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 Severn
A new gate in Severn runs anywhere from $900 for a basic pedestrian gate to $14,000 or more for a security-grade double driveway gate with automation, and most of the questions we hear aren’t actually about the gate itself. They’re about the posts, the soil, the power run, and whether the job’s going to hold up. We’ve been installing and repairing gates since 2001, and the Severn jobs follow a pattern we know well: 25-to-45-year-old subdivision gates sitting on posts that the clay has moved, usually with wiring that was never meant to carry an operator. If you’re in the 21144 ZIP and you want a gate installed right the first time, call (877) 610-2993. Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop, and the person who shows up to quote your job is the person who stands behind it.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Severn’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Severn sits right next to Fort Meade and the NSA campus, so a lot of our customers here are active military, federal employees, or defense contractors. They tend to ask sharper questions than most, and they should. We’re locally owned and owner-operated, which means the company answering your call is the same company that shows up in your driveway. No national outfit, no subcontractor swapping, no estimate that changes at the door. We publish our license number, our address, and Hal’s name on every invoice. If something isn’t done right, the 90-Day Done Right Promise means one call brings us back, in writing, not buried in fine print.
We work throughout Severn regularly, from the subdivisions off Telegraph Road down toward the Meade Village area. Our crew knows this housing stock: split-foyers and colonials from the late 70s through the mid-90s, many with original wood privacy fence gates that are now decades past their intended life. More importantly, we know what’s underneath them. Anne Arundel County’s heavy clay soil expands and contracts through the seasons, and in Severn we regularly measure hinge posts that have heaved out of plumb by an inch or more. That movement is the reason so many “new” gates here drag, sag, or strip their screws within a year. We correct the post first. If you don’t, you’ll fix the panel and then fix it again. That observation alone is probably why Severn homeowners keep our number on the fridge.
Our Gate Installation Services in Severn
Every installation we do starts with a straight conversation about what the gate actually needs to do, where it sits, and what the soil is doing under it. Here’s how the most common jobs in Severn break down.
Driveway Gate Installation in Severn
Driveway gates are the big one. In Severn, almost every driveway gate job we quote involves a post question first. The original posts on homes built between the late 70s and mid-90s were typically set in shallow concrete, maybe 18 inches deep, when builders were running fence lines fast. Severn’s clay heaves those posts over the years, and hanging a new gate off a heaving post just means your new gate drags in spring and strips screws by fall. We reset posts or pour new footings, then hang the gate to that solid base. This applies to both single swing and double driveway gates.
Pedestrian Gate Installation in Severn
A pedestrian gate seems simple, but the cheap ones fail in the frame, not the latch. We see Severn homes all the time where a big-box gate lasted two seasons before drooping. Most pedestrian gates in this area get mounted to pressure-treated fence posts that have twisted. We’ll check the post, reframe if it needs it, and hang a gate that swings true. If you want a keypad or electronic strike added so the gate locks behind you, that’s a job we handle regularly here, and it dovetails with the security expectations a lot of Severn homeowners understandably have given what’s down the road.
Sliding Gate Installation in Severn
Sliding gates work well on Severn properties where a swinging gate would block the driveway or a slope makes a swing impractical. The catch is that a sliding gate needs a solid track bed, and on Severn’s clay that means more prep than people expect. We level and compact, set the track properly, and make sure drainage is right so the track doesn’t sink or hold water. We also check the operator’s power source before we quote, because half the sliding gates in this ZIP have no clean power nearby and that’s a real cost.
Swing Gate Installation in Severn
Swing gates are the most common style we install in Severn’s subdivisions, and they expose the post problem faster than any other type. Every swing gate is a lever. The hinge post carries the entire weight, so if that post has heaved even an inch, the gate drags. We correct the post, use proper hinges rated for the panel weight, and if automation is part of the job, we run dedicated conduit for the operator power and safety sensors rather than surface-mounting wire that fails after two freeze-thaw cycles. Our crew recently did a LiftMaster swing gate operator on a home in Still Meadows where the builder had installed a manual gate back in 1987. That hinge post had heaved so badly we poured a new footing 36 inches deep, ran conduit for the operator and the safety photocell loop across the driveway, then mounted everything straight. That job is going to hold, and the homeowner has a gate that finally works like a gate should.
