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 Parts & Welding Across Des Moines
If your gate is sagging at the hinge, rusted through at the post, or the latch stopped catching after the last storm off the Sound, we can fix it, usually same week. Gatewood Fence & Gate handles hinge replacement, post replacement, rail repair, and custom welding for homeowners throughout Des Moines, including the bluff neighborhoods above Marine View Drive and the flats around the marina. We’ve been welding on site since 2001, which means your gate stays in your driveway instead of getting hauled to a shop. The repair is done where it hangs, aligned to the grade, the post, and the way the gate actually sits. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate, and the price is quoted and agreed before any work starts.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Des Moines’s Preferred Gate Parts & Welding Company
Hal Gatewood started this shop in 2001, and his name is on every invoice. We’re not a network of subcontractors. The person who shows up to your house in Des Moines is the same person who will be held accountable if something isn’t right, and our 90-Day Done Right Promise is written on every job. If it’s not done right, one call brings us back, no runaround, no arguing about whose fault it was.
We work all over the 98198 ZIP, from Saltwater State Park up to the older neighborhoods near Redondo Beach Drive and down toward the marina. Over the years we’ve rebuilt gates on 1950s and 1960s ranches, split-levels cut into the bluff, and a lot of narrow driveways where the original gate was hung to fit a car that doesn’t exist anymore. Des Moines has a particular set of gate problems, which we’ll get into below, and we know them because we’ve been doing Gate Installation in Des Moines and fixing them here for a long time.
Hal’s crew is background-checked and uniformed. A live person answers the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not a voicemail, not a call center. You call, a person picks up, and that person knows what a hinge post is.
Our Gate Parts & Welding Services in Des Moines
Hinge Replacement
Hinges fail first in Des Moines. Salt-laden marine air off Puget Sound eats bare steel hinges in two to three years, which is roughly twice as fast as what you’d see in Kent or Tukwila. When a hinge starts to fail, the gate drops, the latch stops lining up, and the whole panel leans onto the post. We replace hinges with powder-coated stainless hardware that holds up to the marine environment, and we align the gate so it swings clean without dragging. A typical hinge replacement in Des Moines runs $180-$340 depending on the gate weight and whether we’re doing one hinge or a full set.
Post Replacement
On a sagging gate, the problem is almost always the hinge post. In Des Moines, especially near Woodmont Beach and the waterfront properties along Marine View Drive, we see steel hinge posts rusted through at the base from decades of salt exposure, the concrete footing cracked, the whole assembly leaning. We cut out the failed post, set a new galvanized post in a deeper footing, and rehang the gate so it swings true. A new post with concrete and hardware typically runs $350-$650 in Des Moines depending on access and whether the old footing needs to be jackhammered out. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
Rail Repair
Older wood gates from the 1950s and 1960s are common in Des Moines, and after 37 inches of annual rain, the rails swell, rack, and pull at the fasteners. Sometimes the rail is split at the hinge. Sometimes the corners have loosened and the whole gate has turned into a parallelogram. We can straighten the frame, weld or replace the rail, and add diagonal bracing where the original builder skipped it. Rail repair in Des Moines typically runs $150-$300 per rail, and if the wood is too far gone we’ll tell you honestly before quoting anything.
Custom Welding
When a gate was built in 1972, the replacement part usually doesn’t exist anymore. That’s where our Gate Parts & Welding team comes in. We weld brackets, fabricate hinge mounts, build custom latch assemblies, and repair cracked frames on site. If your gate has an oddball hinge spacing or the manufacturer is long out of business, we can usually build what it needs and weld it in place. Custom welding in Des Moines runs $120-$280 per section depending on complexity, plus materials. We always quote before the welder fires up.
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 Des Moines
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, and on the operator side we work on a lot of Linear, Viking, and DoorKing units in the Des Moines area, including Des Moines Gate Motor & Opener service. Those older boards get hit hard by marine humidity, the contacts corrode, and the operator starts acting intermittent. We stock common parts locally for Des Moines customers, which means we usually don’t need to order from a distributor and wait a week. If we do, we’ll tell you that up front before any work starts.
Common Gate Parts & Welding Problems We See in Des Moines Homes
- Rusted-through hinge posts. Salt air off Puget Sound corrodes steel posts at the base within two to three years on exposed properties. The gate sags, the post leans, and the panel binds against the latch side. This is the single most common call we take in Des Moines.
- Seasonal wood swelling and racking. The 37-plus inches of rain every year cause older wood gates to swell and twist. Gates that latched fine in August stop latching by November. The hinges and latch are still attached; the frame has simply moved out of square.
- Corroded operator internals. Automatic gate operators near the marina and on waterfront lots fail from the inside. Salt-laden moisture gets into the control board and wiring, causing intermittent operation, partial opens, or complete dead units. Sometimes the board can be cleaned and resealed; sometimes it’s done.
- Failed latches on legacy gates. The old mechanical latches from the 1960s and 1970s were never meant for a marine environment. The springs rust, the strike plates corrode, and the latch no longer holds. We replace them with stainless hardware that survives the salt.
