus Heights gate posts were set in undersized footings, so by year two or three the gate drags or won’t latch.
- Rusted-through hinge plates. Steel hinges bolted to wood gates in the 1960s and 1970s have spent 50 years cycling between wet winters and 100-degree summers. The steel corrodes at the plate, the screws lose grip, and eventually the plate snaps and drops the gate.
- Obsolete operators without entrapment protection. Legacy swing gate operators installed years ago often lack the photocells and force-reversal systems required under current UL 325 safety standards. They can’t always be repaired, and they shouldn’t be left running on a gate a grandchild might walk through.
- Rotted wood posts below grade. Even when the gate panel looks fine, the post holding it may be soft at ground level. We find this constantly on Citrus Heights side yards, especially where sprinkler heads have been pointed at the post for 20 years. A new gate hung on a rotten post is a waste of money.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Citrus Heights, CA
Here’s what Citrus Heights homeowners can expect to pay, based on the jobs we’ve done across 95610, 95611, and 95621:
- Pedestrian side gate (wood, steel frame, or vinyl, with hardware): $700-$1,500
- Driveway swing gate (single, manual): $1,000-$2,200
- Double driveway gate (manual): $1,800-$3,200
- Motorized operator (add to any gate): $700-$1,900 depending on opener type and power run length
- Post replacement (steel or wood, set in deeper footing): $350-$800 per post
- Full sliding gate with operator and track: $2,400-$4,500
The biggest variables are the gate width, whether we need to move power, and what we find when we dig: concrete, old tree roots, or clay so dry you need a breaker. We quote the job before we start, and that’s what you pay. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free on-site estimate. No trip charge inside the county.
We Also Serve Cities Near Citrus Heights
If you’re in Fair Oaks, Orangevale, Foothill Farms, or Roseville, you’re still inside our regular service area. Our shop coordinates scheduling out of Sacramento and a crew serving Citrus Heights can usually reach the neighboring communities the same week. Same local rates apply, and the no-trip-charge policy holds.
Serving Citrus Heights, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Citrus Heights 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 Citrus Heights
Your gate post is heaving on the expansive adobe clay. Winter rain swells the soil and lifts the post slightly, and the gate that latched cleanly in October now hits the strike plate or scrapes the ground. The fix is not another shim on the hinge; it’s a properly set post in a deeper footing that goes below the active soil zone. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll dig it out and set it right.
Yes, if the hinge posts are sound and the gate leaf isn’t rotted or sagging beyond repair. We install current UL 325 compliant operators with photocells and force-reversal on existing gates regularly in Citrus Heights. We also check the post depth while we’re there, because a 1970s post on clay soil rarely meets modern footing depth. Free second opinion on any written estimate applies here.
The steel hinge plate rusts through and breaks at the screws. The wood panel may still be intact, but decades of wet winters and summer heat corrode the metal at the connection point until it snaps. That’s why we always inspect the plates and backplates before hanging a new gate; replacing the panel without addressing the hinge connection means doing the job twice.
That depends on how you use the gate. A keypad lets family and trusted visitors open the gate without a remote. A vehicle loop detector buried in the driveway automatically opens the gate for exiting cars and holds it open while a car is on the loop. Most Citrus Heights homes with a sliding gate end up with both: a loop for exiting and a keypad for entry. We can wire either at installation.
The old-growth lumber used in original ranch gates was dense, often heartwood redwood or cedar that resists rot surprisingly well. The hardware was cheap mild steel. Over 50 to 60 years of Sacramento Valley weather, the iron fails first. That’s a common situation in Citrus Heights, and it often means we can keep the original wood, add new stainless or galvanized hardware, and set a new post where the old one rotted below grade. Call (877) 610-2993 and Hal will tell you honestly which parts are worth saving.
Call Gatewood Fence & Gate for Gate Installation in Citrus Heights
If your gate is sagging, dragging, or just outdated, we’ll come out, look it over, and give you a straight answer with a written price. Hal answers the phone himself most of the time. If he’s on a ladder, someone from his crew picks up. Either way, you’re talking to a person who knows Citrus Heights soil, Citrus Heights gates, and what it takes to make one last. Call (877) 610-2993 today for a free estimate. The name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road. That’s the oldest accountability there is.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Citrus Heights since 2001.