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 Clawson
A new driveway gate in Clawson typically runs $2,800 to $7,400 installed, depending on whether it’s a swing gate on existing posts or a full sliding gate with a new operator and concrete track. Most jobs are quoted in writing within a day or two, and we schedule installation down to a half-day window so you aren’t stuck waiting around. Hal Gatewood has been building and hanging gates since 2001, and the person who shows up at your house on Rochester Road or Nakota Drive is the same person whose name is on the shop. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate on any gate installation in Clawson.
Clawson is a specific animal when it comes to gates. Nearly every lot is compact and fully fenced, which means the gate at the side yard or back driveway is doing real work every single day. It isn’t a status feature. It’s the thing that keeps the dog in and the neighbor’s kids out, and when it doesn’t latch in February, you know about it immediately. That’s the city we work in.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Clawson’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
We’re not the cheapest outfit in Oakland County, and we’re not trying to be. We’re the one that shows up when we say we will, does the job right, and stands behind the work with our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If the gate sags, drags, or stops latching within 90 days, you make one call and we come back. No runaround, no arguing about whether the warranty “applies.” Hal’s name is on the shop and on every invoice.
Clawson homeowners have a particular reason to hire someone who knows this housing stock. The houses off 14 Mile Road and Crooks Road were built fast, between the late 1940s and the early 1960s. The gates went in at the same time. We see the same rusted strap hinges, the same undersized post footings, the same drop-rod latches on block after block. A general contractor from across the county has to figure that out on your dime. We already know it. The 90-Day Done Right Promise applies to new gate installation in Clawson just as much as repair, and the free second opinion on any written estimate means you can check our number against anyone else’s before you spend a dollar.
When you call, a real person picks up. Not a recording, not a chatbot. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. That matters at 7 a.m. on a Monday when your swing gate won’t open and you need to get to work at Beaumont.
Our Gate Installation Services in Clawson
Swing Gate Installation in Clawson
Most Clawson driveways and side yards are built for swing gates, and most of the original hardware has been swinging since Eisenhower was president. We install new swing gates with either the original posts reinforced or brand new posts set below Oakland County’s 36-42 inch frost line. A typical new swing gate with a LiftMaster or Ghost Controls opener on a Clawson driveway runs $3,200 to $5,800. That includes the gate panel, hinges, posts, and operator wired to your existing electrical. If the back corner of the lot is too far from the house for a wire run, we can spec a solar option, which is common on the wider lots near the south end of town.
Sliding Gate Installation in Clawson
Sliding gates solve the space problem on Clawson’s tight lots. If your driveway slopes toward the house, a swing gate will drag. A slide gate won’t, because it runs on a track set level with the ground. On compact city lots off Rochester Road where there’s no room for a gate to arc open, a sliding gate is the right answer. We install cantilever and track-style sliding gates, and every new operator gets safety photocells and entrapment protection wired in as standard. A new sliding gate installation in Clawson runs $4,000 to $7,400 for a typical single driveway width. That includes the steel panel, steel track or cantilever rollers, the operator, and all safety edges.
Security Gate Installation in Clawson
A security gate isn’t just a heavier panel. It’s the whole system: the gate, the operator, the keypad or card reader, and the safety sensors that stop the thing before it pins anyone. Clawson backyards run fence-to-fence, so a side security gate is often the only controlled access point to the back of the property. We install keypad entry, telephone entry, and vehicle loop detectors, and we certify to service DoorKing and Viking operators, which are the two biggest names in standalone access control. A security gate package for a Clawson home with keypad entry starts around $5,500 installed.
Pedestrian Gate Installation in Clawson
The side yard gate is the most abused piece of hardware on any Clawson property. It opens forty times a day. Kids lean on it. The mail carrier slams it. We install new pedestrian gates with adjustable hinges and a positive-latching mechanism so it actually stays closed on a windy day. Most pedestrian gate installs in Clawson run $700 to $2,200, including new posts if the old ones are heaving out of the ground. On a lot where the existing chain-link posts are still straight, we can often reuse the posts and just replace the gate and hardware, which keeps the cost down.
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 Clawson
We install and service operators from Ghost Controls, Viking, and DoorKing, and we keep common parts in the truck. That’s not a marketing line. It’s a scheduling reality. When we’re working on a Clawson street off Crooks Road, the last thing we want is to run back to the shop because we’re missing a release handle or a limit switch. We stock drop-rod latches and strap hinges because this city’s entire residential grid was built in roughly one 20-year window by a small set of Metro Detroit fence contractors. The same chain-link post gauges and latch styles repeat block after block. We know what’s on your gate before we pull up to the curb.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Clawson Homes
- Frost-heaved post footings. Clawson’s worst gate problem is under the ground, not above it. Oakland County frost reaches 36 to 42 inches in a bad winter, and the concrete around posts poured in the 1950s and 60s crumbles at exactly that depth. Come spring, the gate leans, drags, and won’t latch. A new installation has to set concrete below that frost line or you’ll be straightening the gate every April.
