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.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterFast, Reliable Gate Installation Across Saint Matthews
A driveway gate installation in Saint Matthews typically runs $2,800 to $7,500 for a standard double swing gate with automation, and most projects take two to three days from footing pour to final operator programming. The price depends on gate width, material, and whether your existing posts can be salvaged or need new footings. The real variable in this part of Jefferson County isn’t the gate itself, it’s what’s happening underground. Call (877) 610-2993 and Hal will walk you through what your specific property actually needs, not what a brochure says you should buy.
We work in Saint Matthews every week, which means we know Norbourne Estates, Seneca Gardens, and the older blocks off Shelbyville Road where sixty-year-old trees are still fighting with gate posts every spring. If your gate has been straightening up and then sagging again after every wet season, that’s a footing problem, not a hinge problem, and we’ll tell you that before we ever quote a dollar figure.
Hal Gatewood has been at this since 2001. His name is on the shop, his phone number rings to a live person at any hour, and he’ll be the one who shows up to look at your gate. No call center, no dispatch queue, no stranger who has never seen a Louisville clay soil up close.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Saint Matthews’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Saint Matthews homeowners know their houses. A lot of you have lived in the same brick ranch for thirty years, and you’ve watched the silver maple out front go from sapling to monster. You’ve also watched every national gate company come through, quote a number, and then send someone who doesn’t know the difference between a footing that’s settled and one that’s been lifted by a root. That’s why our repeat work in 40041 comes from neighbors telling neighbors. Hal has replaced gates on one end of Norbourne Estates and repaired the operator on the other end in the same week more times than we can count.
We’ve fixed gates in Saint Matthews that other companies told the homeowner to replace. A 1950s ornamental iron double gate with rust at the hinge post isn’t automatically scrap. Sometimes the panel is fine and the post is rotten at grade. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice. We weld on site, which means your gate stays in your driveway instead of getting hauled to a shop across town. And every job, from a simple hinge replacement to a full Gate Installation, carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not done right, we make it right. One call brings Hal back, no runaround.
Response time to Saint Matthews is usually same day for repair calls, and installation scheduling typically runs within a week. When you call, a live person answers. That’s Hal, or one of his crew who knows the area. Not a menu. Not a voicemail.
We’re locally owned and owner-operated, with a published address and license number anyone can look up. Hal’s name is on every invoice. That’s the oldest accountability there is. The name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road.
Our Gate Installation Services in Saint Matthews
Driveway Gate
Driveway gates in Saint Matthews run the full range: original 1940s wrought-iron swings on the older blocks, newer steel slide gates on infill lots near Breckenridge Lane, and everything between. A driveway gate is the first thing people see and the first thing that fails when footings start moving. We size the gate to your driveway opening, check the existing posts for root damage at grade, and recommend either new footings or post reinforcement based on what the soil and trees are actually doing on your property. Most driveway gate installations in Saint Matthews run $3,200 to $7,500 for a complete automated double gate.
Pedestrian Gate
A pedestrian gate next to a driveway gate sees ten times the cycles of the driveway gate itself. Hinges wear, latches loosen, and the post the gate hangs from takes constant lateral load. We see this constantly in Saint Matthews where the original pedestrian gate from the 1960s is still hanging on its original lag screws while the driveway gate next to it has already been replaced twice. A new steel pedestrian gate with a keypad entry and new posts typically runs $900 to $2,200 in Saint Matthews, depending on width and hardware.
Sliding Gate
Sliding gates make sense on narrow Saint Matthews lots where a swing gate would arc into the street or hit a parked car. The tradeoff is that slide gates need a level track, and level is a relative term in this part of Jefferson County. Clay soil moves. A track that was dead level in 2015 might now be a quarter inch low at the far end, which makes the gate crawl or bind. New slide gate installation starts around $3,800 and goes up with automation. We also do a lot of track repair and operator retrofits on existing slide gates where the gate itself is still solid.
Swing Gate
Swing gates are the standard across Saint Matthews, and they’re where we see the most root-related damage. A double swing gate hanging on posts that were poured before the silver maple grew up is a gate that will scrape the driveway every April. We install swing gates with posts set below frost depth, with rebar, and with the tree’s root zone mapped before we dig. A single swing gate with automation typically runs $2,800 to $5,500. A double swing gate runs $4,200 to $7,500. If we can reuse your existing steel or iron panels, those numbers come down.
On every installation, the price is quoted and agreed before any work starts. You’ll see the number on paper, and that’s the number you pay unless you ask us to add something mid-job.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Saint Matthews
If your existing operator is a Viking, Ghost Controls, or DoorKing, we stock the common parts and control boards those systems need, which means we’re not waiting on a distributor to ship something from Memphis while your gate sits open. Hal is certified to service nine major gate brands, including LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. For Saint Matthews customers, that means one call covers the gate, the motor, the keypad, and the wiring. We don’t tell you to call the operator manufacturer. We fix the whole system.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Saint Matthews Homes
- Silver maple roots heaving gate post footings. In Norbourne Estates and Seneca Gardens, mature silver maples and oaks are the single biggest cause of gate posts going out of plumb. Roots push against concrete footings for decades, fracturing them and lifting the post. The gate then binds at the latch and scrapes the driveway. Setting a new post without addressing the root zone means you’ll be back in the same spot in three years.
