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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Before
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AfterFast, Reliable Gate Installation Across Horn Lake
A new driveway or security gate in Horn Lake typically runs $2,400-$7,800 installed, with ornamental double driveway gates at the higher end and a simple pedestrian gate at the lower end. Most installations take one to two days once materials are on hand, and we quote the full price before any work begins. If you live off Hurt Road, Nail Road, or anywhere in the 38637 zip code, Gatewood Fence & Gate is the local crew that shows up when we say we will. Call (877) 610-2993 and you will talk to a live person, not a recording.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Horn Lake’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Hal Gatewood has been running this shop since 2001, and the name is on the shop. That matters in Horn Lake, where a lot of folks have already been burned by an outfit that quoted one number on the phone and a different one at the door. We do not do that. The price you are quoted is the price you pay, and we put our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing on every single job. One call brings us back, no runaround.
We also know Horn Lake’s housing stock in a way a generic installer never will. The subdivisions that went up around here in the 1990s and 2000s are full of builder-grade gates that are now hitting the 20 to 30 year mark all at once. We see the same story on block after block: posts that were set shallow in DeSoto County clay, now heaved out of plumb. Our crew works those neighborhoods every week, so when you describe a gate dragging on the driveway side, we already know what we are going to find before we pull up.
Horn Lake customers get the same local service we give every homeowner in DeSoto County. A live person answers the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You will not sit through a phone tree, and you will not get routed to a call center three states away. You get us, and we are down the road.
Our Gate Installation Services in Horn Lake
Here is what we install most often around Horn Lake, and what each one tends to look like for a 38637 home.
Driveway Gate Installation
Driveway gates are the bread and butter of Horn Lake work. Most homes here were built with either ornamental iron double gates or wood privacy swing gates as standard builder upgrades, and those originals are wearing out now. A new single swing driveway gate in Horn Lake runs roughly $2,800-$5,600 installed, depending on width, material, and whether you are adding an opener. Double gates add about 40 to 60 percent to that.
Pedestrian Gate Installation
Pedestrian gates get less attention but fail just as often, usually at the hinge post. For Horn Lake homeowners, a properly set pedestrian gate with new posts and hardware runs $1,100-$2,400. If you are pairing it with a new fence run or a driveway gate, the combined job usually saves money over doing them separately.
Sliding Gate Installation
Sliding gates make sense on flatter Horn Lake lots where a swing gate would eat too much driveway space. They also avoid the post-heaving problem that plagues swing gates here, because the gate rides on a track instead of hanging from posts. Installed prices for a single sliding driveway gate in Horn Lake run $3,800-$7,800 with opener. The track bed needs proper gravel prep in our clay soil, or it sinks within a couple of seasons.
Swing Gate Installation
This is what most Horn Lake homes already have, and what we replace or rebuild most. The critical factor in our soil is the post footing. A builder-grade footing from 1998 was often 18 to 24 inches deep, which is not deep enough for DeSoto County clay. We set new posts at 48 inches and core out the clay so the post does not heave. A single swing gate install, properly done, runs $2,400-$5,200 in Horn Lake. That includes the time to do the footing right, because skipping it is why the last gate failed.
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 Horn Lake
We install and service gate operators from Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, and Elite, among others. These are the openers we see most often on Horn Lake homes, and we keep common parts and control boards stocked so we are not waiting on a truck from out of state when your operator goes down. If you already have an opener from one of these brands and want to keep it, we will work with it. If the board is obsolete and you need a new opener, we will be straight with you about what that costs and why it is the better call.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Horn Lake Homes
We could write a book on the gate problems we walk into in Horn Lake subdivisions. Here are the four we see most.
- Heaved hinge posts from shallow 1990s footings. They were set before builders really accounted for DeSoto County clay movement. The post tilts, the gate sags, and eventually it drags on the concrete. Re-hanging the gate on a tilted post is a temporary fix that fails again within a season. The post has to be reset deeper, or replaced.
- Thin welds cracking on ornamental iron gates. The original builder gates often had skinny weld beads at the corners. Ice storms load those corners with weight they were never designed for, and the welds snap. We can weld the gate back in your driveway, on site, rather than hauling it off and selling you a new one.
