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 Converse
A new driveway gate in Converse typically runs $1,800-$4,200 installed, depending on whether you’re working with a swing, slide, or simple pedestrian setup, and most jobs take one to two days once materials are on hand. We’re Gatewood Fence & Gate, and we’ve been doing this since 2001. Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop, and when you call (877) 610-2993, a live person answers – 24 hours a day, every day.
Converse is a particular kind of market for gate work. The streets off FM 1516 and around JBSA-Randolph are full of 1990s and 2000s tract homes with gates that were installed when the subdivision went up. Those gates are now 15 to 25 years old. The hinge posts have shifted in the Blackland clay, the openers are builder-grade units that were never meant to last two decades, and a lot of them are on rental properties that have cycled through four or five military families. We know what that looks like before we even pull up to the house.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Converse’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
We’re not a franchise. We’re not dispatching a crew from three states away. Hal Gatewood has been running this shop since 2001, and the address and license number are published for anyone to check. When something goes wrong, you call the same number and talk to the same people who did the work. That matters in Converse, where a lot of homeowners have been burned by national outfits that quote one price on the phone and bill another at the door.
Our crews work Converse regularly, and we know the subdivisions – the 78109 zip code, the neighborhoods off Toepperwein Road and Schaefer Road, the rental pockets near Randolph. We know which builders used shallow post footings. We know which starter homes came with gates hung by the fencing subcontractor and never touched again. That local knowledge means we quote the job accurately the first time, not after we show up and find three layers of old field fixes hiding under the paint.
Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not done right, one call brings us back. No fine print, no runaround. That’s not a promise we make lightly, because we’re the ones who have to come back and face you at your own gate.
Our Gate Installation Services in Converse
Driveway Gate Installation
Most Converse driveway gates are doing double duty – they keep the dog in, the solicitors out, and they sit on concrete slabs that have shifted a little every year since the house was built. When we install a new driveway gate here, we start with the posts. A post set 30 inches deep through Blackland clay behaves very differently from a post set 18 inches deep in dry fill, and we lean toward the deeper footing every time. A typical driveway gate in Converse runs $2,200-$4,200 for a standard single swing, more for a double.
Pedestrian Gate Installation
Pedestrian gates in Converse’s newer subdivisions are often the neglected sibling of the driveway gate. They get leaned on, slammed, and left to sag against a fence line that’s moving with the soil. A new pedestrian gate with proper hardware and a self-closing hinge, set on a plumb post, usually runs $600-$1,400 in this area. We handle the matching to your existing fence line so the new gate doesn’t stand out like a patch job.
Sliding Gate Installation
Sliding gates make sense on some Converse lots, especially where a driveway slopes or where a swing gate would arc into the path of parked cars. A slide gate rides on a track and needs a level run, which means we spend more time on the base prep here than we would on flat, dry soil. In Converse, figure $2,800-$5,000 for a basic automatic sliding gate, depending on the panel material and opener brand. The clay soil shifts, so we build the track base to move with it rather than fight it.
Swing Gate Installation
Swing gates are the most common request in Converse, and for good reason – most driveways here were built for them. The catch is that a swing gate’s entire life depends on the hinge posts staying plumb, and on Converse clay, that’s the first thing that goes. We set hinge posts deeper than the builder did, weld the brackets on rather than bolting where the gate is heavy, and use operators from brands like Linear and DoorKing that will hold their clutch adjustment through a wet spring. A standard automatic swing gate install in Converse runs $1,800-$3,800.
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 Converse
We’re certified to service and install nine major gate brands, and on Converse jobs we most often reach for Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, and DoorKing. We stock common parts for these units locally, so when your opener fails a week after a new tenant moves in, we’re not waiting on a slow supply chain to ship a logic board. We install what we’re willing to stand behind for years, not whatever the distributor had on clearance this month. If you’ve got an existing opener from another brand, we’ll tell you straight whether it’s worth building around or whether you’re better off putting that money toward a unit that won’t die on the next San Antonio rainstorm.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Converse Homes
- Post shift from Blackland Prairie clay. Converse sits on expansive clay that swells in wet winters and contracts in baked summers. Gate posts heave and tilt, and a brand-new operator chews through its clutch or strips its rack and pinion within a season because the panel it’s moving no longer lines up.
- Builder-grade openers on 15-25-year-old gates. The original operator in most Converse subdivisions was the cheapest unit the builder could spec. Fifteen years later, the hinge post has moved 3/4 inch, the gate binds, and the motor burns out trying to push through it.
- Manual gates automated without conduit for safety photocells. Rental homes near JBSA-Randolph often get an opener bolted onto a gate that was installed manual. No one runs conduit under the driveway for the low-voltage photocell wiring, so the entrapment protection gets skipped. We won’t wire around a safety edge. We’ll figure out the cleanest way to run the wire – often through the gate itself or along a fence line – and install the photocells properly.
