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 Palm Beach
A new gate installation in Palm Beach typically runs $6,500 to $28,000 depending on the gate’s size, material, and whether you’re adding automation and access control. Most custom estate gates on the island take 4 to 10 weeks from design approval to final walkthrough. We’re Gatewood Fence & Gate, and we’ve been building and installing gates in South Florida since 2001. Hal Gatewood answers the phone, and the crew that shows up is the crew that does the work. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free on-site measure and a written price before anything is ordered.
Palm Beach is not a typical install market. The lots are deep, the gates are heavy, and the Architectural Commission has a say in what goes up. You need someone who knows the island, not someone who’s about to learn it on your nickel.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Palm Beach’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Our name is on the shop, our phone rings to a live person 24/7, and Hal has been owner-operator since 2001. When a Palm Beach homeowner calls, they talk to someone who has welded in the Estate Section, worked behind walls on Worth Avenue properties, and dealt with ARCOM more times than he can count. We don’t have a rotating cast of subcontractors. The person who measures your gate is the person who orders it, welds it, and stands behind it.
Every install carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something isn’t right, one call brings us back. No runaround. No “escalation team.” Hal’s cell number is on the invoice, and he means it. We also publish our address and license number. You can drive to the shop and look any of us in the eye. In a town where trust is the whole game, that’s the oldest accountability there is.
We’re certified on Viking, DoorKing, and Elite operators, among six others. Dispatch and scheduling for Palm Beach are coordinated from our Miami office, but crews served the island before a lot of the current hardware manufacturers even existed. We know the gates on South Ocean Boulevard, the North End, and the Estate Section the way a mechanic knows the cars in his own driveway.
Our Gate Installation Services in Palm Beach
Every Gate Installation we do in Palm Beach starts with the same question: what does this gate have to do for you, and what will the island do to it over the next decade? Salt air from two directions, sandy soil, and hurricane wind loads change the answers. Here are the installs we handle most often.
Driveway Gate
Most Palm Beach driveway gates are custom fabrications running 14 to 22 feet across and somewhere between 500 and 1,000 pounds. That’s not a box-store panel. We pour post footings deep enough to hold that weight in island soil, set the hinges so the gate hangs true, and spec operators that are actually rated for the load instead of whatever the distributor had on the shelf. A heavy gate on an undersized operator fails fast and takes the hinges with it.
Security Gate
Security gates on Palm Beach are often the first physical barrier between a family and the street, and the island’s real estate profile means these are expected to do real work. We integrate gates with existing intercom, camera, and access systems, run conduit for future upgrades, and make sure the safety loops and photo eyes are set correctly so the gate never closes on a car, a child, or a delivery driver. UL 325 entrapment protection is part of every automated install we do, no exceptions.
Double Gate
Double swing gates are the classic Palm Beach entry, and they’re also the most demanding type of gate to install correctly. Two 400-to-900-pound leaves have to meet in the middle with no sag, no shudder, and no wind racking. If the hinge posts aren’t set right, you’ll fix the gate every six months until someone digs them out and starts over. We start with the footings and build out from there. On a Mizner-era estate just off South Ocean Boulevard in the Estate Section, our crew replaced a rusted buried post footing beneath a custom wrought-iron double swing gate. We excavated the hinge post, poured a new reinforced footing, reset the gate with a FAAC 770 operator and new loop detectors, then tuned the rack and pinion so the 900-pound gate opens without a shudder.
Swing Gate
A single swing gate in Palm Beach rarely stays single for long. Homeowners add a pedestrian gate, then a matching wall section, then automation. We install swing gates with the future in mind, so when you decide to automate next year, the pipe is already in the ground and the post is already plumb. This is how you avoid paying for the same excavation twice.
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 Palm Beach
We stock parts and service nine major operator brands, including Viking, DoorKing, and Elite. On an island where a gate out of service for a week is a security hole, part availability matters. We keep the most common control boards, loop detectors, and hinge sets for Palm Beach’s typical estate installs on hand, which means we’re not waiting for a truck from Ohio when your Viking operator throws a fault at 9 p.m. We know these systems inside out, and we know which ones hold up to double-sided salt air and which ones don’t.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Palm Beach Homes
We get called to fix other people’s installs more than we’d like. Here’s what we find most often on this island specifically.
