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 Pacifica
Gate repair in Pacifica usually costs between $180 and $900 depending on what’s failed, and most hinge, latch, and weld repairs can be done in a single visit. The bigger variable here isn’t labor, it’s what the salt air has already done to the metal. If your gate sags, binds, or won’t stay closed, call us at (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you over the phone whether it sounds like a hinge job or a post job, then quote it in writing before we start. Hal Gatewood has been fixing gates since 2001, and his crew knows which neighborhoods in Pacifica eat hardware fastest.
You’re not calling a call center. You’re calling a guy whose name is on the shop, and the person who answers won’t put you on hold to go find a script.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Pacifica’s Preferred Gate Repair Company
Most of our Pacifica work comes from referrals. A neighbor in Sharp Park calls because their west-facing gate rusted through at the hinges, we fix it with hot-dip galvanized hardware, and then their neighbor down the slope calls two weeks later with the same problem. That’s how a local shop builds a reputation: you see our truck on your street, you see the gate still closing properly a month later, and you keep our number.
Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something we fixed isn’t holding up, one call brings Hal back, no runaround. We also answer calls with a live person 24/7, not a voicemail and not a dispatch queue. You’ll talk to someone who can actually answer questions about your gate.
We’re locally owned and owner-operated. Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop and on every invoice. If you want to drive to the shop and look the person in the eye who’ll be standing in your driveway, that’s fine with us. The name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road. That’s the oldest accountability there is.
Our Gate Repair Services in Pacifica
Electric Gate Repair
Pacifica’s near-daily marine layer works on electrical connections the same way it works on steel. We see corroded limit switch terminals, oxidized control board contacts, and moisture-damaged keypads on a weekly basis. We service Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, and Elite operators, and we can usually diagnose a control board problem over the phone before we even roll a truck to your place.
Automatic Gate Repair
If your automatic gate in Pacifica starts opening halfway, reversing for no reason, or beeping without moving, the cause is usually a misaligned safety sensor or a failing battery backup. Hillside driveways make this worse because the gate has to work harder against the slope every cycle. We check the full run: opener, safety edges, photo eyes, and the physical alignment of the gate panel itself. Fixing the opener without fixing the alignment means you’ll call us again in a month.
Hinge & Post Repair
This is the most common repair we do in Pacifica, especially in Linda Mar, Sharp Park, and Vallemar where lots of the original 1950s and 60s gates are still hanging. A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle, and that’s where we start. On the coast, untreated steel hinge posts rust through at ground level fast. We pull the old post, pour a new footing, and hang the gate with hot-dip galvanized or stainless hardware so you’re not doing this again in two years.
Gate Realignment
Ocean wind that gusts through the gaps in Pacifica’s coastal hills pushes on gate panels constantly, and over time that works posts loose and pulls hinges out of square. A misaligned gate binds hard against the catch, drags on the driveway, or won’t close on its own. We re-square the frame, reset the posts if needed, and adjust the self-closing hardware so the gate holds its line through every wind cycle. On sloped driveways, we set the tension so the gate closes firmly but doesn’t slam.
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 Pacifica
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, and for Pacifica customers we keep common Viking, Ghost Controls, and DoorKing parts on the truck. That means most opener and control board repairs happen same-visit, not two weeks later after a part ships. If you’ve got an older DoorKing or Ghost Controls unit that’s out of production, we can often source rebuilt boards or retrofit compatible controls rather than forcing you into a full operator replacement. Ask us before you assume it’s dead.
Common Gate Repair Problems We See in Pacifica Homes
- Rust-through on hinges and latches. Pacifica’s marine layer deposits salt on exposed metal every single day. Untreated steel hinges and latches on ocean-facing gates routinely fail within two to three years, and the failure is usually invisible until the gate droops or the latch shears off.
- Leaning posts and hinge pull-out. Sustained coastal wind pushing against a gate day after day eventually works the post loose in its footing. Once the post leans, the hinges then rip out of the wood or concrete accelerating the whole failure.
- Bind-and-stick on sloped driveways. Many Pacifica homes built in the 50s through 70s sit on hillside lots with a noticeable grade change. Self-closing hardware has to work against gravity, and when salt corrosion adds friction, the gate binds or refuses to shut all the way.
