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 Motor & Opener Across Dunwoody
Gate motor and opener service in Dunwoody calls for someone who knows the difference between a 1983 HOA entry gate and a new build off Ashford Dunwoody Road. A typical motor repair in Dunwoody runs $275-$550, and a full operator replacement with new safety edges lands between $1,400 and $3,200 depending on the gate length and access wiring. We’ve been fixing both since Hal Gatewood opened the doors in 2001, and we answer the phone live at (877) 610-2993 any hour you call.
Most of the calls we take from 30346 are for shared community entrances and tight lots where a swing gate eats half the driveway. That’s Dunwoody’s reality: brick pilasters, ornamental iron that’s been holding since the Carter administration, and control boards nobody makes anymore. We work around all of it, and we keep the gate moving while we do.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Dunwoody’s Preferred Gate Motor & Opener Company
Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop, the shop is down the road, and his cell number is on every invoice. That’s not marketing copy, it’s how we’ve run this business for over two decades. When a Dunwoody HOA president calls about a dead operator on a shared driveway off Mount Vernon Road, the person who answers is the same person who’ll show up with the parts and a welder.
Our Gate Motor & Opener crew knows Dunwoody’s quirks: the heaving red clay that leans hinge posts, the 1970s telephone-entry wiring nobody manufactures parts for, and the ice that locks up slide tracks every few winters. We stock the boards, photocells, and rack and pinion kits Dunwoody’s older gates actually need, so we’re not waiting on a freight truck from Indiana while your driveway sits open.
Every job we do in Dunwoody gets the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. One call brings us back, no runaround. And if you already have a written estimate from another company, bring it to us. We’ll give you a free second opinion, and we’ll beat it where the work is actually comparable. No trip charge inside the county, either.
Our Gate Motor & Opener Services in Dunwoody
Motor Repair
Here’s what we see constantly in Dunwoody’s older subdivisions: a motor that stopped responding, and the real problem is a control board that hasn’t been manufactured since 1994. We don’t try to revive dead boards. We replace them with current equipment and wire it into whatever keypad or intercom the HOA wants to keep. That’s the repair-first way that keeps your gate in your driveway instead of on a flatbed.
Motor Installation
New gate motor installation in Dunwoody means matching the operator to the gate weight, the post condition, and the way people actually use the entrance. A swing gate on a brick pilaster that’s cracked behind the hinge needs the post plumbed and reinforced before the new Viking or Linear operator ever gets bolted on. Skip that step and you’ll be calling us again in eight months. We weld on site, and we do it right the first time.
Linear Motor
Linear motors are the workhorses of Dunwoody’s slide gates, especially where a swing gate won’t fit between the driveway and the neighbor’s hedge line. We install and service Linear operators across 30346, including retrofits onto existing racks. The key is aligning the rack to the pinion under load, not just on the bench. A gate that runs smooth with no weight on it can still chatter and bind once 600 pounds of iron is hanging on the track.
Slide Motor
Slide gates in Dunwoody take a beating from two directions: red clay that shifts the track supports, and ice that locks the channel solid. When an older slide motor burns out after trying to drive a frozen gate, we replace the motor and then walk the whole track line with you. Cracked track channels, bowed supports, missing rollers: those are what killed the last motor, and they’ll kill the next one too if nobody addresses them.
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 Dunwoody
We’re certified on nine major gate brands, and Dunwoody’s stock runs heavy on DoorKing, Viking, and Linear from the 1980s and 1990s installs. We also service Ghost Controls and Elite systems on newer builds. We keep common DoorKing and Linear control boards, safety photocells, and receiver modules on the truck, because the HOA that needs their entry gate working again by evening care a lot more about the part that’s on hand than the one that ships in ten days. We’ll also integrate a new operator with your existing Ghost Controls or Elite keypad when the board wants to keep what’s already wired into the pilaster.
Common Gate Motor & Opener Problems We See in Dunwoody Homes
- Heaving clay posts that lean the hinge out of plumb. Dunwoody’s wet/dry cycles push posts around more than any other factor we see. By the time the motor complains, the post has usually been drifting for two or three seasons. We fix the post, then the motor, in that order.