- Undersized or corroded operators fighting misaligned gates. When a gate is out of plumb, the opener works harder every cycle. The motor burns out early, or the control board fries. We see this constantly on gates that still have their original 2000s-era operators. Sometimes the fix is the gate, not the operator.
- Missing or non-working safety photocells on old installs. Horn Lake homes with original openers from before roughly 2010 often lack proper photo-eye protection, or the sensors were knocked out of alignment years ago and never fixed. Any new install we do includes modern safety edges and photocells, and we can retrofit them onto an older gate if the panel allows it.
One job that sticks with us was a 24-foot ornamental double swing gate on a brick-veneer home in a 1990s subdivision off Hurt Road. The original hinge post had heaved two inches out of plumb through years of freeze-thaw cycles. The homeowner had been fighting that gate for three years, propping it and shimming it, and every repair person who came out just re-hung the gate on the same bad post. We cored out the clay, set a new 4-foot-deep post footing, hung the gate with heavier hinges, and wired a LiftMaster operator with new safety photocells. That was two years ago, and the gate still swings true through wet and dry seasons. The problem was never the gate. It was the hole the original builder put the post in.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Horn Lake, MS
Straight numbers, because that is how we operate. A basic pedestrian gate install in Horn Lake starts around $1,100. A single residential driveway swing gate runs $2,400-$5,200 installed, depending on width, material, and operator. A double ornamental driveway gate, which is what most 1990s Horn Lake subdivisions started with, runs $4,500-$7,800 with opener and proper post footings. A sliding gate on prepared track bed starts around $3,800 and tops out around $7,800.
What moves the number is the post work. Digging out heaving clay and pouring a 48-inch footing takes more time than a shallow one, but it is the difference between a gate that lasts 25 years and one that drags again by fall. Every estimate we give in Horn Lake is free, the price is agreed in writing before any work starts, and you can take $40 off any installation over $200 just by mentioning this page. Call (877) 610-2993 and we will come measure it.
We Also Serve Cities Near Horn Lake
If you are just outside Horn Lake proper, we run crews to Southaven, Hernando, and Olive Branch the same week we are working your street. The same local pricing and the same 90-Day Done Right Promise apply across the county. Learn more about our Gate Installation work, or see the full picture on Gate Installation in Horn Lake for details on how we serve this side of DeSoto County.
Serving Horn Lake, MS - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Horn Lake 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 Horn Lake
You usually do not need a new gate. The dragging is almost always the hinge post leaning from clay movement, not the gate itself failing. We reset the post deeper, replace the hinges if they are worn, and re-hang the gate. That repair runs $600-$1,400 in Horn Lake depending on post condition, versus $2,400-$7,800 for a full replacement. Call (877) 610-2993 and we will tell you which one you actually need after looking at it.
Yes, in most cases. If the gate itself is structurally sound and the hinges are not wallowed out, we can weld reinforcement where needed and mount a modern opener on it. The thing to check is the post. If the post has heaved, the new opener will burn out fast. We will tell you straight if the gate is worth keeping or if you are spending good money on a bad foundation. A new opener install in Horn Lake runs $1,200-$2,800, depending on the unit and whether we need to add safety photocells.
It is a clay soil thing, and we see it across Horn Lake. Wet winters swell the clay under the track, and ice events push sections of trackbed up. The gate catches on the high spot or the rollers bind. The fix is usually re-leveling the track and adding proper gravel drainage underneath, not a new opener. If the track itself is bent from years of movement, we replace it. Most of these repairs run $400-$1,500 in Horn Lake.
No, and we will not. Modern safety standards require photo-eyes and a safety edge, and we would not install an opener without them on any Horn Lake home. If the 2005 unit still works, we can sometimes retrofit external safety sensors onto it. If the control board will not accept them, the opener gets replaced. A new opener with proper safety sensors runs $1,200-$2,800 installed, and it is the only way we will do the job.
We install solar openers where they make sense, which in Horn Lake is mostly for single swing gates with light daily use. Solar is not a gimmick, but it has limits. Our humid, cloudy winter stretches and ice events mean solar panels underperform right when you need the gate most. If the gate is your main daily entry, we recommend a hardwired opener with a battery backup. Solar installs in Horn Lake run $1,800-$3,200, but we will tell you honestly if it will work for your gate or if you are better off running power. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free assessment.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Horn Lake and DeSoto County since 2001.