- Buried post footings that were never designed for salt-saturated soil. Palm Beach’s sandy, salt-laden ground corrodes below-grade steel faster than the mainland. Footings poured without enough depth, or without proper drainage, start leaning within a few years. Then the gate sags, and the operator burns itself out fighting the misalignment.
- Non-marine-rated operators installed on a barrier island. Salt air from the Atlantic on one side and the Intracoastal on the other attacks gearboxes, control boards, and limit switches relentlessly. A factory-standard operator that would run fine for a decade in West Palm Beach can die in four years here if it isn’t spec’d for the environment. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
- Gates installed without accounting for hurricane wind loads. A 14-foot ornamental gate is a sail in a Category 1. If the frame isn’t reinforced and the hinge posts aren’t over-built, the first real blow bends the panel out of true. Then the operator keeps trying to close a gate that no longer lines up, and the motor burns out.
- ARCOM approval never addressed before the old gate came down. The Town of Palm Beach’s Architectural Commission reviews exterior modifications, and a gate replacement on a landmarked or historically significant estate can require design approval before work begins. Skip that step and you risk a stop-work order and a very expensive hole in your perimeter wall. We flag this in the first conversation, not after demo day.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Palm Beach, FL
Here are real numbers from the island’s market. A standard single swing driveway gate in aluminum or steel runs $6,500 to $14,000 installed, depending on width and finish. A custom ornamental double driveway gate with automation starts around $14,000 and runs to $28,000 or more for heavier wrought iron, bronze, or oversized dimensions. Pedestrian gates alone typically run $2,800 to $6,500. Adding a new operator, intercom, and access keypad to an existing gate runs $3,500 to $9,500 depending on brand and whether we’re pulling new conduit. The price is quoted and agreed before any work starts. No surprises at the door. You’ll also get $40 off any repair over $200, a free second opinion on any written estimate, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. Call (877) 610-2993 for an exact number on your gate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Palm Beach
Our crews cover Palm Beach and the surrounding corridor, including West Gate, West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, and Lake Park. If you’re just over the bridge in West Palm Beach, we can be there as quickly as we can get across the Flagler Memorial Bridge. Every install gets the same written 90-Day Done Right Promise, whether you’re on the island or five minutes inland. For full details, visit our Palm Beach service page.
Serving Palm Beach, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Palm Beach 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 Palm Beach
Yes, in many cases. The Town of Palm Beach’s Architectural Commission reviews exterior modifications, including gate replacements, on properties subject to landmark or historic designation, and many Mizner-era estates fall into this category. A new gate that matches the existing design and footprint may still require review if it’s visible from the right-of-way. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you honestly whether your property needs ARCOM sign-off before we order materials.
The island’s barrier geography means salt air comes at your gate from the Atlantic on one side and the Intracoastal on the other, roughly doubling the corrosion load compared to mainland properties. Gearboxes seize, control boards short from salt bridging, and limit switches fail early unless the equipment is marine-rated and installed with corrosion protection from day one. We spec every Palm Beach install for this environment. That’s the difference between an operator that runs five years and one that runs fifteen.
A reinforced concrete footing at least 4 feet deep, often wider than the post itself and tied into a drainage path so saltwater doesn’t pool against the steel. Palm Beach’s sandy soil drains fast but holds salt, and standard shallow footings shift and corrode quickly under a 900-pound gate. We over-build the footing on purpose. Call us at (877) 610-2993 and we’ll explain what that means for your specific gate and wall.
Yes. We weld on site and work with the same ornamental fabricators who build for the island, so a new section, hinge rebuild, or matching pedestrian gate can be produced to the original pattern. If your existing gate is a one-off from the 1920s or a more recent custom fabrication, we take measurements and photos, then fabricate to match. Most section matches take four to eight weeks due to the fabrication and finishing work.
Yes. Every automated gate installed in the U.S. must comply with UL 325 entrapment protection standards, and Palm Beach is no exception. That means photo eyes or contact edges, proper gap management, and correct force settings verified on site. We handle this as a standard part of every automated install, and we test it before we leave, not after a letter from an inspector arrives.
Contact Gatewood Fence & Gate for Gate Installation in Palm Beach
If you’re replacing a gate on the island, or just tired of one that sticks, sags, or stops halfway, call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate. A real person answers. Hal or one of his crew will come out, measure, walk the property, and give you a written price before any work starts. The name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road. That’s the only warranty that ever meant anything.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Palm Beach since the company’s founding in 2001.