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 Los Altos
When a gate post leans or a weld fails in Los Altos, you need someone who sees the problem and fixes it the same visit. We’re Gatewood Fence & Gate, and our Gate Parts & Welding crew heads to Los Altos weekly for hinge replacements, sag corrections, post footing work, and custom fabrication. Most calls in the 94022, 94023, and 94024 ZIP codes get same-week service, and Hal Gatewood stays on the job until it actually works. Call (877) 610-2993 and you’ll get a live person, not a recording.
Los Altos is a particular place to work on gates. The soils move, the lots are tight, and the estates being rebuilt here aren’t putting in light gates. We know that before we even show up. That’s the difference.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Los Altos’s Preferred Gate Parts & Welding Company
Hal Gatewood started this shop in 2001 and never turned it into a franchise. The name is on the truck, the invoice, and the warranty. Los Altos homeowners call us because they can verify who they’re hiring, and they’ll see the same person twice. We don’t hide behind a dispatch queue.
The work we see here is heavier than most of the Peninsula. The teardown-rebuild wave across Los Altos has put oversized ornamental steel gates on properties that once had a simple wood swing gate. Those new gates are gorgeous. They’re also usually heavier than the operator, the hinges, and the footing were planned for. That’s not a knock on the builders. It’s just what we see on nearly every estate gate repair call now.
We’re certified to service Viking, FAAC, BFT, Linear, and other major operator brands, and we stock the common parts on the truck so a repair doesn’t turn into two visits. Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not right, one call brings us back. No runaround.
Our Gate Parts & Welding Services in Los Altos
Hinge Replacement
Hinge replacement in Los Altos usually isn’t just swapping a worn barrel hinge. On custom steel estate gates, we cut out the failed hinge, weld in a matched replacement, and re-hang the gate so it swings true. If the gate weighs more than the hinge was rated for, we’ll tell you and quote a heavier hinge rather than putting the same wrong part back in. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
Post Replacement
This is the service Los Altos calls us about more than anywhere else. The clay soils here heave in the winter and shrink in the summer, and a gate post set on an undersized footing will lean within a season or two. The original footing is often only 12 inches deep, which was fine for a 1960s wood gate and completely wrong for a 400-pound steel replacement. We cut out the old post, recast the footing to match the new gate’s mass, set the post, and re-hang the gate. On-site welding means your gate stays in your driveway, not hauled to some shop in another town.
Rail Repair
A sagging gate usually isn’t sagging in the middle. A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle, and that is where we start. We straighten or replace bent rails, repair cracked welds at the stiles, and then address the post that caused the problem. Otherwise you’re paying for a repair that lasts one season.
Custom Welding
Rebuilt Los Altos estates often need custom work: a wider gate to match a new driveway, a steel inlay to match the front door, a bracket for a smart-home sensor. We weld on site, with the gate in place, so the fit is exact. If you can draw it or describe it, we can usually build it in the driveway the same day.
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 Los Altos
We service and stock parts for Viking, FAAC, BFT, and Linear operators across Los Altos, plus DoorKing, LiftMaster, Elite, and Ghost Controls. When a Viking operator on an El Monte Road estate is straining against a new steel gate, we can usually pull the right gear, arm, or safety component from the truck and finish in one trip. That matters when you’re paying by the day and your gate guards the whole property.
Common Gate Parts & Welding Problems We See in Los Altos Homes
- Leaning posts after the fall rains. Los Altos clay expands when wet, and a post set on a shallow footing will lean fast. We don’t just straighten it and shim it. We recast the footing. Otherwise the same gate comes back in the spring.
- Root-cracked slide track pads on the east side. Mature coast live oaks send roots under slide-gate tracks, lifting the concrete and throwing the track out of alignment. You fix this by repairing the track and coordinating with an arborist, not by welding over the crack and hoping.
- Operators stripped by a heavier replacement gate. A teardown rebuild often swaps a wooden gate for ornamental steel, but the operator sometimes isn’t upsized. We’ll check gear wear, motor load, and photocell faults before recommending whether you need a bigger operator or just a proper gear replacement.
- Custom steel gates with mismatched hinges. The hinge post, the hinges, and the operator all need to agree on how much gate they’re carrying. We size all three together so one part isn’t carrying the whole load.
Pricing for Gate Parts & Welding in Los Altos, CA
A typical hinge replacement in Los Altos runs $280 to $520. Post replacement with a recast footing runs $850 to $2,200 depending on depth, gate weight, and soil conditions. Rail repair for a sagging steel gate runs $320 to $650. Custom welding work, like adding a bracket or repairing a cracked stile, runs $180 to $450 per weld point. Those are the honest ranges we see across 94022, 94023, and 94024.
What moves the cost is the footing depth, the gate weight, and how much cutting and grinding we have to do. You get the exact price in writing before we start. There’s no trip charge inside the county, and seniors and veterans get 10% off permanently. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate and we’ll measure, quote, and schedule.
We Also Serve Cities Near Los Altos
Our crew runs the same routes into Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Stanford, and Sunnyvale. If you’re near Foothill Expressway or Edgewood Road and wondering if we cover your street, call and ask. We’re familiar with all of them. Los Altos is one of the main cities we work in, but the whole stretch of the valley is our territory.
Serving Los Altos, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Altos 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 Los Altos
The clay soil under your footing is swelling with moisture, and if the footing is too shallow for the gate’s weight, the whole post heaves and tilts. We see it constantly on properties where a heavy steel gate was set on a footing sized for a much lighter wood gate. The fix is post replacement with a properly sized footing, not a shim or a realignment. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll dig it out and do it right.
Yes. We weld custom steel gates on site from your drawing or a photo of what you want. Most Los Altos estate gates are fabricated to match existing fencing, driveway curves, and landscaping. Bring us the design and we’ll quote the material and welding time before we start.
Call us first and we’ll assess the track damage. If the concrete pad is lifted, we’ll pull the track, repair or replace the pad, and weld and true the rail sections. If the root is still moving the pad, you’ll need an arborist to cut the root before we set the new track. We can coordinate that with them so you aren’t making calls back and forth.
Usually yes. The old operator was sized for a light wood gate, so the gears are now overloaded every time the gate cycles. We’ll inspect the gear train, motor load, and safety circuits, then either rebuild the operator or quote a properly sized replacement. Sometimes a Viking or BFT operator just needs the right gears and current sensing adjusted. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you which path makes sense.
Yes. Every welded gate repair in Los Altos includes checking and resetting the safety photocells, loop detectors, and obstruction settings. On estate properties where the gate integrates with Control4 or Lutron, we’ll also verify the operator’s dry contact signals are still talking to the smart-home system. If the gate doesn’t stop when it should, the gate isn’t done.
Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate on any gate parts or welding job in Los Altos. You’ll get a live person, an honest price, and the work done right. If it’s not done right, the 90-Day Done Right Promise says we come back and make it so.
Written by Hal Gatewood, owner of Gatewood Fence & Gate, building and fixing gates since 2001.