- Dead control boards from salt-air corrosion. We see a lot of older operators where the control board has corroded terminals and failed sensors. Sometimes the board is obsolete and not worth replacing; we’ll tell you that straight rather than quoting you a repair that won’t hold.
Pricing for Gate Repair in Pacifica, CA
You should know what to expect before you call. In Pacifica, a hinge and latch replacement with hot-dip galvanized hardware typically runs $180-$420. Weld and rust repair on an existing gate panel usually falls between $250-$600 depending on how much metal has to be cut out and replaced. A leaning post that needs a new footing and re-hang runs $350-$800. Full gate realignment typically costs $180-$350. Electric opener repairs, including sensors, limit switches, and control boards, generally range from $220-$600.
The price we quote over the phone is the price on the invoice. No trip charge inside the county, and the quote is agreed before any work starts. We offer $40 off any repair over $200, a free second opinion on any written estimate, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll give you a real number, not a window.
We Also Serve Cities Near Pacifica
If you’re just up the hill in San Bruno or South San Francisco, or over near Millbrae or Daly City, we cover those areas too. Our Gate Repair team works the whole upper peninsula, and Pacifica is right in the middle of our regular route. For more about how we serve this specific coastside community, see Gate Repair in Pacifica.
Serving Pacifica, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Pacifica 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 Pacifica
West-facing gates take the full brunt of salt-laden fog and ocean wind coming straight off the Pacific with no inland buffer. The east side of the same house is sheltering behind the structure itself, so it gets dramatically less salt deposition. We specify stainless-steel or hot-dip galvanized hardware on any ocean-facing installation in Pacifica, and if a gate already has untreated steel hinges, plan on replacing them every few years or upgrading now. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll tell you if your hardware is worth saving.
Most 1970s swing gates can be retrofitted with photo eyes and safety edges as long as the post is still sound and the panel isn’t rusted through. If the panel is solid but the hardware is worn, retrofitting is usually cheaper than a full replacement. If the post has rotted at ground level or the frame is twisted from decades of wind, replacement becomes the cheaper answer over time. We’ll tell you which path makes sense before any money changes hands.
With untreated steel hardware on an ocean-facing gate, expect hinge or latch failure every two to three years in Pacifica. With hot-dip galvanized or stainless hardware, that interval stretches past a decade for most gates. If your gate faces west toward the water, fixing hinges reactively is a losing game; upgrading proactively costs less over ten years. We quote both options and let you decide.
A leaning post is repairable if the post itself isn’t rusted through and the concrete footing is still mostly intact. We pull the post, inspect it, reset it in a new footing if needed, and re-hang the gate true. If the post has rotted through at ground level, which we see constantly in Sharp Park and Vallemar, replacement of the post and hinges is the right fix, and often the panel itself is perfectly fine. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
You need both. A keypad handles who gets in, but a loop detector is what tells the gate to stay open until your car has cleared the swing path, and it prevents the gate from closing on a vehicle that’s still on the driveway. On sloped Pacifica driveways, where a gate can gain momentum as it closes, that safety function matters more, not less. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll assess what your current setup is missing.
What Sets a Pacifica Gate Repair Apart
Here’s the thing about gate repair in Pacifica that a generic contractor won’t tell you: the ocean-facing side of your property is a different environment than the sheltered side. In Rockaway Beach and the bluff streets above Linda Mar, west-facing gates corrode visibly faster than gates just a few miles inland in Daly City. It’s the same fog, but with no hillside to break the wind and no inland buffer to absorb the salt, the exposed metal takes it all. Any gate repair that doesn’t account for this is a temporary patch.
In Sharp Park, we found a 1960s wrought-iron swing gate whose original hinge post had rotted through at ground level from decades of salt fog, and the panel was sagging so badly the latch had sheared off. Our crew pulled the post, poured a new post footing, and hung the gate with hot-dip galvanized hinges before adding a sag correction kit. Because on the coast, fixing the panel without the post just means doing it again in two years.
If your gate is hanging crooked, dragging, or stuck open, call us. You’ll get a straight answer, a written price, and someone who will actually show up in the window they promised. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Pacifica since 2001.