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 Lomita
Gate repair in Lomita runs $180 to $680 for most hinge, post, and weld work, with full automation retrofits landing between $1,400 and $3,200 depending on the concrete work involved. That’s the honest range, and we’ll quote your exact number before any work starts. If your gate is dragging, leaning, or the operator has given up, call us at (877) 610-2993 and Hal or one of the crew will walk you through what’s likely wrong before we even roll up.
We work Lomita every week, from the bungalow blocks off Lomita Boulevard up to the 90717 hills and down toward the 110 corridor. We know these gates because we’ve been opening them, cutting them, welding them, and rebuilding them since 2001. Most calls in Lomita come down to two things: salt air eating hardware faster than anyone expected, and mid-century gates that were never built for modern automation. We fix both.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Lomita’s Preferred Gate Repair Company
Hal Gatewood started this shop in 2001, and his name has been on it ever since. That matters in a small city like Lomita, where a two-square-mile footprint means the person who fixes your gate is probably going to run into you at the post office on Narbonne Avenue a month later. We don’t hide behind a brand. The license number is published, the address is public, and if you want to drive over and look Hal in the eye before you hire us, he’ll shake your hand and show you the welds himself.
Lomita customers call us because we answer the phone with a live person at 2 a.m. the same way we do at noon. No voicemail, no queue, no call center three states away. When a gate fails in Lomita, it’s usually a security problem, not just a convenience problem. A driveway gate that won’t close leaves your property open to the street. We treat it that way.
Every job we do, from a hinge pin replacement to a full automation retrofit, carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. Not a verbal promise, not fine print. If something’s not right within 90 days, one call brings Hal back. That’s it.
Our Gate Repair Services in Lomita
Hinge & Post Repair
In Lomita, hinge and post work is the core of what we do. The salt-laden marine air off San Pedro Bay pits uncoated hinge pins and strike plates on original 1950s and 60s wrought iron gates, causing them to seize or snap within 3 to 5 years instead of the 15 to 20 you’d get inland. We cut out rotted post bases, pour new footings where needed, and hang the gate on stainless or galvanized hardware that’s actually spec’d for coastal exposure. A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle, and that’s where we start.
Weld & Rust Repair
Galvanized steel frames fail exactly at the weld joints, because that’s where the zinc coating got burned off during fabrication. On a Lomita gate, that means rust-through in less than a decade, hidden under flaking paint until the hinge post is structurally unsound. We grind back to clean steel, weld on site so the gate never leaves your driveway, and then seal and coat with marine-grade product that actually holds up within a few miles of salt water. This is the work that separates a repair that lasts from one you’ll pay for again in three years.
Gate Realignment
A gate that drags on the concrete or won’t latch usually isn’t bent. It’s a post that’s drifted, a hinge that’s worn oval, or a concrete apron that’s settled. In Lomita’s older neighborhoods, where driveways were poured for 1950s cars, we see this constantly. We re-square the gate, replace the hinge pins, and shim or repour the post base so the gate swings clean and latches without a fight. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
Electric & Automatic Gate Repair
Lomita’s original gates are almost universally hung at 8 to 9 feet wide, sized for mid-century cars, not today’s SUVs. When an automation retrofit fails, it’s rarely the operator itself. It’s the post footing giving way, or the rack and pinion mount twisting off rotted steel because nobody addressed the structure underneath. We service LiftMaster, FAAC, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, BFT, and Elite operators. Before we recommend any automation, we check whether your gate and posts can actually carry it. Show me the gate closing on its own and I’ll show you where it’s failing.
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 Lomita
We’re certified on nine major gate brands, and the ones we see most on Lomita driveway gates are LiftMaster, Viking, Ghost Controls, and DoorKing. Because Lomita’s marine layer is hardest on control boards, wiring connections, and limit switches, we stock the replacement parts our local customers actually need rather than ordering everything from a warehouse two days out. If you have a Viking operator that’s dead at the keypad or a DoorKing that won’t hold its limit settings, we can usually diagnose it on the first visit and get you running. The Gate Repair team keeps it straight: fix the part that failed, not the parts next to it.
Common Gate Repair Problems We See in Lomita Homes
- Hinge pins seized from salt air. Uncoated steel pins on 1950s-60s wrought iron gates pit and lock up within a few years in Lomita’s marine layer. The gate starts squealing, then the pin snaps. We replace with stainless and the problem stays gone.
