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 Watauga
Gate parts and welding in Watauga usually comes down to one question: can this gate be saved, or is the footing underneath it finally done? Most of the time, the gate itself is fine. The post has heaved, the hinge has seized, or the weld has cracked at the rail. Our Gate Parts & Welding crew fixes those problems on site, in your driveway, without hauling your gate to a shop. We’ve worked Watauga’s cul-de-sacs and postage-stamp lots long enough to know what the clay does to a 40-year-old swing gate. Call (877) 610-2993 and Hal or one of his guys will answer live, any hour.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Watauga’s Preferred Gate Parts & Welding Company
Hal Gatewood started this shop in 2001, and his name is still on the door and on every invoice. That matters to the folks in Watauga who have been burned by a chain that sent a kid with a clipboard and a price sheet. We publish our address and license number. You can drive by the shop. You can look the person doing the work in the eye before he picks up a welder.
The work we do in Watauga gets done right the first time because we have seen what happens when it doesn’t. A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle, and that is where we start. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice. Every job carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it is not done right, one call brings Hal back. No runaround. No fine print.
We answer the phone with a live person 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not a voicemail, not a chain of menus. When your gate won’t latch at 7 a.m. and your dog is standing by the curb, that is the call you want to make.
Our Gate Parts & Welding Services in Watauga
Hinge Replacement
Watauga’s original wood gates from the 1970s and early 1980s were hung on strap hinges that were never meant to last 45 years. They corrode, they seize after freeze-thaw cycles, and eventually they tear the screws right out of the post. We cut the old hardware off, weld on new hinge barrels, and remount the panel with a sag correction kit so the latch actually catches. On a gate that swings open freely but won’t latch, the hinge is almost never the whole answer, but it is usually part of it.
Post Replacement
This is the repair we make most often across Watauga. The concrete collar poured around a 4×4 wood post in 1975 heaves out of grade as the Blackland Prairie clay expands and shrinks. The post tilts, the gate drags or swings loose, and no latch adjustment will hold. We dig the old footing, set a steel post through the clay, and pour new concrete deep enough to ride out the wet-dry cycles. Then we re-hang the original panel when it is still sound. You keep your gate. You lose the problem.
Rail Repair
Bottom rails rot where Watauga wood fences meet the grass and sprinkler overspray. The mortise joint at the hinge side fails first, and then the gate panel starts dragging at the latch side. We weld steel angle or strap across the bottom rail, or sister in a new treated rail and weld the bracket work so it will not split again. If the frame is too far gone, we will tell you straight and quote a rebuild. We would rather tell you the truth than sell you a patch that dies in two seasons.
Custom Welding
Some Watauga gates were built when the house was, on odd lot shapes or with a slope that was never graded flat. Off-the-shelf brackets do not fix those. Hal welds custom drop rods, latch strikes, frame reinforcements, and curved gate sections to match the original. The weld is done on site, so the gate stays in your driveway and gets fitted exactly to the post that is already there. We are not measuring from a catalog drawing. We are measuring from your fence.
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 Watauga
We work on the operators Watauga homes actually have, including FAAC pistons, BFT boards, Linear racks, and Viking swing arms. If the control board on a 1980s Linear unit is dead, we can usually retrofit a modern board with safety photocell wiring. If the FAAC piston is leaking, we replace the seal kit rather than the whole arm. We stock common parts for these four brands in the shop, so we are not waiting on a two-week freight order when your gate is stuck open. And we are certified to service nine major gate brands total, though the older FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking units are what we see most in this part of Tarrant County.
Common Gate Parts & Welding Problems We See in Watauga Homes
- Post heave that looks like a bad latch. The hinge-side concrete collar lifts an inch or more out of the clay, the gate swings open but will not close itself or catch. Replacing the latch does nothing. The post has to be re-set before any hardware work will hold.
