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 Dunbar
When a gate post shifts an inch out of plumb or a hinge tears loose, you need someone who understands why it happened on your street, not just a catalog of parts. We fix what other companies want to replace, and we weld it right there in your driveway. Our Gate Parts & Welding crew serves every corner of the 25064 ZIP, from the river-adjacent streets off the Kanawha corridor up to the higher bench lots near Dunbar Middle School. Call (877) 610-2993 and you’ll get Hal or one of his crew on the line, not a recording.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Dunbar’s Preferred Gate Parts & Welding Company
Hal Gatewood started this shop in 2001, and his name is still on the door and every invoice. Dunbar homeowners have been calling us for years because we fix the problem in place instead of hauling the gate off and selling you a new one. In Dunbar, that matters more than in most towns: the silt and clay here wreck hinges and post footings in ways that only show up after a spring flood or a hard winter freeze. We’ve seen it on Mahone Avenue, along 10th Street, and out toward the ballfields off 12th Street Road.
Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something isn’t right, one call brings us back. No runaround. We answer the phone with a live person 24 hours a day, and we show up when we say we will. The person who answers is the person who fixes it, or works beside the one who does.
We know Dunbar’s gates: the 1950s chain-link fencing around post-war ranch homes, the original wrought-iron gates that have hung on Cape Cods since the Eisenhower years, and the wide farm gates out where the lots open up beyond the city limits. Our Gate Parts & Welding team stocks the hardware for all of it, so we aren’t waiting a week on a part from somewhere else.
Our Gate Parts & Welding Services in Dunbar
In Dunbar, we don’t start with a parts list. We start with why the gate failed. That’s the difference between a fix that lasts and one that quits after the next hard rain. The four services below cover most of what we do here, week in and week out.
Hinge Replacement
River-bottom humidity and industrial air particles eat galvanized hinges fast in Dunbar. By the time a hinge creaks, it’s usually rusted halfway through the pin. We cut the old hinge off with a grinder, weld a heavier replacement in place, and set the gate so it swings clean instead of dragging by the latch side. A hinge swap on a typical 5-foot walk gate in Dunbar runs $145-$260, including the hardware and the weld cleanup.
Post Replacement
This is the one we see most in the 25064 ZIP. The original footings on Dunbar’s 50-to-70-year-old gates were poured undersized, and the valley’s expansive clay heaves them every freeze-thaw cycle. Then spring floodwater wicks silt into the base and makes it worse. We cut out the old concrete, dig deeper, add compacted gravel for drainage, and set a new post in place. A standard post reset in Dunbar runs $320-$580 depending on depth and whether we’re pouring around an existing panel or starting fresh.
Rail Repair
Sagging rails bend and crack, and on older Dunbar ranch homes the top rail is often welded to the post with 1960s stick welds that have finally given out. We straighten what can be straightened, cut and sleeve what can’t, and re-weld everything so the gate hangs square. Most rail repairs in Dunbar run $180-$340 per section.
Custom Welding
Some jobs don’t come from a catalog. We’ve built custom gate frames for odd-width openings, extended panels when a driveway was widened, and fabricated replacement hinges when the original hardware was discontinued 30 years ago. Hal welds on site, so your gate never leaves your property. Shop-rate welding in Dunbar averages $90-$120 per hour plus materials, and we quote the full number before we strike an arc.
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 Dunbar
We’re certified on nine major gate opener brands, and in Dunbar we work on Linear, DoorKing, and Ghost Controls systems more than anything else. Those three show up constantly on the automatic gates around Dunbar’s older subdivisions and the wider properties out toward the Kanawha Turnpike. We keep common replacement boards, limit switches, and battery harnesses for these brands on the truck, which usually means we fix the opener the first trip out instead of telling you to wait on a shipment. That’s a real advantage in this town, where a downed gate can leave a long driveway open to the road.
Common Gate Parts & Welding Problems We See in Dunbar Homes
- Spring sagging that comes back every year. The Kanawha River floods leave silt packed into post bases, and as the clay dries it heaves. A gate that was plumb in October can bind at the latch by Memorial Day. Tightening hinge bolts won’t fix it. The post has moved, and the footing needs reset.
- Rusted latch and hinge mechanisms after high water. Flood-deposited silt packs into every moving part. We see latches so full of grit they won’t catch, and hinges so scored they grind like a millstone. Replacing the hardware is the long-term answer.
