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 Fairfax
Gate repair in Fairfax usually comes down to the parts most companies don’t want to touch: a rotted hinge post, a snapped weld on an old steel frame, a 30-year-old operator that’s finally quit. We fix those. Gatewood Fence & Gate has been repairing gates since 2001, and we do the welding on site in your driveway, not in some shop two towns over. If you live in Fairfax and your gate is sagging, dragging, or won’t open, call (877) 610-2993 and a live person picks up. Not a voicemail, not a call center. Someone who knows Marin gates.
Fairfax is its own animal. The canyon holds fog, the bay laurels drop acidic leaves, and half the gates in town were hung before modern safety rules existed. We know exactly what that does to posts, hinges, and openers. More on that below.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Fairfax’s Preferred Gate Parts & Welding Company
Hal Gatewood started this company in 2001, and his name is still on the shop. That matters more than it sounds like it does. When you call about a gate dragging on a hillside lot above downtown Fairfax, you’re talking to the person who will show up. The address is published, the license is verifiable, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise is printed on every invoice. If something isn’t right, one call brings us back. No runaround.
We answer the phone 24/7. A live person, every time. For Fairfax residents off Bolinas Road, up in the Deer Park area, or down near the flats around Broadway, that means you can get a straight answer about your gate at eight in the morning or eight at night. We also show up when we say we will. Seniors and veterans get a permanent 10% discount, and any repair over $200 takes $40 off. Those aren’t haggling points. They’re just how we work.
We don’t replace what can be fixed. That’s the core of how this company runs. Other shops will tell you a sagging wooden gate needs to be hauled off and swapped for new. Hal will show you that the gate is fine; the hinge post rotted out at the base. Fixing the post keeps your original Craftsman-era gate face, stays cheaper, and lasts longer than a cheap replacement that’ll sag again in three years. That repair-first approach is why Fairfax homeowners keep our number.
Our Gate Parts & Welding Services in Fairfax
Here’s what we actually do for Gate Installation - Fairfax and repair on local properties, from narrow cottage driveways off Sir Francis Drake to steep lanes in the hills above town.
Hinge Replacement
On Fairfax hillside lots, a hinge does more than carry the gate’s weight. It compensates for slope, and when the soil shifts, the hinge takes the abuse. We carry heavy-duty slope-compensating hinges and strap hinges sized for the original redwood gates still swinging on dozens of Fairfax homes built in the 1920s through the 1960s. If your gate drags on the uphill side, the hinge is usually half the story. The other half is the post, and we’ll level both.
Post Replacement
This is the single most common repair we do in Fairfax, and the local reason is specific: bay laurel trees shed acidic, tannin-rich leaves year-round, and those leaves pile up at post bases. The tannins leach into the wood and rot it black at ground level even when the post above looks fine. We see it on nearly every wooden gate call in Fairfax. A typical post replacement here runs $340-$680, depending on post size, concrete footing work, and how much of the original gate we need to re-hang. We set pressure-treated or steel-reinforced posts above grade where drainage is poor, so the next few decades go better than the last few.
Rail Repair
Bottom rails on wooden gates in Fairfax rot fast. The fog holds moisture against the wood, and the duff under the gate keeps it damp. When a bottom rail goes, the gate starts to rack and the latch stops lining up. We replace rails, add diagonal bracing when the frame’s gone weak, and weld steel corner brackets onto metal gates where the rail has cracked. Rail repair usually runs $180-$420, and it’s often the difference between keeping your existing gate and paying for a full replacement you didn’t need.
Custom Welding
Some gates were never sold in a catalog. A hand-built steel gate on a Fairfax cottage, a scrolled iron gate on a mid-century rancher, a cattle-style pipe gate on a rural lot back off the main road. We weld on site, which means your gate stays attached to your driveway while it’s repaired. Custom welding work typically runs $220-$550 for a standard break or bracket repair, more for extensive fabrication. Hal’s been welding since before this company existed, and the welds are cleaner than most shop work we’ve had to redo.