- Racking on wide driveway gates. These mid-century steel panels were built without mid-rail tension adjustment. After a few freeze-thaw cycles, the latch side drops and drags on the apron. Straightening the panel doesn’t fix it. The panel needs re-racking with the proper tension hardware, or it needs a new panel.
- No entrapment protection on older sliding gates. A lot of Clawson’s original sliding gates were never retrofitted with safety photocells. Under current UL 325 requirements, we can’t legally put a new automatic operator on a sliding gate without adding photo eyes and safety edges. We include that work in every slide gate install, and the price reflects it.
- Wrong hardware for the post. The strap hinges on a 1963 ornamental steel gate are not the same as the hinges at a big-box store. People swap them out for whatever fits and end up with a gate that sags in two months. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice. We set the post correctly, plumb and below frost, and hang the right hinge for the weight of the gate.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Clawson, MI
A Clawson gate installation is not a mystery number. A pedestrian gate runs $700 to $2,200. A single swing gate with a new operator is $3,200 to $5,800. A sliding gate with track, operator, and safety edges is $4,000 to $7,400. A full security gate with keypad entry and access control starts at about $5,500. What moves the number within those ranges in Clawson is the condition of the existing posts, the distance from the house electrical panel to the gate location, and whether the ground is already saturated from a spring thaw when we dig. You get a written quote before any work starts, and the price we quote is the price you pay. Hal doesn’t show up and ask for a check with a different number on it. Every estimate is free, and if you have a written estimate from another company, bring it to us and we’ll give you a free second opinion. And remember, seniors and veterans get a permanent 10% discount on every gate installation in Clawson.
We Also Serve Cities Near Clawson
Our Gate Installation team covers Clawson and the surrounding Oakland County communities. You’ll find us working in Royal Oak and Berkley, out in Birmingham where the lots open up, and over in Madison Heights. If you’re in one of those cities, the same 90-Day Done Right Promise applies. Read more about Gate Installation in Clawson here, or call for a quote.
Serving Clawson, MI - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Clawson 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 Clawson
Because the post footing is failing below the frost line, not because the panel is bent. Oakland County frost reaches 36 to 42 inches down, and the concrete around a post set in 1960 fractures at that depth. The panel is just along for the ride. A proper fix means digging out the old footing, setting a new post below frost depth, and then re-hanging the gate on it. Three of every four Clawson gates we straighten have the same problem under the surface. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll come look at it for free.
Yes, in most cases. The gate panel itself is often fine. The issue is the post and the hardware. We can mount a Ghost Controls or Viking operator on an original Clawson chain-link gate as long as the post is still plumb and the hinges have life left in them. If the post is frost-heaved, we’ll replace the post first. A standard operator addition on an existing chain-link driveway gate in Clawson runs $1,400 to $2,800 installed, depending on whether we need to run a new electrical line to the back corner.
For a standard residential gate replacement on an existing fence line, usually not. The City of Clawson doesn’t require a permit for replacing a gate panel or swapping an operator on an existing gate. But if you’re adding a new fence section, relocating the gate, or installing a new concrete track that extends into the public right-of-way, you may need a permit. We tell you during the estimate whether your specific job requires one, and we pull it if it does. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll walk you through it before you commit to anything.
If the gate is more than about 75 feet from the main electrical panel, running conduit across the yard gets expensive and invasive. On Clawson’s compact lots this is rarely the problem, but on the wider properties on the south end of 48017 where the garage sits in front and the gate is at the back, a solar panel with a battery backup is usually the better option. The panel mounts at the gate, charges during the day, and runs the operator without any trenching. We install solar systems from Ghost Controls and Viking that work reliably through Michigan winters. Add $800 to $1,500 to the project for a solar power kit, depending on the operator and battery size.
If the driveway is narrow and slopes toward the street or the house, a slide gate is almost always the better choice. It moves on a track, so it doesn’t arc out into the yard or drag on the ground. If the driveway is wide enough for a full arc to swing open, a swing gate is simpler and costs less. On most Clawson lots, where the driveway is 12 to 15 feet wide and the side yard is tight, a sliding gate ends up being the right answer. We’ll tell you straight which one fits your lot, and we’ll quote both if you want. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll come measure it for free.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Clawson since 2001.