- Corrosion at the concrete interface on 1940s-60s ornamental iron posts. Original wrought-iron posts from the post-war building boom in Saint Matthews are now 60 to 80 years old. The point where the post enters the concrete is where water sits, and that’s where the steel thins and eventually fails. We see posts that look solid above ground and are nearly gone at grade.
- Obsolete control boards on legacy operators. Many Saint Matthews gates still run operators that were installed before photocell safety sensors were standard. The motor may work, but the control board can’t talk to modern keypads or loop detectors. Retrofitting old wiring onto new boards sometimes works, and sometimes it’s cheaper to replace the operator and controls as a unit. We’ll tell you which before you spend a dollar.
- Undersized footings that crack from freeze-thaw cycles. Kentucky’s humid summers accelerate rust on gate hardware, and repeated winter freeze-thaw cycles crack concrete footings set around metal posts. Older Saint Matthews homes often have footings that were poured 50-plus years ago without rebar and below current depth standards. After enough wet springs and cold winters, those footings fail.
We were called to a 1950s brick ranch in Norbourne Estates where the double swing gate’s hinge post was visibly leaning into the driveway. Probing below grade revealed the footing had been fractured and lifted nearly four inches by a silver maple root. We realigned the post, poured a new deeper footing with rebar, and reinstalled the original LiftMaster gate operator after replacing the hinge post and re-hanging both gates to eliminate the sag correction issue that had been patched twice before. The gate has worked cleanly since.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Saint Matthews, KY
Here’s what gate installation actually costs in Saint Matthews right now:
- Pedestrian gate with new posts: $900-$2,200
- Single swing driveway gate with automation: $2,800-$5,500
- Double swing driveway gate with automation: $4,200-$7,500
- Sliding gate with track and automation: $3,800-$8,000
- Post replacement with new concrete footing: $600-$1,400 per post
- Operator and control board retrofit on existing gate: $1,200-$2,800
What moves the number is the condition of your existing posts, the width of the opening, whether you need a new power run from the house, and whether the old operator can be reused. We give free estimates, and we stand behind the quote. Every price is written down and agreed before work starts. No trip charge inside the county, and a free second opinion on any written estimate you’ve received from another company. Ask about the senior and veteran discount when you call.
We Also Serve Cities Near Saint Matthews
Our crew works throughout Saint Matthews and regularly handles gate projects in Lyndon, Louisville, Buechel, and Newburg. If you’re in one of those areas, the same live-answer phone, the same on-site welding, and the same 90-Day Done Right Promise apply. Call (877) 610-2993 and you’ll get Hal or someone who works with him every day.
Serving Saint Matthews, KY - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Saint Matthews 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 Saint Matthews
If it sags every spring and straightens up after a dry spell, it’s the post footing moving in wet clay soil, not the hinges. Hinges wear gradually and don’t cycle seasonally. In Saint Matthews, especially near Norbourne Estates and Seneca Gardens, the usual cause is a silver maple or oak root pushing the footing out of plumb. We’ll probe below grade to find out how far the footing has actually moved before recommending anything. Call (877) 610-2993 for an inspection and a written quote.
Usually yes, if the panels and hinge posts are still sound. We regularly retrofit LiftMaster, FAAC, and DoorKing operators onto original 1950s and 60s wrought-iron gates in Saint Matthews. The gate needs to swing freely, the posts need to be plumb, and you may need a new control board and safety photocells if the old wiring can’t support them. If the gate itself is rusted through at the hinge side, replacement is the cheaper answer. We’ll tell you straight.
Yes. If your driveway opening is tight to the property line or you park close to the gate, a slide gate removes the swing arc entirely. The gate runs along the fence line on a track. The catch is that slide gates need a level run, and Saint Matthews clay soil shifts over time. We install slide tracks on deeper compacted base and check the track alignment on every service call. Slide gate installation in Saint Matthews typically runs $3,800 to $8,000 with automation.
Legally and safely, no. Photocells are a basic safety requirement on automated gates, and an operator without them can close on a person or vehicle. If your old operator predates photocell sensors, the control board won’t accept modern safety inputs. Sometimes you can retrofit a new board and photocells onto the old motor. Sometimes the whole operator is too far gone. We’ll assess it and give you the straight answer: retrofit or replace, with a written price for each. Call (877) 610-2993.
Because the post has shifted below grade. The visible part stays roughly vertical while the buried portion of the footing rotates or fractures. In the older residential blocks near Norbourne Estates, silver maple root systems have been silently lifting gate posts for decades, and visible post tilt at grade level routinely understates how far the footing has shifted underground. The fix is pulling the post, excavating the root that caused it, and pouring a new deeper footing with rebar. Patching the hinges won’t touch the real problem.
Call Gatewood Fence & Gate for Gate Installation in Saint Matthews
If your gate is dragging, sagging, or simply worn out, call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate. Hal will answer or call you right back, and he’ll give you an honest read on whether your gate can be saved or needs replacing. No trip charge inside Jefferson County, a 90-Day Done Right Promise on every job, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. You’ll see the price in writing before any work begins. That’s how we’ve done it since 2001.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Saint Matthews and surrounding communities since 2001.