Trusted Brands We Service in Fairfax
Older Fairfax gates often run on equipment that newer techs won’t touch. We service Fairfax Gate Motor & Opener units like Linear and DoorKing operators regularly, and we see plenty of Viking and Ghost Controls on newer installs around town. When a 1990s control board dies, we can source a replacement or retrofit the operator with a modern board that keeps the existing motor. We stock common boards, remotes, photo-eyes, and safety edges for same-week turnaround on most Fairfax service calls. If we don’t have it in the truck, we know exactly which supplier in Marin gets it to us fastest.
Common Gate Parts & Welding Problems We See in Fairfax Homes
- Rotted hinge posts on original wooden gates. Fairfax is full of Craftsman bungalows and small cottages from the 1920s through the 1960s, and many still have their original redwood gates and posts. Decades of bay laurel duff piled at the base rots the post from the bottom up, and the gate starts leaning and dragging on the driveway.
- Obsolete gate operators without entrapment protection. Gates hung in the 1980s and 90s often run on DoorKing or Linear openers that don’t meet UL 325 safety standards because they lack photo-eyes. We can retrofit safety sensors and keypad entry without pulling out the whole operator.
- Seasonal sag on hillside lots. Fairfax’s soft, root-riddled hillside soil shifts through wet winters and dry summers. Swing gates that were level in October start dragging by February. We do seasonal re-leveling, which means adjusting hinges and re-seating posts rather than letting the gate destroy itself against the pavement.
- Rust and corrosion on steel gates and frames. The fog that funnels through Fairfax Canyon keeps metal damp for long stretches. Steel gates, especially where powder coating has chipped, corrode faster here than in neighboring towns with more open air. We grind, weld, prime, and repaint those spots before they become structural failures.
Pricing for Gate Parts & Welding in Fairfax, CA
Fairfax pricing for gate work runs a little higher than the East Bay but stays reasonable for Marin. Hinge repair or replacement runs roughly $160-$380. Post replacement, which is the big one here, runs $340-$680 for a standard 4×4 or 6×6 wood post with concrete footing. Rail repairs land between $180 and $420. Custom welding starts around $220 and goes up based on steel thickness and access. A full operator retro-fit with new board and safety edges on an older linear or DoorKing unit typically runs $450-$900. Every quote is agreed before we start. The price Hal gives you is the price on the invoice. Estimates are free, and we offer a free second opinion on any written estimate you’ve received from another company. Call (877) 610-2993 for exact numbers on your gate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Fairfax
Our Fairfax customers send us a few minutes up the road to San Anselmo, and we’re regularly out in San Rafael, Kentfield, and Lucas Valley-Marinwood too. Marin is a small place when you’ve been working it as long as we have. If you’re one town over and your gate’s dragging on a hillside lot, the phone number is the same: (877) 610-2993.
Serving Fairfax, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Fairfax 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 Fairfax
The bay laurel canopy does it. Fairfax sits in a narrow, heavily wooded valley where dense bay laurel, coast redwood, and oak hold fog moisture close to the ground. Bay laurel leaves are loaded with tannins, and they drop continuously onto gate post bases. The tannic leachate blackens and degrades the wood at ground level even when the post above looks structurally sound. That’s a failure pattern we see on nearly every wooden gate call in Fairfax and far less often just over the hill in drier, less-forested San Anselmo. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll assess your posts before the gate drops.
In most cases, yes, with retrofitting. Older Linear and DoorKing operators from that era don’t meet current UL 325 entrapment protection standards because they lack photo-eyes or a properly functioning safety edge. We can add Gate Access Control in Fairfax like photo-eyes, a new control board, and a keypad entry system to an existing operator, which brings it up to current safety standards without replacing the motor and gearbox. If the board is dead from moisture corrosion, a retrofit is often half the cost of a full replacement. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you straight what your opener needs.
