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 San Bruno
Gate repair in San Bruno usually runs between $180 and $650 depending on what failed, and most hinge, latch, and operator jobs can be handled in one visit. We work the whole 94066 zip code, from the flats near San Bruno Avenue up to the hillside streets west of El Camino Real. Hal Gatewood has been fixing gates since 2001, and when your swing gate gets shoved out of square by the gap wind for the third time in a year, you want somebody who already knows what that wind does to a hinge post. Call (877) 610-2993 and a real person picks up, day or night.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is San Bruno’s Preferred Gate Repair Company
San Bruno’s wind corridor changes how gates fail. A company that mostly works Millbrae or Burlingame doesn’t see the same hinge post fatigue, the same operator burnouts, the same rust acceleration from the daily marine fog. We do. Our crews are in San Bruno every week, on streets like Crestmoor Drive, Portola Drive, and Huntington Avenue where the gap wind hits hardest. The person who shows up is background-checked, knows the difference between a post footing set in 1950s concrete and one poured last year, and will tell you honestly whether a part can be welded or needs replacing. The hal Gatewood name is on the shop and on every invoice, and that means something when you call us back at month three because something feels loose. We come back. The 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on every job, not buried in fine print.
Our Gate Repair Services in San Bruno
We started as a Gate Repair shop and we still run it that way: fix what’s broken, weld what can be saved, replace only what can’t. Here’s what we handle most in San Bruno.
Electric Gate Repair
Salt fog off the ocean rolls through the San Bruno Gap almost every morning, and it eats control boards, wiring connections, and limit switches faster than anywhere east of the hill. If your electric gate opens halfway and stops, or chirps and does nothing, it’s usually a corroded connection or a failed relay, not a dead motor. We trace it with a meter, replace the failed part, and seal the new connections against moisture. Typical electric gate repair in San Bruno runs $165 to $420.
Automatic Gate Repair
A residential operator sized for Millbrae weather won’t survive San Bruno wind on a hillside lot. We see undersized LiftMaster and Linear operators that have been fighting the gap wind every single cycle, burning out capacitors and stripping drive gears years early. We repair all nine major brands we service, and when an operator is too small for the gate it’s pushing, we’ll tell you that too, with a retrofit recommendation that won’t leave you stranded again next spring. Automatic gate operator repair in San Bruno typically lands between $190 and $500.
Hinge & Post Repair
A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle, and that is where we start. San Bruno’s older homes, the 1940s to 1960s stock around the Sneath Lane and Cherry Avenue corridors, often have original hinges set in cracked concrete footings. Wind loading has been working those footings for sixty years. We cut out the failed concrete, set a deeper post with proper embedment, and hang the gate on heavy-duty barrel hinges sized for the wind, not for the showroom. Hinge and post repair in San Bruno usually runs $220 to $580, depending on whether we’re re-setting one post or two and how much concrete has to come out.
Gate Realignment
Fix the latch without the post and you’ll fix it twice. When a swing gate has been blown out of square, the latch misses the strike plate and the gate just sits there, half-open, not securing anything. We re-square the frame, adjust the hinges, and set the latch so it actually catches, then verify the gap stays true through a full open-close cycle. Gate realignment in San Bruno runs $140 to $280 when the post is still sound, and more when the post itself has to be re-set.
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 San Bruno
We are certified to service DoorKing, Linear, and Ghost Controls operators, among the nine major brands we support, and we keep common parts for those systems stocked in our service vehicles. That means a San Bruno repair doesn’t wait on a part shipped from a warehouse in Ohio. We also work on older Viking and other legacy boards that some companies won’t touch, because in a city with this much pre-1990 housing stock, those older operators are everywhere. If the board can be rebuilt, we rebuild it. If it’s obsolete, we’ll show you the retrofit path and quote it in writing before you commit.
Common Gate Repair Problems We See in San Bruno Homes
- Wind-bent swing gate frames. The San Bruno Gap channels sustained westerly wind through the city year-round. On exposed lots, especially west of El Camino Real, that constant push bends gate frames out of square until the latch won’t catch and the gate swings unsecured against its post.
