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 Kensington
A new driveway gate in Kensington, CA typically runs $4,800 to $11,500 installed, depending on steel gauge, gate style, automation, and whether we’re working on one of the hillside lots above Arlington Avenue or a flatter pocket near Colusa Circle. More important than the number is what you’re actually buying: a gate that won’t lean out of plumb in two years because the post footings were poured too shallow for Kensington’s clay, and hardware that won’t rust through from the salt-laden fog that rolls over the ridge every summer morning. We’re Gatewood Fence & Gate, and Hal Gatewood has been building and repairing gates in this part of the East Bay since 2001. Call (877) 610-2993 and you’ll get a live person, not a phone tree.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Kensington’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Kensington isn’t a city, and that changes how gate work gets done here. You’re in unincorporated Contra Costa County, which means permits go through county building, not a municipal planning desk. Homeowners who’ve done work elsewhere often get surprised by the extra steps and the timing. We know the county process for automated gate electrical, and we handle the paperwork so you don’t have to chase it. Our Gate Installation work across Kensington means we’ve stood in front of enough county inspectors to know exactly what they’ll flag before the inspection happens.
Hal’s name is on the shop and on every invoice. That’s not a slogan, it’s how the business runs. The person who answers your call at 3 a.m. is the same person who’ll show up to your driveway on Arlington to look at a sagging hinge post. We don’t run a call center, and we won’t quote you a price on the phone and change it at the door. Homeowners between 50 and 70 have been burned by that exact move from national outfits, and we’ve spent over two decades being the alternative.
Our Gate Installation Services in Kensington
Driveway Gate
A driveway gate on a Kensington hillside has to do more than open and close. It has to sit square on posts that are fighting gravity and shifting clay. We pour footings deep enough to get below the active soil layer, and we set posts in concrete with rebar so the gate doesn’t bind on the latch side in a wet winter. For homes on the steep grades off Arlington Avenue or the switchbacks near Sunset View Park, we spec heavier posts from the start. A mild-steel post that works fine in El Cerrito’s flatland will lean within a few fog seasons up here.
Pedestrian Gate
Pedestrian gates on Kensington’s older homes often hang off masonry pillars that settled decades ago. The 1920s and 1930s Craftsman bungalows and Tudor Revivals around the Arlington corridor especially have this issue. We can re-work the hinge side with stainless fixings and re-plumb the gate even when the pillar itself can’t be moved. The goal is a gate that swings true and latches without you having to lift it by the handle.
Sliding Gate
Sliding gates make sense on Kensington driveways where the slope is too steep for a swing gate to clear the ground. The rollers and track take a beating from clay soil that moves seasonally. We set tracks on steel-reinforced concrete pads, and we use sealed roller bearings that hold up to the marine fog. A sliding gate on a Kensington hillside also keeps the driveway clear for emergency vehicle access, which matters in a WUI fire zone.
Swing Gate
Double swing gates are the most common style on Kensington’s older properties, especially the larger lots with original wrought-iron work. The failure point is almost always the hinge post, not the gate panel. Fix the panel without addressing the post and you’ll fix it twice. We re-plumb posts, replace rusted pintles, and re-hang gates with stainless hardware so they move the way they did when the house was built.
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 Kensington
We service and install gate operators from Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, and Elite, among others. If you’ve got an older DoorKing board on a Kensington hillside gate that’s been through fifteen winters of damp fog, we can replace it with a current model and wire in a battery backup for fire-season power shutoffs. We keep common operator parts on the truck, and anything we don’t have, we get quickly enough that you’re not waiting a week with a gate stuck open. Hal’s crew works on more than eight major brands, but we don’t push a brand just because it’s on the truck. We install what fits your gate and the slope it’s sitting on.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Kensington Homes
- Leaning hinge posts on clay slopes. Kensington’s soil expands and contracts with winter rain and summer dry spells. Posts set too shallow heave and lean, and the gate starts binding on the latch side. The hinge post is the true point of failure, and that’s where we start.
- Salt-fog rust on painted steel. The marine layer that sits over Kensington on summer mornings carries salt moisture that gets into hinges, welds, and gate frames. Painted mild steel rusts through years faster up here than it does in the flatlands below. Galvanised steel with a powder-coat finish is the only spec we recommend for hillside properties.