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 Severn
We’re certified to work on nine major gate brands, and for Severn customers we regularly install and service LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule equipment. That matters because when something fails, we aren’t mailing a part across the country. We keep common parts in stock, and if we’re installing a FAAC or BFT operator on your Severn driveway, we’re wiring it properly with the power and safety-photocell setup that passes for what it is: a machine that moves a heavy panel, not a garage door opener bolted on as an afterthought.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Severn Homes
Most of what we fix in Severn didn’t start as an installation problem. It started as a shortcut. Here’s what we’re finding in the 21144 ZIP week after week.
- Hinge post heave over an inch. Clay soil around Severn moves posts with the seasons. When the hinge-side post leans out of plumb, the gate drags, strips screw holes, and won’t latch. We reset or replace the post before hanging anything new. Fix the latch and not the post, and you’ll fix it again inside a year.
- Builder-grade operators run on surface-mounted wire. Newer Severn developments often include a cheap operator wired with shallow, exposed runs. Two seasons of freeze-thaw and that wire fails. We run dedicated conduit, properly buried, with safety sensors where code requires them.
- Oversized gates hung on original shallow footings. A heavier gate on an old post is a repeat service call waiting to happen. We size the post, the footing, and the hardware to the actual panel, not to what was there before.
- No power run for automation. If you’re adding a motor to a gate that’s been manual since the 80s, the electricity has to come from somewhere. We include the conduit and power run in our quote, not as a surprise line item after the job starts.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Severn, MD
Real numbers, because you shouldn’t have to call three companies to learn what a gate costs. A standard pedestrian gate in Severn with proper post work runs $900 to $2,400 installed. A single swing driveway gate with a manual closer typically lands between $2,800 and $5,500 depending on panel material and width. Add automation to that and you’re generally at $5,500 to $9,500. A security-grade double driveway gate with keypad entry, safety edges, and a high-quality operator starts around $9,000 and can run to $14,000 or more for longer spans and heavier panels. Those ranges include the post work, because in Severn the post work is nearly always part of the job. Every quote is given upfront, in writing, and agreed before any work starts. We don’t show up with a different number. Seniors and veterans get a permanent 10% discount, and if you have a written estimate from another company, we’ll give you a free second opinion on it. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll come out, look at your site, and put a number in your hand.
We Also Serve Cities Near Severn
If you’re just outside the 21144 line, we cover the surrounding area too. Our Gate Installation team works regularly in Fort Meade, Hanover, Odenton, and Ferndale, and most of those neighborhoods share the same soil conditions and housing age we see in Severn. The same people who answer the phone in Severn answer for those jobs too: a live person, around the clock, not a voicemail and not a call center.
Serving Severn, MD - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Severn 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 Severn
In most cases, yes. The heavy clay soil in Severn moves posts dramatically, and we regularly measure hinge posts that are out of plumb by an inch or more. If the post is loose or leaning, a new gate will drag and strip screws even if the panel is brand new. We’ll measure it when we quote, and if it needs resetting or replacing, that’s part of the price you agree to before we start. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free look.
Because the builders who put it in usually ran surface-mounted wire without dedicated conduit, and Severn’s freeze-thaw cycles destroy that wiring fast. The operator itself might be fine; the power feeding it is not. We see this constantly in the newer subdivisions off Telegraph Road. We run proper conduit, bury it correctly, and make sure the safety sensors are wired in. That’s the difference between a gate that works for two seasons and one that works for fifteen.
You need three things: a solid post and footing that can take the operator’s torque, a dedicated power run, and properly placed safety sensors. On older Severn gates the post usually needs resetting first, and the power run means conduit, not an extension cord stretched across the yard. We quote all of it upfront, including the trench and the operator, so the number you get is the number you pay. Free estimates, no trip charge inside the county.
Yes, and it’s one of the more common requests we get in Severn. A lot of our customers here work on or near the installation and take physical security seriously. A security gate usually means a heavier panel, a locking operator, keypad or card entry, and safety edges so the gate stops if anything’s in the way. We’ll walk you through the options and give you a written quote before any work begins.
For a typical driveway gate in Severn, we go at least 36 inches deep and below the frost line, which is deeper than most of the original footings on homes from the 1980s and 90s. That depth is what’s needed to resist the clay expansion and contraction we see every winter and spring here. The footing is the part of the job you’ll never see, but it’s the part that keeps your gate working for decades to come.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate. We’ve been installing and repairing gates the right way since 2001, and our name is on every job.