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 Tujunga
Gate installation in Tujunga runs anywhere from $1,200 for a basic single swing gate to $8,500+ for a custom double security gate with automation. Most jobs we do here land between $2,400 and $4,800. The honest truth is Tujunga is a harder place to build a gate that stays square than almost anywhere else in the San Fernando Valley. Wind roaring out of Big Tujunga Canyon racks frames, shifts posts, and kills operators faster than any flat-land neighborhood we work. We’ve been at this since 2001, and we’ll quote the job before we start, in writing, with no trip charge anywhere in the county. Call (877) 610-2993 and a live person picks up.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Tujunga’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
We’re not a franchise van passing through 91042 on a route. Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road. That’s the oldest accountability there is. When you call about a driveway gate on Apperson Street or a pedestrian gate off Foothill Boulevard, whoever shows up knows the wind problem you’re dealing with, because we’ve dealt with it on a dozen other homes in the same ZIP code. Our reviews from Tujunga customers mention two things most: we actually answer the phone, and we fix what needs fixing instead of pushing a full replace.
Every job carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise. If the gate isn’t right, one call brings Hal back. No runaround, no fine print. That’s a written guarantee, not a sales line. We’re background-checked, uniformed, and we weld on site in your driveway, so the gate never leaves your property. When the person who quoted the job is the same person who installs it and the same person you’ll see at the hardware store next week, the incentive to do it right is built in.
Our Gate Installation Services in Tujunga
Tujunga’s housing stock is mostly 1940s to 1960s bungalows and ranch homes on bigger lots than you’ll find down in the flat Valley. That means a lot of original ornamental ironwork, a lot of rotted hinge posts, and a lot of footings that shifted on rocky hillside soil. We install for what’s actually here, not what a catalog assumes.
Driveway Gate
Driveway gates in Tujunga take a beating from canyon wind and sun. Whether you’re replacing a sagging 1960s double swing gate or putting in your first automatic gate on a larger lot near Haines Canyon, we’ll size the posts and operator for the actual wind load your site sees. A driveway gate that works in Sun Valley might not last two winters north of Foothill. We plan for the gusts, not the average.
Pedestrian Gate
Pedestrian gates on Tujunga homes often sit on narrow side yards or slopes where the original concrete has cracked and heaved. We set posts below grade the right way, keyed for drainage so post-fire rain seasons don’t have you hanging a gate twice. Swing or slide, manual or with a keypad, we build it so it latches a year from now.
Sliding Gate
For hillside driveways in the 91043 foothills where a swing gate would bind on the slope, a sliding gate is usually the better answer. It rides on a track instead of hanging from hinges, which matters a lot when canyon gusts hit 70 mph. We install cantilever slide gates too, so you don’t have a track chewing up driveways that already deal with debris flow. Slide gates are one of the most reliable setups in Tujunga’s wind corridor.
Swing Gate
Swing gates are still the most common request in Tujunga, especially as replacements for original wrought-iron gates on ranch homes. The key here isn’t the panel, it’s the hinge post. A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle, and that’s where we start. We’ll tell you honestly if your existing posts can carry a new gate or if they need to be pulled and poured new. That’s the difference between a gate that latches for a decade and one that binds after the first Santa Ana season.
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 Tujunga
We’re certified on FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking operators, along with LiftMaster and others. That matters in Tujunga because wind-driven dirt and debris kill control boards faster here than anywhere else in the Valley. We carry common parts in stock, so when a Linear board burns out during a Santa Ana event, you’re not waiting a week for a shipment while your gate sits open. Local parts, fast turnaround, and we’ll service any of those brands even if we didn’t hang the original gate. If you’re installing new, we’ll match the operator to your wind exposure, not just your gate size.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Tujunga Homes
- Racked frames from canyon wind. Big Tujunga Canyon funnels Santa Ana winds into gusts that exceed 80 mph, and swing gate frames get twisted until they bind on the latch post. The fix is almost always at the hinge post and the frame, not the panel. Flat Valley neighbors rarely see this failure mode.
- Heaved footings after post-fire debris flows. After the 2009 Station Fire burned the slopes above Tujunga, wet winters sent mud and debris down driveways throughout the 91042 foothills. A lot of gate posts tilted or heaved, and the first symptom is a gate that swings but won’t latch. That foundation damage still shows up today.
