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 Lilburn
Gate installation in Lilburn, GA typically costs $1,800-$6,500 for a standard ornamental iron driveway gate, and most jobs take 1-3 days once materials arrive. For Lilburn homeowners in 30047 and 30048, the bigger issue is rarely the gate itself. It’s the red clay underneath it. We’ve been working in Lilburn long enough to know that a gate installed on shallow footings here will lean within two seasons, and we plan every job around that reality.
Hal Gatewood started Gatewood Fence & Gate in 2001, and the same approach applies to every new install: dig deep, set posts in concrete that reaches below the clay’s active zone, and wire for automation even if you think you’ll never want it. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free measure and written price.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Lilburn’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Hal’s name is on the shop and on every invoice. That’s the oldest form of accountability in the trades. When a Lilburn homeowner calls us about a leaning post or a gate that won’t latch, the person who answers knows the difference between a hinge reset and a post re-footing, because we’ve done both in this red clay for over two decades.
We serve Lilburn from our metro Atlanta office and crews run local every week, so we know the subdivisions off Killian Hill Road, the older neighborhoods near Ronald Reagan Pkwy, and the brick ranches that dominate 30047. We answer the phone 24/7 with a live person, not a voicemail. Every installation carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something isn’t right, one call brings us back. No runaround, no third-party dispatch queue.
We’re background-checked, uniformed, and certified to service nine major gate brands including LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, and Viking. But the real advantage is simpler: we weld on site, we set posts in deep concrete, and we don’t pretend a builder-grade operator was ever good enough for Lilburn clay.
Our Gate Installation Services in Lilburn
Driveway Gate
A driveway gate in Lilburn isn’t just about curb appeal. It’s about keeping the yard enclosed when the gate actually closes and latches after months of clay-driven post movement. We install ornamental iron, aluminum, and steel driveway gates with post footings dug to 36 inches or deeper, below the expansive clay zone that causes so much seasonal heave in Gwinnett County.
Pedestrian Gate
For rear yard entries, pool enclosures, and side access points, pedestrian gates get more use than any other gate on the property. In Lilburn’s heavily wooded lots, pine limbs and wet-season ground swell mean the hinge post takes the beating. We set those posts deep and weld hinges on site, so the latch stays aligned through the wet spring and the dry September.
Sliding Gate
Sliding gates work well on Lilburn lots with enough straight run, but the track or cantilever footing has to compensate for sloping terrain. We see a lot of properties near Ronald Reagan Pkwy where the driveway drops several feet over a short distance. A properly engineered sliding gate handles that; a cheap track-mounted kit will bind the first time the clay shifts. We install both track and cantilever systems, sized for the actual slope.
Swing Gate
Swing gates are the most common choice in Lilburn’s subdivisions, and the most sensitive to post movement. A dual swing gate off Killian Hill Road that we recently installed is a good example. The builder-grade operator had stripped its hinge screws after years of clay movement. We reset both hinge posts in 36-inch concrete footings, realigned the rack and pinion, and mounted a LiftMaster operator with safety photocells. Then we ran new conduit for a keypad entry, because the original build never included power to that side of the driveway. That’s the difference between installing a gate and installing it for Lilburn conditions.
Double Gate
Double gates span wider driveways and put twice the load on the center latch post. Many 1980s and 1990s Lilburn homes built with original ornamental iron double gates are now hitting simultaneous failure: the posts have rotated, the latch is misaligned, and the operator arm is binding. We replace or reset the posts, align both leaves, and install operators sized for the full combined weight. This page covers the more specialized double gate work we do in Lilburn through our Gate Installation service hub.
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 Lilburn
We’re certified to service and install nine major gate brands, and we keep a working stock of common parts for FAAC, BFT, and Linear operators on the truck for Lilburn calls. That means a gate that goes down on a Friday afternoon usually gets back up the same day, not the following Tuesday while a part ships from a warehouse. We also service Viking operators, which we still see on some of the older estates in the 30048 side of town. If your existing opener is one of these brands and you’re adding a new gate leaf or replacing the rack, we can match components without ripping out a working motor.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Lilburn Homes
- Builder-grade operators failing prematurely. Most 1980s and 1990s Lilburn subdivision gates were installed with whatever operator the builder could source cheaply. Shallow post footings in red clay cause the opener arm to bind, and the motor burns out long before its rated life. We replace these with properly sized operators and corrected post foundations.