- Layered field fixes from multiple tenants. Gates near Randolph that have cycled through four or five military families frequently show mismatched hinges, wire-and-zip-tie latch repairs, and two or three coats of paint over everything. Before any new hardware goes on, the frame has to be realigned, or the new operator dies the same death as the old one.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Converse, TX
Here’s what Converse homeowners can expect to pay, based on the work we see in 78109 week to week:
- Pedestrian gate, new install with hardware: $600-$1,400
- Single swing driveway gate, manual: $1,200-$2,200
- Single swing driveway gate, automated: $1,800-$3,800
- Double swing or sliding gate, automated: $2,800-$5,500
- Adding automation to an existing manual gate: $900-$2,400, depending on the operator and whether new conduit or a dedicated circuit is needed
The price we quote is the price you pay. We write it down before any work starts, and we don’t come back with a “surprise” line item after we’ve dug the first hole. If the job involves running a new circuit from the panel or saw-cutting concrete for photocell conduit, that’s in the quote – not discovered later. Free estimates are standard. Seniors and veterans get a permanent 10% discount, and if you have a written estimate from another company, bring it in for a free second opinion.
We Also Serve Cities Near Converse
Our gate installation crews work throughout northeast Bexar County. You’ll find us in Windcrest, Universal City, Kirby, and Live Oak most weeks – often the same day we’re in Converse. If you’re just outside the 78109 zip code, call anyway. We’ll tell you straight whether we can get to you and when. For details on our full service area, see our Gate Installation page or read more about working with us in Converse.
Serving Converse, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Converse 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 Converse
Yes, in most cases. Converse sits on the Blackland Prairie’s expansive clay, which swells when wet and shrinks when dry. That movement is what tilts gate posts over time. A builder-grade post set 18 inches deep in this soil will often move within a few seasons. We typically cut new footings to 30 inches through the clay and set the post in concrete that’s mixed for wet, shifting ground. That one change adds years to the operator and keeps the gate from binding in the first place. If your gate is already sagging and you want a straight answer on whether the post needs redoing or just re-hanging, call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll come look.
Usually, yes. Most Converse driveway gates that started manual can be automated without saw-cutting the slab, because the low-voltage photocell wiring can run through the gate frame itself, along a fence line, or under a short gravel path instead of across the driveway. The key is doing it safely – we never skip the entrapment protection or wire around a safety edge, because that’s how people get hurt. We’ll route the wire the clean way, and that routing is part of the quote before we start. Adding automation to an existing manual gate in Converse runs $900-$2,400 depending on the operator and the wiring path.
The PCS cycle means a gate installed new for one military family is often “the next tenant’s problem” within 18 to 24 months. The new tenant arrives, the gate has been sitting for a few months, and the first heavy use cycle exposes everything that was already failing quietly: a hinge post that had drifted out of plumb, a builder-grade operator with no surge protection on a shared garage circuit, a latch that was holding on with a zip tie. The opener didn’t fail because of the new tenant – it failed because it was never installed to survive Converse’s soil and the landlord’s deferred maintenance. Our installs here default to rust-proofed hardware and operator voltage protection because we know the next handoff is coming. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you whether your opener can be saved or whether it’s time to do it right.
Sometimes, but not always without frame work first. Rental gates near Randolph that have cycled through multiple tenants frequently show layered field fixes – mismatched hinges, wire-and-zip-tie latch workarounds, multiple paint-overs. If the gate frame itself is still straight and the posts are plumb, we can install a new operator on the existing panel. If the posts have tilted or the frame is racked, we’ll realign them before mounting anything, because a new opener bolted to a crooked gate is just a slower way to burn out another motor. A recent customer off FM 1516 had exactly this: a builder-grade LiftMaster that failed two months after a military family moved in, an operator plugged into a shared garage circuit with no surge protection, and a hinge post already tilted 3/4 inch. We added a dedicated 20-amp circuit with a whole-house surge protector, cut a new post footing to 30 inches, and mounted a FAAC swing arm with safety photocells. The gate cycles clean now, even after a two-week rain swells the soil. Call us for a straight answer at (877) 610-2993.
It depends on the gate and the tenant, but usually we’d steer you away unless the gate is light and sees light use. Converse gets the sun, that’s true, but a solar opener on a heavy double swing gate with daily use from a family of four will underperform in winter and on cloudy stretches. The battery drains, the gate runs slow or stops, and you get a call from a tenant who can’t get out of their own driveway. If the property has no power at the gate, the better long-term fix is running a dedicated circuit from the panel and installing a hardwired operator. That costs more now and fails far less later. We’ll quote both options and tell you what we’d put on our own rental property. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Converse since 2001.