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 Keene
A new driveway gate in Keene typically runs $2,800 to $7,500 installed, depending on swing or sliding style, operator choice, and what we find under the soil when we set the posts. Most projects on standard residential lots in the 76059 zip finish in one or two days, and every job starts with a free measure and a written quote before any work begins. We’re the crew Keene homeowners call when an old gate finally gives out or they want a gate that actually works for the way they live. Call (877) 610-2993 and Hal will answer.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Keene’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Keene isn’t a suburb that happened to grow a university. It’s a town shaped around Southwestern Adventist University, and the campus, the churches, and the faculty housing all set a different rhythm here than in Cleburne or Burleson. We’ve worked on enough gates in Keene to know that Friday sundown is a hard deadline on many properties, and we plan jobs around it instead of getting surprised by it.
Hal Gatewood has been at this since 2001, and his name is on the shop and on every invoice. When you call, a live person picks up, any hour, any day. That matters in Keene, where a gate that won’t open on a Thursday afternoon needs to be working before Friday evening, not next week.
Local reviews from Keene customers come back to the same things: we show up when we say we will, we quote a price and stick to it, and we fix the actual problem rather than upsell a whole new system. The 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on every job. If the gate isn’t right, Hal comes back.
Our Gate Installation Services in Keene
We install the gate Keene’s lots actually need. That usually means a swing or double gate on the wider semi-rural properties near the university, or a sliding gate where the driveway grade or set-back won’t allow a swing. Here’s what we handle most often in Keene:
Driveway Gate
A driveway gate on a Keene lot almost always means working with clay. The Blackland Prairie soil expands and contracts hard through wet and dry cycles, so we set posts well below the active clay layer and concrete them properly. A gate hung on shallow posts will lean within a few seasons, and we’d rather drill deep once than come back twice. Most driveway gates we build in Keene include an operator, safety photocells, and a keypad or remote opener.
Pedestrian Gate
Small walk gates get overlooked, but on a Keene property with a wooden privacy fence they’re the gate used most every day. We build them to swing true and latch clean, using hardware sized for the post, not whatever came in the box. These are quick jobs, usually same-day once the materials are on hand.
Sliding Gate
Sliding gates work well on Keene driveways that slope toward the street or where a swinging gate would block the sidewalk or eat up too much of the front yard. We build the track and roller system to handle the local soil movement, not just the gate weight. Sliding operators from DoorKing and Viking are the ones we install most in Keene because they hold up to heat and dust.
Swing Gate
Swing gates remain the most common style around Keene, especially the ranch-style tubular steel gates and wooden privacy gates built from the 1960s through the 1990s. Many of those original gates were hung on posts set about eighteen inches deep, which the clay has since torqued out of plumb. When we install a new swing gate in Keene, the post work is half the job. If the post isn’t right, the gate won’t be.
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 Keene
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, and in Keene that typically means DoorKing, Viking, and LiftMaster operators on older residential systems. We keep common control boards and safety sensors in stock so we can usually finish a retrofit or replacement without waiting on a distributor. If your existing operator runs good but the gate itself is failing, we’ll tell you that straight instead of selling you a whole new package. If the board is obsolete, we’ll tell you that too, with the replacement cost up front.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Keene Homes
- Posts set too shallow in Keene clay. Blackland Prairie soil shrinks in drought and swells after heavy rain. A post set 18 inches down gets pushed and pulled until the gate leans and the latch stops lining up. Re-setting posts below the active clay layer is the fix, not a hinge adjustment.
- Legacy operators without entrapment protection. A lot of Keene gates still run on 1980s and 1990s control boards that can’t take modern safety sensors. When those boards fail, the right answer is sometimes a new operator, not a new board, because retrofitting old hardware to meet current UL 325 standards isn’t always possible.
- Wooden gates sagging at the hinge post. On larger semi-rural lots near the university, a heavy wood privacy gate has usually been pulling on a post that was never concreted deep enough. The panel looks like it’s sagging in the middle, but the real problem is the post moving underground.
- Double gates that drift out of alignment. Two-leaf gates on a wide driveway multiply the post problem. If one post heaves even a half inch, the leaves stop meeting in the middle. We set both posts on a shared footing or at matching depth so the leaves stay true.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Keene, TX
A standard single swing gate with a basic operator runs $2,800 to $4,200 in Keene. A double swing gate, which many of the wider driveways off County Road 701 and near the university need, runs $3,800 to $6,500. Sliding gates start around $4,000 and can reach $7,500 for a heavier steel gate with a commercial-grade operator. Factors that move the price: gate material and size, whether the old posts need to be core-drilled out, operator brand (DoorKing and Viking run more than entry-level LiftMaster), and safety features. We quote a fixed price in writing before any work starts. No dispatch fee inside Johnson County, and $40 off any repair over $200. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free measure.
Gate Replacement vs. Repair: What Older Keene Gates Need
Keene has a lot of gates that were hung when the houses were built, on posts that predate modern building practice and operators that don’t meet current safety standards. Sometimes the right call is a new gate. Sometimes the right call is re-setting the posts and re-hanging the existing panel. We make that call based on what’s actually there, not on what’s easier to sell.
On a faculty residence near Southwestern Adventist University, we replaced a 1980s tubular-steel swing gate whose original hinge post had been set only 18 inches deep in Keene’s expansive clay. After core-drilling a new post footing below the active clay layer and installing a LiftMaster operator with safety photocells, the gate now opens true and meets current UL 325 entrapment standards. The panel itself could have been reused; the post and the operator had to go. That’s a typical Keene job for us: half the work happens underground.
We Also Serve Cities Near Keene
We install gates throughout Johnson County, including Gate Installation work in Cleburne, Joshua, Burleson, and Crowley. If you’re just outside Keene limits, call us anyway. We know the roads and the soil out here, and we’ll be straight with you about scheduling.
Serving Keene, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Keene 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 Keene
Yes. We schedule Keene work around the Sabbath calendar: consultations on Thursday or Friday, and installs completed before Friday sundown whenever possible. We know that a significant share of Keene residents will not answer the door or authorize work between Friday sundown and Saturday sundown, and we plan multi-day jobs so they don’t strand mid-project. Tell us your schedule when you call (877) 610-2993, and we’ll build the install plan around it.
No. If the panel itself is in good shape, we can often core-drill the existing post, set a new footing below the active clay layer, and re-hang the gate straight. In Keene’s Blackland Prairie soil, the lean is usually a post problem, not a gate problem. We’ll inspect it and give you an honest answer: re-set and re-hang, or replace. Free estimates.
Yes, on any new operator, period. Current UL 325 standards require entrapment protection, and most Keene homes with older gates have operators from decades before those rules existed. We install photocells and edge sensors on every new operator, and we test them before we leave.
A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle. What looks like a sagging panel is usually the post leaning underground, and in Keene clay, shallow posts lean fast. Tightening hinges or adjusting the latch buys weeks, not years. The lasting fix is re-setting the post below the active clay layer.
If parts are still available, sometimes a board swap makes sense. But many 1980s and 1990s DoorKing boards are obsolete, and the new board won’t talk to the old motor or the old safety sensors. In those cases, replacing the whole operator with a new DoorKing or Viking unit is usually the cheaper long-term answer. We’ll tell you the price for both paths before you decide.
Get a Free Estimate for Gate Installation in Keene
If your gate is leaning, your operator is dead, or you’re ready to put in a gate that actually fits the way your property works, call (877) 610-2993. Hal answers, or a live person from the shop does, any hour. We’ll set a time that respects your schedule, measure the job, and give you a written price before anything gets touched. 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 Keene and Johnson County since 2001.