- No conduit or power run for automation. If your home was built with a manual driveway gate, the builder almost certainly didn’t stub conduit to the gate line. Adding automation later means trenching or a surface-mount retrofit. We’ll tell you up front which route makes sense on your lot, and the price is agreed before any digging starts.
- Pine-limb damage compounding clay heave. Mature Georgia pines drop limbs during summer thunderstorms, and an ornamental iron gate that takes a hit will often bend just enough that the wet-clay swell locks the rack and pinion in a skewed position. We straighten frames on site with heat and weld repair when possible, rather than ordering a full replacement panel.
- Latch and hinge failure from post rotation. In Lilburn’s older subdivisions, posts anchored without deep footings in the 1980s and 1990s have been rocking in the clay for decades. The latch misaligns, the hinge screws strip, and the automated opener binds. Fixing the panel without resetting the post means you’ll fix it twice. We reset the post and realign everything else while we’re there.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Lilburn, GA
For Lilburn’s market, a single ornamental iron driveway swing gate typically runs $2,200-$4,800 including a new operator, posts set in deep concrete, and safety photocells. A double swing gate runs $4,000-$9,000 depending on width and operator sizing. Sliding gates start around $3,500 for a cantilever system with automation. A pedestrian gate with hinges and latch runs $600-$1,800 installed, depending on whether we need to pour new post footings.
The red clay factor matters. If your existing posts are shallow, we’ll recommend resetting them in deeper footings before hanging a new gate. That adds $400-$900 per post depending on depth and soil conditions, but skipping it is false economy in Gwinnett County. Every quote is in writing before work starts. We honor that number to the penny. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free measure and a written price. We also offer $40 off any installation over $200 and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans.
We Also Serve Cities Near Lilburn
Our crews serve Lilburn and the surrounding Gwinnett communities every week, including Lawrenceville, Norcross, Snellville, and Duluth. If you’re near the city line or just over it, the same crew and the same 90-Day Done Right Promise apply. No trip charge inside the county.
Serving Lilburn, GA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Lilburn 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 Lilburn
The post is leaning because the footing is too shallow for Lilburn’s expansive clay. In the Georgia Piedmont belt, summer thunderstorms saturate the soil and it swells; dry spells shrink it. That cycle pulls shallow footings out of alignment within one or two seasons. The fix is to reset the post in concrete dug to 36 inches or deeper, below the active clay zone. We do this on almost every repair job we touch in 30047 and 30048. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll look at your post depth before quoting anything.
Yes, in most cases. If the original build never stubbed conduit to the gate, we have two options: directional boring under the lawn, which leaves the turf mostly intact, or a surface-mount conduit run along the driveway edge for less sensitive areas. We’ll show you the route and the price before any digging happens. The bigger question is post condition. If the hinge posts have moved over 35 years in clay, we’ll recommend resetting them before mounting the operator, or the new automation will bind within a year.
Gwinnett County requires automated gates to include entrapment protection devices, which means safety photocells at a minimum, plus proper operator force settings and warning signage if the gate is publicly accessible. A residential driveway gate should never close on a child, a pet, or a car. We install photocells on every automated gate, test the reversal function before we leave, and document it on your invoice. Hal treats this as a safety obligation, not a checkbox.
Yes, and a cantilever sliding gate is usually the right call on a slope. Unlike a track-mounted gate, the cantilever design rides on rollers above the ground, so the track never fills with red clay wash or gets buried by debris. We measure the slope, calculate the clearance, and size the frame so the gate travels cleanly even in wet conditions. The footing for the carriage posts still needs to be deep because of the clay, and we’ll quote that as part of the installation.
Usually not. Thunderstorms in Lilburn cause two problems: a power surge that fries the control board, or a lightning strike nearby that spikes the circuit. In many cases we replace the board, not the entire operator. But if the operator was undersized for the gate from day one and has been struggling with misaligned posts, a new correctly sized operator with a current board is the smarter money. We’ll test the motor, check the board, and tell you honestly which one you need. Estimates are free. Call (877) 610-2993.
Contact Gatewood Fence & Gate in Lilburn
If your Lilburn gate is leaning, binding, or simply worn out after decades in the red clay, call (877) 610-2993. A live person answers, every time. We’ll schedule a free measure, give you a written price, and if you’re unsure about another company’s estimate, bring it in for a free second opinion. 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 Lilburn and Gwinnett County since 2001.