- Obsolete control boards lacking modern entrapment protection. We still pull out plenty of 1990s and early 2000s operators on hillside parcels that have no UL 325 entrapment protection. Wind-driven branches and debris repeatedly trip the loop detectors, and the boards eventually fail. Retrofitting isn’t always possible, and we’ll say so plainly.
- Rusted hinge posts set in cracked concrete on slopes. Tujunga’s 1940s and 1950s wrought-iron gates often have original posts set in shallow concrete that’s now cracked from slope movement. The gate will sag no matter how many times you adjust the hinges, because the problem is under the ground, not on it.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Tujunga, CA
A typical single Gate Installation in Tujunga starts around $1,200 to $2,000 for a basic manual walk gate. A standard driveway swing gate with automation runs about $3,000 to $4,500 installed, depending on gate size and operator. Custom double security gates with steel frames, access control, and heavy-duty operators from FAAC or Viking run $5,000 to $8,500 or more on hillside lots that need bedrock-keyed footings.
What moves the price in Tujunga specifically is the site work. If your old posts are heaved or the driveway slopes, excavation and new footings are the largest line item after the gate itself. Wind rating on the operator matters too; a standard operator spec’d for a flat lot will fail early here, and we’ll tell you that before you spend the money, not after.
The price we quote is the price you pay, agreed before any work starts. That’s not a courtesy; it’s how we’ve done business since 2001. We offer free estimates, no trip charge inside the county, $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 quote on your Tujunga gate project. Estimates are free, and nobody will pressure you into a gate you don’t need.
We Also Serve Cities Near Tujunga
Our crews work out of our Los Angeles office and serve Tujunga and the surrounding foothill communities every week. If you’re in Sunland, La Crescenta-Montrose, Shadow Hills, or Burbank, we’re already nearby and familiar with the local gate conditions. Same phone, same live person, same 90-Day Done Right Promise.
Serving Tujunga, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Tujunga 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 Tujunga
Many older swing gates in Tujunga can be retrofitted with a modern operator that includes UL 325 entrapment protection, but it depends on the existing hardware and control wiring. If your gate’s hinge posts and frame are sound, we can usually mount a new LiftMaster or FAAC operator with photocells and edge sensors without replacing the gate. If the original 1960s posts have heaved or the control board is obsolete to the point that wiring doesn’t meet current code, replacement becomes the cheaper, longer-lasting option. We’ll tell you which one you’re looking at before any work starts, and we’ll quote it in writing. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll come look at the gate in person.
The most common cause in Tujunga is post footing movement. After the Station Fire burned the slopes above the 91042 foothills, post-fire debris flows and wet winters shifted soil under concrete footings that have been in place since the 1940s. The post tilts a degree or two, the gate swings fine on its hinges, but the latch no longer lines up. The fix is resetting or replacing the hinge post footing, not just moving the latch plate. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate to check what’s moving under your gate.
For exposed hillside parcels in the Big Tujunga Canyon wind corridor, a slide gate generally outlasts a swing gate. A swing gate hangs from hinge posts, and 80 mph gusts put constant racking force on those hinges, binding the frame over time. A slide gate rides on a track or cantilever rollers, so wind pushes against the gate’s short edge instead of leveraging its full width. We’ve installed both for decades here, and for the windiest lots off Big Tujunga Canyon Road and Foothill Boulevard, we’ll almost always recommend a slide gate. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll walk your driveway and tell you which one makes sense.
Solar gate openers work in Tujunga but only when sized with enough panel and battery reserve for the wind season, when operators cycle repeatedly against gusts and debris trips the safety photocells. A bare-bones solar kit sized for a calm suburban lot will fail here by November. We spec solar systems with larger batteries and panel capacity for the canyon wind load, and we mount panels so Santa Ana winds can’t rip them loose. For hillside parcels in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, LAFD rapid-entry requirements may also dictate which access control hardware you need. Call (877) 610-2993 for an honest recommendation on whether solar is viable for your specific lot.
On Tujunga’s sloped lots, repairing cracked concrete around a rusted hinge post is almost always a temporary fix. The post itself is compromised and the footing has likely shifted, so you’d be pouring new concrete around a failing post. On a slope, especially after the soil movement we’ve seen since 2009, the right repair is to excavate the old footing, set new steel posts keyed into stable ground or bedrock, and pour fresh concrete below grade. It costs more up front than a decorative patch, but it’s the difference between a gate you fix once and a gate you fix twice. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll dig down and show you exactly what you’re dealing with before we quote anything.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Tujunga and the surrounding foothills since 2001.