- Wood gates rotting at the bottom rail. Persistent fog moisture wicks into wood driveway gates and rots the bottom rail and hinge post from the inside out. Stainless hardware and rot-resistant cores are the fix, not just a new coat of paint.
- WUI code compliance on automated gates. Kensington is a designated Wildland-Urban Interface fire zone. Automated driveway gates must accommodate emergency-vehicle override, and fire-resistant material choices are part of the conversation. A flatland gate installer won’t think about this. We do, because it’s county code up here.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Kensington, CA
A pedestrian gate in Kensington runs $900 to $2,800, a single swing driveway gate $3,500 to $7,200, a double swing gate $5,800 to $11,500, and a sliding gate $6,500 to $14,000 depending on track length and operator type. Automation adds $1,200 to $3,800 including the operator, safety edges, and battery backup. Galvanised steel with powder coat runs 15 to 25 percent more than painted mild steel, but on a Kensington hillside with salt fog, it’s the difference between a gate that lasts twenty years and one that needs new hinges in eight. Every quote is written down before work starts, and the price we quote is the price you pay. No changes at the door. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll come out, measure the slope, check the soil, and give you a number in writing. The estimate is free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Kensington
Gate Installation in Kensington keeps us busy year-round, but we also work regularly in El Cerrito, Albany, Richmond, and Berkeley. If you’re on the Kensington side of the county line, call us directly. If you’re a few minutes down the hill, we’ll still come out and give you the same straight answer we give our Kensington neighbors.
Serving Kensington, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Kensington 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 Kensington
Kensington is unincorporated Contra Costa County, so there’s no city building department to issue permits. All permitted gate work and automated-gate electrical goes through Contra Costa County Building. The plans, inspections, and timeline are different from what your friend dealt with in Berkeley, which has its own city permit process. We handle the county paperwork for you, and Hal knows what the county inspectors will look at before they arrive. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you exactly what your specific gate project needs, in plain English.
Hot-dip galvanised steel with a powder-coat finish is the minimum spec we recommend for Kensington gates. The marine fog that sits over the hillside carries salt moisture that gets into painted mild steel and starts rust perforation within five to eight years. Stainless steel hinges and stainless fixings are not optional up here, they’re standard. A painted gate from a big-box supplier will look fine for a few years and then rust at the welds and hinge points. We build gates from galvanised stock and finish them properly so you’re not replacing the frame in a decade.
Yes, and in Kensington it has to be. The WUI fire-hazard designation requires automated driveway gates to have an emergency-vehicle override system. That means the gate operator is wired so fire crews can trigger it from the street side, and we also spec battery backup so the gate still opens during a PSPS power shutoff. This is county requirement, not an option, and it’s one of the specific things we check on every automated gate install in Kensington. Call (877) 610-2993 if you want to know whether your current gate meets WUI fire-access rules.
Depends on the post footings and the frame condition, and we’ll tell you the truth when we see it. On a steep Kensington driveway, if the posts are still sound and the frame is galvanised or salvageable, repair is usually the better call. If the posts have heaved out of plumb by more than a couple of inches on the clay slope, or the frame is painted mild steel with rust through the welds, replacement makes more financial sense. Hal’s repair-first philosophy means we’d rather weld on site in your driveway than sell you a gate you don’t need. A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle, and that’s where we start the diagnosis.
Look at the gap between the gate and the latch post. If it’s wider at the top or the bottom, the hinge post is leaning. Check the post base for a hairline crack in the concrete or a gap between the post and the footing. On Kensington’s clay, you’ll often see the soil pulling away from the post after a wet winter. If you have to lift the gate by the handle to get it to latch, the post is already out of plumb. These are the exact things we look for on a free estimate, because fixing posts early costs a fraction of a full gate replacement later.
Contact Gatewood Fence & Gate in Kensington
You can reach Hal or his crew anytime. The phone is answered by a live person, 24 hours a day, and if you’d rather look the person in the eye before you commit, you can drive to the shop and ask for Hal by name. Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing, and we quote the full price before any work starts. Standing offers: $40 off any repair over $200, no trip charge inside the county, a free second opinion on any written estimate, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. If a gate is sagging, sticking, or won’t begin to hold the hardware, call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Kensington and the surrounding East Bay since 2001.