- Premature rust on iron and steel hardware. Dunbar sits in a low valley that traps humidity and industrial particulates. Exposed gate hinges and rollers here oxidize noticeably faster than the same parts would in Cross Lanes or higher-elevation neighborhoods. We use heavier coatings and stainless pins where it makes sense.
- Wide gates with undersized operators. Farm gates and double swings out past the city edge often have openers that were sized for a light suburban panel. When the gate is heavy and the wind comes off the river, the opener burns out in a few seasons. We size the operator for the actual load, not the original spec.
Pricing for Gate Parts & Welding in Dunbar, WV
In Dunbar, expect hinge replacement to run $145-$260, rail repair $180-$340, and a full post reset with new concrete and gravel drainage $320-$580. Custom welding is billed at $90-$120 per hour plus materials, and we provide a written line-item price before any work begins.
What moves the number: post depth, whether we’re matching existing steel or bringing in new, and how much cutting the old welds requires. What doesn’t move it: the number we quote. Price is agreed before the first cut, and that’s what you pay. We also offer $40 off any repair over $200, no trip charge inside Kanawha County, a free second opinion on any written estimate, and a standing 10% discount for seniors and veterans. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Dunbar
Our Dunbar service area covers the whole 25064 ZIP, and the crew regularly works just over the line in South Charleston, Cross Lanes, Saint Albans, and Nitro. If your gate is on a river lot or an older post-war parcel anywhere in that stretch, we know the ground and we know what it does to steel. Same local crew, same 90-Day Done Right Promise.
Serving Dunbar, WV - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Dunbar 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 Dunbar
The post is moving, not the hinges. Dunbar’s clay soil heaves during winter freeze-thaw cycles, and spring floodwater wicks silt into the old concrete footings. The footing shifts, the post tilts, and the gate sags at the latch side. Tightening hinge bolts can’t pull a tilting post back to plumb. The permanent fix is a post reset with a deeper footing and gravel drainage. We do this constantly in the 25064 ZIP, and we quote the reset before we dig. Call (877) 610-2993 to schedule a look.
Yes. Solar operators are practical on the wider properties out toward the Kanawha Turnpike and along the county roads beyond Dunbar’s city edge, where running conduit to the gate would cost thousands. We size the panel to the operator and the number of daily cycles, install a battery bank that holds through cloudy stretches, and frame the whole thing so livestock and brush don’t take it out. Ghost Controls and Linear both make solar-capable openers we install regularly. The operator and hardware for a wide farm gate in Dunbar typically run $1,200-$2,800 installed, depending on gate weight and panel count.
The first step is cleaning the track and inspecting the rollers. Dunbar’s silt and grit pack into slide-gate tracks after every heavy rain, and once the rollers start skidding instead of rolling, the gate jerks and the track wears uneven. If the rollers are scored or the bearings are shot, we replace them and re-set the track level before it chews itself further. On a cantilever gate, the problem is usually the roller carriage welded to the frame, which we also repair in place. A typical track cleanup and roller replacement in Dunbar runs $260-$480.
Silt and moisture are the usual culprits here. Floodwater and heavy rain push fine sediment into the photocell housings, and the river valley’s humidity fogs the lenses. When the beam gets weak or the reflector gets filmed over, the opener reads it as an obstruction and reverses. We clean or replace the sensors, re-aim the beam, and reseal the housing so the next high water doesn’t do it again. We also check the operator’s force settings while we’re there, since a post that has shifted even slightly will make the gate drag and trigger the safety stop.
Repair it. Unless the steel is rotted through in multiple places, we can cut out the bad sections, weld in matching stock, and re-hang it so it looks and works like it did when the house was built. Those old Dunbar gates were usually hand-welded, and the steel is often thicker than what you’d buy off a rack today. Hal has been fixing gates since 2001 precisely because he’d rather save a good gate than sell you a new one you didn’t need. We’ll tell you honestly if replacement is the better call, but in this town, repair is usually the answer.
Call for Gate Parts & Welding in Dunbar
If your gate is sagging, grinding, or refusing to latch, call (877) 610-2993. We’ll give you a straight answer over the phone and a written price before we start. Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise is on every job. The next flood season comes around fast in Dunbar. A gate that’s plumb now is one you won’t be thinking about in June.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Dunbar since 2001.