- Rusted hinge posts and seized barrel hinges. Daily marine fog means salt-laden moisture sits on hardware for hours every morning. Barrel hinges seize, latch bolts snap, and post hardware corrodes through years before it would inland. We replace with sealed or stainless components where it matters.
- Automatic operator burnouts from wind resistance. An operator rated for a standard 12-foot gate has to work far harder when that gate is fighting a 25-mile-per-hour headwind on every cycle. Capacitors fail, gears strip, motors overheat. We size replacements for San Bruno conditions, not catalog specs.
- Vintage gates hung before modern safety standards. Many 1950s and 1960s homes in San Bruno have original gates with no entrapment protection on their older automatic operators. That’s a safety and liability issue, and we retrofit photo sensors and loop detectors to bring them up to current UL 325 requirements.
Pricing for Gate Repair in San Bruno, CA
Here’s what you can expect to pay in San Bruno. A hinge replacement with one new barrel hinge runs $180 to $260. Re-setting a single hinge post in fresh concrete with proper embedment typically runs $240 to $420. Electric gate troubleshooting and board repair lands between $165 and $420 depending on the board. Full automatic operator replacement, including labor and the new unit, usually runs $750 to $1,900 in San Bruno, sized for the gate and the wind. We quote the price and you agree to it before any work starts. That’s not a courtesy, that’s how we do business. No trip charge inside the county, and there’s a free second opinion on any written estimate you already have. We offer $40 off any repair over $200, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans.
Call (877) 610-2993 for an exact quote on your gate. The estimate is free and it’s the same number Hal answers.
We Also Serve Cities Near San Bruno
We work the whole corridor around San Bruno, including Millbrae, South San Francisco, Pacifica, and Burlingame. If your neighborhood sits on the border, chances are we’ve already fixed a gate on your street. We schedule Gate Repair in San Bruno daily, and our crews are dispatched from our San Francisco Bay Area office to serve San Bruno locally.
Serving San Bruno, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Bruno 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 San Bruno
Your operator failed early because it was sized for normal wind, not San Bruno Gap wind. A few years of fighting sustained coastal wind on every cycle will burn out capacitors and strip gears in an undersized unit. We size replacements for the actual wind load on your specific lot, and we’ll show you the torque ratings and why they matter for your street. Call (877) 610-2993 and we’ll diagnose it in person.
Yes, in nearly every case. If your 1960s or 1970s gate has an older operator without photo sensors or a reverse mechanism, we can add safety photocells, a loop detector, and an edge sensor without replacing the whole gate. We did exactly that on a 1950s home on Crestmoor Drive where the existing LiftMaster operator just needed modern entrapment protection added to meet current UL 325 standards. Call us for a written retrofit quote.
Once a year, and more often if your gate sits on an elevated or west-facing lot. The gap wind and daily fog work on post footings and hinge hardware constantly. We catch cracked footings and seized hinges before they fail completely. A yearly inspection in San Bruno runs $95 and takes about an hour.
The gate slams because the wind has pushed the frame out of square and the latch no longer seats properly against the strike plate. The latch mechanism itself may still work, but if the gate has been blown out of alignment, it won’t catch. We re-square the frame and reset the latch so it holds under wind load. Call (877) 610-2993 for a realignment quote, free.
Depends on the condition of the post and frame. If the wood is rotting at the joints or the frame is split, repairing it will cost more than it’s worth within a year. If the wood and hinges are sound but the gate is sagging, repair is the cheaper answer. We’ll give you both numbers and let you decide. That’s been the Gatewood way since 2001.
Contact Gatewood Fence & Gate for Gate Repair in San Bruno
If your gate is sagging, blown open, rusted shut, or your operator just quit, call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate. A live person answers around the clock, not a voicemail, not a call queue. The name is on the shop and the shop is down the road. That’s the oldest accountability there is.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving San Bruno and the surrounding Peninsula since 2001.