- Post bases rotted below grade. Original iron posts set in concrete without any drainage rust through at the soil line. The gate leans, drags, and eventually breaks the post free. We saw this exact failure on a 1950s bungalow side yard near Lomita Boulevard: the hinge post had corroded through at the base, and the 9-foot driveway was too narrow for any modern operator until we cut a new footing and set a stainless post.
- Automation retrofits that fail at the footing. Narrow mid-century driveways leave no level pad space for a slide gate’s rack and pinion or a swing gate’s operator arm. The operator mounts fine for a season, then the post shifts and the whole thing tears out. If you’re automating an original Lomita gate, plan for concrete work first.
- Weld joints rusting through galvanized steel. Wherever the zinc burned off at fabrication, the steel underneath rusts fast. It’s hidden under paint until it cracks. We grind, weld on site, and recoat with marine-grade product so the repair outlasts the original.
Pricing for Gate Repair in Lomita, CA
Here’s what we quote in Lomita right now, and these are honest numbers:
- Hinge pin replacement on a standard swing gate: $180-$260
- Post straightening and re-setting in concrete: $350-$680
- Weld repair plus rust grinding and recoat on site: $240-$450 per section
- Full automation retrofit including post and concrete work: $1,400-$3,200
- Sliding gate rack replacement or track repair: $400-$850
What pushes a job to the top of the range in Lomita is almost always concrete. The original aprons weren’t poured for anything but a manually swung gate, so adding an operator often means cutting and extending the pad, which is real labor and real materials. What pushes it down is whether the posts are still square and the hinge hardware is salvageable. Every job gets a written quote agreed before we start. There’s no trip charge inside the county, and there’s $40 off any repair over $200 if you mention it when you call. Seniors and veterans get 10% off permanently, no haggling.
We Also Serve Cities Near Lomita
We keep crews working throughout the South Bay, so if you’re just over the line in Torrance, Rolling Hills Estates, San Pedro, or West Carson, the same live-answer phone and 90-Day Done Right Promise apply. Everything you’ve read here about Gate Repair in Lomita holds for the surrounding blocks too, and Hal’s crew is never far.
Serving Lomita, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Lomita 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 Lomita
Lomita sits roughly 3 to 4 miles from San Pedro Bay and the Port of Los Angeles, close enough that persistent salt-laden marine air settles on gate hardware with every overnight marine layer. Hinge pins and strike plates go years faster here than in inland South Bay cities. We spec stainless hardware and marine-grade coatings on every Lomita repair for exactly that reason. Call (877) 610-2993 for a quote, and we’ll tell you straight whether your existing hardware is worth saving.
The short answer is usually no, not without concrete work. Lomita’s original gates are hung at 8 to 9 feet wide, and a modern swing-arm operator needs a level pad and a structurally sound post to mount to. We can often work with a 9-foot opening if the post is replaced and the apron is extended or regraded, but the operator is never the first thing we talk about. The first thing is whether the gate frame and post can carry the load. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll come measure it and give you a written number.
Almost never. The noise and the drag come from the hinge post shifting or the hinge pins wearing oval, not from a bent panel. In Lomita, it’s usually corrosion at the post base that’s let the whole assembly drift out of square. We re-square the gate, replace the pins, and reset the post if needed. A gate drags from the bottom, and the bottom starts at the post. Call (877) 610-2993 for an inspection.
In Lomita, this almost always comes back to the operator’s control board or limit switch contacts, both of which corrode in marine air faster than you’d believe. When the loop and keypad send the command but the motor won’t respond or stops halfway, the board is failing. We carry replacement boards for LiftMaster, Viking, Ghost Controls, and DoorKing on the truck. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll diagnose it while you watch.
Re-welding without addressing the corrosion is the reason it cracked the first time. On galvanized Lomita gates, the original weld burned off the zinc and rust started underneath. We grind back to clean steel, weld on site, then seal and recoat so the repair actually holds in salt air. Every weld we do is covered by the 90-Day Done Right Promise. Call (877) 610-2993 for a written quote before you pay anyone else to patch it.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, repairing gates in Lomita and the South Bay since 2001.