- Obsolete control boards on legacy operators. Old LiftMaster, Linear, and Viking units from the 1980s die after heat stress in July and ice stress in February. Many Watauga panels pre-date UL 325 safety photocell wiring, so the retrofit means rewiring for photo eyes before the board will pass inspection. We handle both.
- Worn rack and pinion on slide gates. Clay-expansion cycles bind the original wood frame and chew the rack teeth until the operator trips its loop detector and refuses to move. We replace the rack, align the pinion, and re-weld the mounting tabs so the slide runs clean.
- Corroded strap hinges and rotted bottom rails. Freeze-thaw cycles seize the hardware, snap the rail, or tear hinge screws out of the post. On Watauga’s 1970s and 1980s gates, the bottom rail is usually the first thing to go. We weld a steel rail across the rot, or rebuild the frame if the decay has reached the hinge mortise.
Pricing for Gate Parts & Welding in Watauga, TX
A hinge replacement on a wood swing gate in Watauga typically runs $145 to $285, depending on whether we are re-welding the hinge barrels or swapping to new hardware. Post replacement runs $325 to $550 per post when the concrete collar has heaved and we are digging through clay. Bottom rail repair with welded steel angle usually lands between $180 and $320. Custom welding work, like drop rods, latch strikes, or frame plates, runs $95 to $240 per welded assembly. Every price is quoted and agreed before we touch a single bolt. The number we give you is the number on the invoice. We also take $40 off any repair over $200, there is no trip charge inside the county, and we will give you a free second opinion on any written estimate you have from another company. Hal answers the phone himself. You want a real price? He will give you one. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Watauga
Our Gate Parts & Welding in Watauga crews run daily across the north Tarrant County line. We are in North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Haltom City, and Hurst most days of the week. If you are just over the city boundary, the phone number is still (877) 610-2993 and the trip charge is still zero inside the county.
Serving Watauga, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Watauga 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 Watauga
Because the problem is almost never the latch. The hinge-side post has been heaved upward by the Blackland Prairie clay under your lot, and the gate frame no longer lines up with the strike. In Watauga we see the original 1970s concrete collars lifted a full inch or more out of grade. The post has to be re-set and the gate re-hung before any latch will catch. Call (877) 610-2993 and we will confirm it with a level, not a sales pitch.
Yes, in most cases. The older LiftMaster and Linear boards we see in Watauga pre-date UL 325 photocell wiring, but the motor and the gearbox are often still good. We can retrofit a modern control board, add the photo eye wiring, and bring the operator up to current safety code without tearing out the whole unit. We will tell you before we start whether the retrofit makes sense or whether replacement is the cheaper path. Estimates are free.
Look at the gap where the gate meets the latch post. If it changes through the year, wider after spring rains and tighter after a dry summer, the post is moving in the clay. If the gap is steady but the gate drags at the bottom, the hinges or the frame are the issue. In Watauga, both problems usually show up together. We can tell you which is the culprit before any work is quoted.
The rack teeth bind against the pinion, the operator pushes harder, and eventually the teeth start chewing off. The loop detector trips and the gate refuses to move. That is the most common slide-gate failure we see across Watauga’s older subdivisions. The fix is a new rack section, pinion alignment, and re-welded mounting tabs. Call (877) 610-2993 and we will quote it over the phone with real numbers.
Usually not. If the top rail and the pickets are sound and the post is still solid, we can weld a steel angle across the bottom rail, hang new hinge barrels, and remount the panel so it opens clean. You keep the gate you have. Only when the frame is rotted through at the hinge mortise and the post is heaving do we recommend a rebuild. And we will show you the rot before you spend a dollar. Estimates are free, quotes are written, and the price never changes at the door.
Give Hal a call at (877) 610-2993. You will get a live person, a straight answer, and an upfront price. If it is not done right, the 90-Day Done Right Promise means he comes back. That is the deal, in writing, every time.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Watauga and north Tarrant County since 2001.