Pricing for Gate Parts & Welding in Des Moines, WA
Here’s honest pricing for Des Moines specifically. Hinge replacement runs $180-$340. A full post replacement with new concrete runs $350-$650. Rail repair is $150-$300 per rail. Custom welding starts at $120 and runs up to $280 per section plus materials. Latch and lock replacement, including the strike plate and hardware, is typically $140-$260. These are ranges, not guesses, based on work we’ve done throughout the 98198 ZIP. The price you’re quoted is the price you pay, agreed and written before work begins. We offer $40 off any repair over $200, no trip charge inside the county, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. For a free estimate, call (877) 610-2993.
Can You Weld a Hinge Post Onto My Existing Gate Without Replacing the Whole Gate?
Yes, and this is one of the reasons people call us instead of a gate replacement company. If the panel is structurally sound but the post or the hinge mount is failing, we weld a new hinge assembly onto the existing frame, often in place, without removing the gate from the property. We do it in Des Moines driveways every week. The key is matching the new steel to the old frame and coating it properly so the repair doesn’t rust out in two years like the original. Where the frame itself is rusted through or the wood is rotten, welding can’t save it, and we’ll tell you that rather than selling you a patch that won’t hold. Our Gate Parts & Welding work carries the same 90-Day Done Right Promise as everything else we do.
We Also Serve Cities Near Des Moines
We work daily in Des Moines, and we also serve Normandy Park, SeaTac, Tukwila, and Kent. The marine air problem is worse right on the Sound, but we see the same older gates, the same legacy operators, and the same worn hardware throughout South King County. Give us a call and we’ll get your gate fixed before the next storm system rolls in off the water.
Serving Des Moines, WA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Des Moines 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 Parts & Welding in Des Moines
Des Moines sits directly on Puget Sound, and the salt-laden marine air is the reason. Bare steel hinges on exposed properties, especially along the bluffs and near the marina, rust through in two to three years, while the same hinge in Kent or Covington might last a decade. The moisture carries salt onto every exposed metal surface, and it works into the hinge pins, the mounting plates, and the base of the posts. We install powder-coated stainless hardware exactly because of this. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you if your hinges can be swapped in place or if the post needs work too.
Yes. If the gate panel is solid but the post has rusted through at the base, we cut out the failed post, set a new galvanized post in fresh concrete, and weld or bolt the existing gate back onto it. The gate stays on your property the entire time. We do this regularly in Des Moines, especially on older ranches where the original post was set too shallow and salt water has been working on it for decades. The quote includes the post, the footing, and the rehanging. Estimates are free.
Often, yes. The sag on those older Des Moines gates usually comes from a combination of a failing hinge post and frame racking from seasonal moisture. We can weld diagonal bracing into the frame, square the panel back up, and rehang it on new hinges and a solid post so it latches through the winter. If the wood is too far gone, welding won’t help, and we’ll be straight with you about that before you spend money. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free assessment.
Sometimes. If it’s an older Linear, Viking, or DoorKing unit with corrosion on the board, the failure is almost always salt-driven moisture damage. If the board is salvageable, cleaning, resealing, and replacing the corroded terminals can buy you real time, and the repair is usually a few hundred dollars. If the motor itself has been breathing marine air for 15 years, replacement is usually the cheaper long-term answer. We’ll tell you which one you have, without a sales pitch. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll walk you through it.
Yes. Slide gate rollers on waterfront properties take a beating from salt air and the constant moisture. When the roller brackets corrode or the wheels seize, the gate sticks and the operator burns itself out trying to move it. We weld new roller brackets in place and install stainless rollers that survive the marine environment. The work is done on site, and the price is set before we start. Call (877) 610-2993 for an exact quote, and mention you’re in Des Moines so we can tell you about the saltwater-specific hardware options.
Why Salt Air Changes Everything for Gate Parts in Des Moines
Here’s what sets Des Moines apart from every city five miles inland: the Puget Sound marine layer never really leaves. It hangs over the waterfront neighborhoods, it works into the 98198 ZIP from the marina up to the bluff, and it deposits salt on every piece of exposed gate hardware, year-round, whether it’s raining or not. We’ve pulled hinge pins out of gates near Redondo Beach Drive that looked like they’d been sitting in a bucket of seawater. Bare steel components that would last ten years in Kent fail in three years here. That means material selection isn’t a preference in Des Moines; it’s the difference between a repair that holds and a repair you’re redoing in 2028. We use galvanized and powder-coated stainless hardware on every waterfront and bluff property, and we’ve learned which coatings actually survive this climate and which ones just look good in a catalog.
We rebuilt a sagging swing gate on a 1960s ranch near Woodmont Beach where the original steel hinge post had rusted through at the base from decades of marine air. Our crew cut out the failed post, set a new galvanized post in a deeper concrete footing, and replaced all hinges and the latch with powder-coated stainless hardware. The gate now swings true and latches securely even in winter rain, and the homeowner won’t be calling us back for salt-driven failures anytime soon. That’s the kind of repair that only makes sense in a place like Des Moines, and it’s the kind we’ve been doing here since 2001.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Des Moines and South King County since 2001.