Almost always. The sag usually traces back to the hinge post, not the gate itself. On Fairfax hillside lots, shifting soil and years of bay laurel rot at the post base throw the gate out of level. We replace the post with a pressure-treated footing set above grade, install slope-compensating hinges, and re-level the gate. The original gate face stays. That job typically runs $340-$680, far less than a new gate. Call (877) 610-2993 for an exact look at your driveway.
Yes, and that’s the kind of work we take genuine satisfaction in. Fairfax has a lot of original redwood gates from the 1920s through the 1960s that are now visibly weathered and sagging. If the frame is mostly sound, we’ll replace the rotted post, repair the bottom rail, re-hang the hinges, and keep the period gate face. If the stiles are crumbling or the frame’s racked beyond repair, we’ll tell you that too and show you why. We won’t sell you a replacement you don’t need. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll give you an honest read.
We service Linear, DoorKing, Viking, Ghost Controls, FAAC, BFT, LiftMaster, Elite, and Mighty Mule. On older Fairfax properties, we see a lot of 1980s and 90s Linear and DoorKing boards that are still running but missing modern safety features. We stock or can quickly source boards, remotes, photo-eyes, and safety edges for all of those brands. Call (877) 610-2993 with your operator’s brand and model, and we’ll tell you what’s serviceable before we even schedule the truck.
The Fairfax Gate Reality: Why Repairs Happen So Often Here
Fairfax is a narrow, heavily wooded valley. The coastal fog rolls in mornings and evenings, the dense bay laurel and oak canopy traps it close to the ground, and wooden gate components rarely dry out fully between wet cycles. The result is post-base rot and bottom-rail rot as the dominant failure modes across town. But the local thing, the detail that makes Fairfax different, is the bay laurel. Almost every residential lot has one, and those trees shed acidic, tannin-rich leaves that pile up at gate post bases. The tannins don’t just stain the wood dark. They actively degrade the lignin, turning solid redwood into black punk at ground level. We see gates that look perfectly sound from above and are rotted through where it counts.
That’s the local condition of Fairfax. Now add the hills. A large share of Fairfax gates sit on sloped grades, where soft, root-riddled soil shifts through wet winters and dry summers. That seasonal movement throws swing gates out of level and forces hinge and post re-alignment much more often than on flat streets near downtown. Our Gate Parts & Welding in Fairfax work starts with understanding those two things: the tannins and the slope. Everything else follows from there.
A Fairfax Gate Repair, From Up Close
On a steep, laurel-lined lane in the hills above downtown, we pulled a 1960s redwood swing gate whose hinge post had rotted to black punk at the base from decades of trapped leaf tannins. The original gate operator was an obsolete DoorKing that no longer met UL 325 without a safety photocell. We replaced the post with a pressure-treated footing set above grade, corrected the sag with a new hinge post bracket, and retrofitted the old opener with photo-eyes and a keypad entry. The client kept their period gate face, the system became safe and level again, and the whole job cost about a third of what a replacement gate and operator would have run. That’s the work we’re proud of.
When a gate sags in Fairfax, it sags in the hinge post, not in the middle. That’s where we start. Not with a quote for a new gate, not with a sales pitch. With the post. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice. Show us the gate closing on its own and we’ll show you where it’s failing. It’s not complicated. It’s just that most companies never learned it, or they did and they’d rather sell you the new gate anyway.
Call Gatewood Fence & Gate for Gate Parts & Welding in Fairfax
You can look up our license, drive by the shop, and ask around at the Fairfax hardware store. Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop and on every invoice. We’ve been doing this since 2001, and we’re still answering the phone ourselves. If your Fairfax gate is sagging, dragging, dead at the opener, or rotted at the post, call (877) 610-2993. You’ll get a free estimate, an honest answer about what needs fixing, and a written price before we start. No trip charge inside the county. And if something isn’t right when we’re finished, the 90-Day Done Right Promise means we come back and make it right. That’s in writing. That’s the deal.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Fairfax since 2001.