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 Repair Across Holliston
Gate repair in Holliston usually comes down to one of three things: a post that’s heaved out of plumb, a hinge that’s been carrying too much weight for too long, or an operator that’s simply worn past its useful life. We fix all three in your driveway, and in most cases we can be there the same day you call (877) 610-2993. A live person answers, morning or night, and the estimate is free.
If you live near Lake Winthrop, Governors Pond, or anywhere in the 01746 zip code, you already know the soil here holds water like a sponge. That’s not a small detail. It’s the reason so many Holliston gates sag, scrape, and stop latching by April.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Holliston’s Preferred Gate Repair Company
Hal Gatewood has been fixing gates since 2001, and his name is on the shop. That’s not a slogan. It’s the oldest accountability there is. When you call about a gate in Holliston, you’re talking to someone who knows what frost depth does to a footing in Middlesex County clay, and who has probably driven past your street a hundred times.
Our Gate Repair team is small on purpose. Hal or one of his crew shows up, walks the gate with you, and tells you straight what needs fixing and what doesn’t. We don’t have a call center. We don’t have a dispatch queue. The person who answers the phone is the person who makes the decisions.
Holliston homeowners tend to call us after a national outfit has already quoted a full replacement for a gate that just needs a hinge post reset and a new board. We hear it weekly. Half the time the repair is under $400 and the gate runs fine for another decade. The 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on every invoice: if it’s not right, one call brings Hal back.
Our Gate Repair Services in Holliston
Hinge & Post Repair
A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle. That’s where we start. On older Holliston homes, the original posts were often set in 24 to 30 inches of concrete on clay. Frost goes down 36 to 48 inches here, so by late March the post has lifted, the gate has dropped, and the latch misses by half an inch. We dig the post, reset it on a 48-inch footing below frost depth, and your gate closes like it did the day it was hung.
Gate Realignment
If your gate scrapes the driveway or won’t stay latched, it’s usually not the gate. It’s the post. Realignment in Holliston almost always means correcting a post that has heaved during a freeze-thaw cycle, especially on lots near the town’s wetland conservation areas. We re-plumb the post, re-shim the hinges, and get the gate closing true without forcing it.
Electric Gate Repair
Older electric gates around Holliston are often running operators that were installed in the 1990s or early 2000s. Many of those control boards are no longer supported, and a lot of them lack the entrapment protection that UL 325 now requires. We carry boards and parts for FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, and others, and we’ll tell you honestly when a retrofit makes sense and when a new operator is the cheaper answer over five years.
Weld & Rust Repair
Forty-year-old ornamental iron gates on wooded Holliston lots rust from the inside out. We weld on site, right in your driveway, so the gate never leaves your property. We cut out the rusted section, weld in a new piece, grind it smooth, and prime it. No hauling, no “we’ll bring it back in a few weeks.”
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 Holliston
We service nine major gate brands, including LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. We stock common boards, receivers, photocells, and hinges for these systems so Holliston customers aren’t waiting on back-ordered parts from across the country. If your operator is obsolete and unsupported, we’ll show you what a modern equivalent costs, and we’ll quote it before any work starts.
Common Gate Repair Problems We See in Holliston Homes
- Heaved posts and sagging gates. Clay-heavy, moisture-retaining soils combined with New England frost depths of 36 to 48 inches push shallow footings up every winter. Gates that were plumb in November are scraping by late March.
- Hinge post rot on wooden gates. Many 1970s and 1980s gates were built with wooden posts set directly in soil or shallow concrete. Moisture from wetland-adjacent lots rots them from the bottom up.
- Obsolete operators without modern safety protection. Legacy gate openers often lack the photocells, edge sensors, and auto-reverse features that UL 325 requires. A retrofit is often possible, but we’ll be straight with you when it’s not worth the money.
- Rust and weld failure on ornamental iron. Long driveways with tree cover mean wet leaves and damp conditions against the metal for months at a time. Hinge plates and lower rails are usually the first to fail.
Pricing for Gate Repair in Holliston, MA
Here’s what you can expect to pay in Holliston. Hinge post reset with new concrete below frost depth typically runs $450 to $900 depending on post size and access. Gate realignment is usually $200 to $400 when no post replacement is needed. Electric gate operator replacement runs $1,100 to $2,800 depending on brand and whether you have a swing or slide gate. Control board replacement is typically $350 to $800. Weld repair on ornamental iron runs $250 to $700 depending on how much steel we’re replacing.
Every price is quoted and agreed before we touch the gate. No surprises at the end. The estimate is free, there’s no trip charge inside the county, and we take $40 off any repair over $200. Seniors and veterans get 10% off, permanently.
We Also Serve Cities Near Holliston
We handle gate work throughout the southwest MetroWest area. If you’re in Holliston, you’ll see us regularly on Highland Street, Washington Street, and the neighborhoods around Lake Winthrop. We also cover Medway, Ashland, Millis, and Framingham Center, and scheduling is coordinated from our Boston office.
Serving Holliston, MA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Holliston 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 Repair in Holliston
Because Holliston’s clay soils hold moisture, and that moisture expands when it freezes. Frost penetrates 36 to 48 inches deep here, and any post set shallower than that is going to lift a little every winter. The fix is a footing that reaches below frost depth, typically 48 inches, with proper drainage gravel at the base. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll dig it once and do it right.
Possibly. Any gate post replacement within 100 feet of a wetland resource area technically falls under Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act jurisdiction. That includes lots near Lake Winthrop and Governors Pond. In neighboring towns like Ashland, the same job might be a simple dig and reset. In Holliston, it can require a Conservation Commission filing. We flag this for you before we dig, so you don’t end up with a violation notice after the gate is fixed.
It depends on the operator. Some older FAAC, BFT, and Linear systems can be retrofitted with modern photocells, edge sensors, and auto-reverse controls. Many older control boards are no longer manufactured or supported. We’ll tell you what your options are, including the cost of retrofitting versus replacing, and you get a written quote before you commit. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free assessment.
Not usually. Most sagging wooden gates in Holliston are the result of a rotted or heaved hinge post, not a bad gate. We reset the post on a proper footing, replace the hinge hardware, and the gate typically clears the driveway again. If the gate panels themselves are rotted through, we’ll tell you that honestly and show you the cost difference between repair and replacement.
Forty-eight inches, minimum. That gets you below the frost line for this region. We also add drainage gravel at the base so water doesn’t pool against the concrete and re-create the same heave problem. On a wooded lot off Highland Street, we rebuilt a 35-year-old ornamental iron swing gate whose hinge post had rotted in shallow footing. We reset it on a 48-inch concrete footing, replaced the hinge bushings, and upgraded the obsolete control board to a modern LiftMaster operator with safety photocells and a loop detector. That gate isn’t moving.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Holliston and the MetroWest area since 2001.
Need gate repair in Holliston? Call (877) 610-2993 now for a free estimate, or drive to the shop and look Hal in the eye. The name is on the invoice, and the shop is down the road.