- Ice-locked slide tracks that burn out operators. Atlanta’s ice storms hit hard every few years. An older slide motor will churn against a frozen track until the thermal overload trips, or until the windings give up. If it’s already happened, we replace the motor and check the track’s true before we leave.
- Obsolete telephone-entry and loop-detector wiring. The original access system on a 1980s Dunwoody HOA entry gate often can’t talk to a modern operator. That means a new control board, new photocells, and rewiring the keypad.
- Worn rack and pinion on slide gates. After 30-plus years of daily cycles, the rack teeth cup and the pinion walks. The motor keeps running, but the gate shudders and stalls at the same spot every time.
Pricing for Gate Motor & Opener in Dunwoody, GA
For Dunwoody specifically, a swing gate motor repair typically runs $275-$550 including the service call. A slide gate motor replacement lands at $550-$1,100, and a full operator package, with safety edges and a new control board, runs $1,400-$3,200. Linear and Viking systems tend toward the middle of those ranges; DoorKing retrofits on original pilasters run higher because of the wiring and post work already baked in.
What moves the price is the condition of the gate itself. A straight rack and solid post is a clean swap. A leaning pilaster and a hairline crack in the concrete footer means more time, more steel, and more weld. We quote the number before we start, in writing, and that’s the number you pay. You’ll also see $40 off any repair over $200 on that invoice, and if there’s a veteran or senior in the household, it’s 10% off permanently. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll walk the gate with you, free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Dunwoody
Our Gate Motor & Opener team covers more than just 30346. We run the same trucks and the same stock to Sandy Springs, Chamblee, Doraville, and Brookhaven, which means if your gate is right on the Dunwoody line, you’re still a local call. The 90-Day Done Right Promise goes with us. So does the live person on the phone, and the welding rig.
Serving Dunwoody, GA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Dunwoody 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 Motor & Opener in Dunwoody
We plan motor swaps in Dunwoody so the gate never has to sit wide open overnight. Hal and his crew bring a temporary power unit and manual release setup, and on a recent job off Mount Vernon Road, we swapped a dead DoorKing operator for a new Linear motor while the residents drove through the gate the entire time. The key is doing the control board and safety photocell wiring before pulling the old motor, not after. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll lay out the sequence for your board before we touch a bolt.
Yes, we do that in Dunwoody every winter. A cracked track channel has to be cut out and replaced, and we weld the new section in place on site rather than tearing out the whole run. If the operator also burned out trying to move the frozen gate, we’ll quote the motor and the track repair as one job. Ask us for a free estimate and we’ll give you a written number before any work starts.
Because in Dunwoody, the sag almost never lives in the panel. It’s in the hinge post, which has been pushed out of plumb by the red clay underneath it. We re-plumb and reinforce the post first. If the post’s condition is too far gone, we weld a steel sleeve or re-set the post in fresh concrete before we rehang the gate. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
Usually, yes. We wire the existing keypad and any working intercom into the new operator’s control board, and if the old telephone-entry system is too far gone to integrate, we match the new board to the keypad protocol so the residents don’t have to learn a new code. This is the standard HOA scenario in Dunwoody, and we’ve handled it enough times that it’s a one-visit job now. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you exactly what your board can keep and what has to go.
Yes. Under the UL 325 standard that Georgia adopts, any automatic gate operator must have a primary entrapment protection device, and a non-contact sensor like a photocell is the standard. We won’t install a motor in Dunwoody without working safety edges and photocells on both sides of the gate. A lot of the 1980s systems we take out never had them, but leaving them off isn’t just a risk to kids and dogs, it’s an exposure for the HOA. If your current system doesn’t have working photocells, we’ll bring it up to standard as part of the motor job.
We’re the Dunwoody Gate Shop That Answers the Phone
When your HOA entry gate stops working on a Tuesday morning, the company that quoted a national phone number and an 800 number isn’t going to care the way we do. Hal Gatewood has been welding, wrenching, and rewiring gates since 2001, and the same person who answers the phone is the person who signs the work order. For a free estimate in Dunwoody, call (877) 610-2993 now. The price gets quoted before the work starts, in writing, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise comes with every single job.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Dunwoody since 2001.