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 Unionville
Gate installation in Unionville, NC runs anywhere from $1,800 for a basic single swing gate to $9,000+ for an automated double gate with full safety retrofits. Hal Gatewood has been putting gates in the ground since 2001, and he’ll give you a written price before any work starts, not an estimate that drifts upward at the door. Call (877) 610-2993 and a live person answers, any hour, any day.
Unionville sits in a strange spot right now. Half the town still runs on gravel driveways and post-and-board farm gates from before the subdivisions came. The other half lives behind early-2000s HOA entrance gates whose openers are quietly dying at the same time. We handle both, and we don’t believe in replacing a whole gate when the actual problem is a $400 control board or a post that shifted three inches out of plumb.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Unionville’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Hal Gatewood is the owner. His name is on the shop, his address is published, and his license number is something you can look up yourself. That matters in Unionville, where people got burned by a national outfit that quoted one price on the phone and charged another at the door. We’re the opposite of that. The person who answers your call is the same person who will show up at your driveway.
We’ve been welding on site since before the first HOA subdivision entrance gates in Unionville started failing. Our crews don’t haul your gate off to some warehouse across the county. We fix it where it hangs, using a repair-first approach that saves Unionville homeowners thousands every year. Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise, stamped in writing. If it’s not done right, one call brings Hal back. No runaround, no claim department.
We also know that Unionville’s soil moves. More on that below, because it’s the most common reason your gate is sagging and it has nothing to do with the gate itself.
For readers who want the short version: locally owned since 2001, live person answers 24/7, background-checked crews, free estimates, and $40 off any repair over $200. Call (877) 610-2993.
Our Gate Installation Services in Unionville
We install and service every style you’ll find around Unionville, from HOA subdivision swing gates to old farm gates on acreage that was soybean fields a generation ago. Here’s what we handle most often.
Swing Gate
Swing gates are everywhere in Unionville’s early-2000s HOA subdivisions. They were the default choice during Union County’s building boom, and most of them are now 15-20 years old. The opener brands popular at that time, some of which are no longer produced, are hitting end-of-life on control boards and capacitors all at once. We install new swing gate operators with modern safety photocells and edge sensors, and we reset the hinge posts before hanging anything. A sag in the hinge post is a sag in the gate, no matter how new the operator is.
Security Gate
Security gate installation in Unionville often means retrofitting a gate that was never built to modern entrapment standards. Pre-UL 325 gates lack photo-eyes and reverse safety edges. We can install those retrofits correctly, the way the manufacturer’s spec actually calls for, not the way a handyman with a drill might. We also tie loop detectors and keypads into the existing entry system so the gate doesn’t fight the access control.
Double Gate
Double gates show up on newer Unionville acreage properties and on wider HOA entrances. They fail in predictable ways: one leaf sags before the other, the center stop post shifts, and the opener on the pull leaf burns out trying to drag the whole assembly. We reinforce the post footings, align both leaves, and set the operators so the closing sequence doesn’t bind. The fix has to start at the post. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
Pedestrian Gate
Pedestrian gates in Unionville are usually simpler, but the same clay movement applies. We install everything from basic walk gates with self-closing hinges to keypad-controlled entry points for HOA pool and amenity areas. Most of these jobs are about setting a post that won’t move in the first wet-dry cycle, then hanging the gate square.
Other Gate Installation Work
We also install sliding gate track systems, driveway gates on gravel lanes off Unionville’s rural roads, and fence-integrated gate pulls for post-and-board setups. If it swings, slides, or closes on its own, we have worked on it. Ask about the specific gate style on your property when you call. We’ll tell you straight what it needs.
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 Unionville
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, including LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. Around Unionville, the two we see most often on HOA entrance gates are FAAC and Viking. Ghost Controls shows up on newer acreage driveway openers, and DoorKing on older commercial and community gates. We stock common boards, capacitors, and safety parts for these brands so we’re not waiting a week on a ground shipment while your subdivision entrance sits open. That’s the difference between a company that actually works in Unionville and one that drives in from somewhere else.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Unionville Homes
These are the failures we see week after week, specific to Unionville’s housing stock and soil:
- Early-2000s HOA swing gate openers dying at once. Union County’s building boom used a small set of small-lot automated opener brands. Those units are now 15-20 years old and their control boards and capacitors are reaching end-of-life simultaneously across multiple neighborhoods. Whole subdivisions are losing entry automation for the first time, and many of those homeowners have never dealt with gate repair before.
- Piedmont clay pushing hinge posts out of plumb. The red clay under Unionville expands and contracts hard with NC’s wet-dry cycle. Posts heave, lean, and twist. That throws the actuator out of alignment and puts extra stress on hinges. Reset the post with a deeper footing and drainage, and the gate works again. Skip that and the new operator wears out early.
- Pre-UL 325 gates with no entrapment protection. Gates installed before 2000 frequently have no photo-eyes and no reverse safety edges. That’s a real safety issue, especially on HOA entrance gates where children and delivery drivers are nearby. Retrofitting these is often cheaper than a full replacement, but it needs to be done correctly.
- Legacy farm gates sagging at the hinge post. The rural parcels left over from before Unionville’s subdivisions grew often have tubular steel or post-and-board farm gates hung without modern footings. They sag at the hinge post, not in the middle. Fixing the panel alone ignores the footing, and that gate will sag again within a season or two.
A note on terminology: we refer to some of these as “legacy” gates because the hardware predates current safety standards. That doesn’t mean they’re scrap. Many can be retrofitted safely and will run another 15 years.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Unionville, NC
Here are honest ranges for Unionville’s market, based on what we have actually installed and repaired here:
- Single swing gate, no automation: $1,800-$3,400 installed, depending on width, material, and post depth.
- Automated single swing gate with opener: $3,800-$6,200. Includes operator, safety photocells, and post setting.
- Double swing gate with automation: $6,500-$9,500. Includes two operators, center stop, and full safety edge and photocell integration.
- Safety retrofit on an existing HOA gate (adding photo-eyes and edges): $900-$2,100, depending on opener compatibility and wiring condition.
- Sliding gate with track and operator: $4,800-$8,500 on Unionville acreage driveways, depending on gate weight and track run length.
The price is quoted and agreed before any work starts. That’s not a courtesy; it’s how Hal runs the shop. Estimates are free, and we’ll give you a written number you can hold us to. Call (877) 610-2993.
We Also Serve Cities Near Unionville
We work throughout Union County and the surrounding area, including Gate Installation in Unionville, Monroe, Indian Trail, Stallings, and Wesley Chapel. If you’re just outside Unionville proper, call us and we’ll confirm coverage. No trip charge inside the county.
Serving Unionville, NC - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Unionville 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 Unionville
It depends on what failed. Some early-2000s openers have burned control boards and swollen capacitors that we can replace with new parts, extending the gate’s life for years. Others are from brands that no longer exist, and sourcing parts becomes more expensive than a new operator from a current manufacturer. Hal will tell you straight which side of that line your gate sits on, and the repair quote will be written before we touch anything. Call (877) 610-2993 and ask about your specific opener.
Union County sits on Piedmont clay that swells when wet and shrinks when dry. That movement pushes posts out of plumb within a few seasons if the footing was too shallow or lacked drainage. A proper reset means digging to roughly 36 inches, compacting gravel at the base, and setting the post in concrete that won’t heave. We do this before hanging any new gate or operator, because a leaning post will destroy a new opener’s alignment within a year.
Gates installed before UL 325 standards were updated can legally remain in service in many cases, but they may not meet current safety expectations for entrapment protection. On an HOA entrance where children, delivery drivers, and visitors are nearby, a gate without photo-eyes or reverse edges creates a liability exposure the HOA board should address. Retrofitting safety devices is often straightforward and far cheaper than replacing the whole gate. We’ll inspect your existing operator and tell you what’s compatible.
A swing gate on a Unionville acreage driveway typically costs less to install initially, around $3,800-$6,200 automated, but it needs strong hinge posts that can hold up to clay movement and the leaves need room to swing. A slide gate runs $4,800-$8,500 installed with track and operator, and it’s better on shorter driveways or lots with sloped entries, but the track needs regular clearing of gravel and debris. The bigger failure difference is that swing gates fail at the hinge posts when the soil moves, while slide gates fail at the track, rollers, and the operator drive sprocket. Hal can walk you through which design fits your driveway after seeing it, and the quote is free.
Yes, many of them can be. The catch is that most old farm gates were hung without post footings deep enough for automation. Adding an opener means adding torque to posts that may already lean. We reset the hinge posts first, inspect the gate frame for rust at the welds, and only then install an operator. Done correctly, a 20-year-old tubular steel gate can be automated for less than half the cost of a full replacement. Done incorrectly, the opener rips the post out of the ground within a season.
One More Thing About Unionville’s Older Gates
Here’s what’s actually happening in Unionville right now, and it’s specific to this town. The early-2000s HOA subdivision entrance gates installed during Union County’s building boom all used the same small set of small-lot automated opener brands popular at the time. Those units are now 15-20 years old. Control boards and capacitors are failing simultaneously across multiple neighborhoods, because the hardware was installed in the same window and ages at the same rate. That means Unionville is seeing a concentrated wave of first-time automation failures for properties whose owners have never dealt with gate repair before. If your subdivision entrance gate just stopped working and nobody on the HOA board knows the original installer’s name, that’s not bad luck. It’s age, and it’s hitting everyone at once.
We recently replaced a 2003 FAAC swing gate operator at a brick-front subdivision entrance off a connector road near Unionville. The original control board had burned traces and swollen capacitors, and the hinge post had leaned nearly three inches out of plumb from Piedmont clay heave. We reset the post with a new 36-inch deep footing using compacted gravel for drainage, then installed a new FAAC 390 operator with updated safety photocells and a loop detector tied to the existing keypad entry. That solved both the sag correction and the first automation failure the HOA had ever faced. That’s the kind of job we do in Unionville that a drive-in company won’t do, because it means digging instead of just swapping a box.
If your gate is sagging, leaning, or dead at the slab, call (877) 610-2993. Hal or one of his crew will answer. We’ll schedule a time to look at it, honor that window, 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 oldest accountability there is.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Unionville since our founding in 2001.