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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After
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AfterFast, Reliable Gate Repair Across Seven Corners
Gate repair in Seven Corners usually means a perimeter gate at a garden apartment complex or townhouse HOA that has been sagging, rusting, or failing to close since the Reagan administration. Most of the gates we work on in the 22044 ZIP date to the 1960s through 1980s, and they were built for a fraction of the traffic they handle today. We show up fast, weld on site, and fix what is actually broken instead of selling you a replacement you don’t need. Call (877) 610-2993 and Hal Gatewood or one of his crew will answer.
Key Takeaways
- Most Seven Corners gate failures trace back to the hinge post, not the panel. We fix the post first.
- Fairfax County requires a zoning permit for gates over 4 feet in multi-family zones. We will tell you before you get surprised.
- Every repair carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing, not as a handshake.
- We weld on site. Your gate stays in its hinges, in your community, where it belongs.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Seven Corners’s Preferred Gate Repair Company
Hal Gatewood has been at this since 2001. The shop is local, the address is published, and the license number is there for anyone who wants to check. Seven Corners property managers call us because we answer the phone with a live person at 2 a.m. when a perimeter gate is stuck open and a resident is furious. No voicemail, no call center three states away, no chatbot telling you to “restart the system.” A person picks up. That matters when a gate is wedged half-open on a Friday night.
We know the difference between a 1970s ornamental iron swing gate on Wilson Boulevard and a chain-link perimeter gate behind a stacked-townhouse community off Route 7. That local knowledge changes the repair. Seven Corners has more garden apartments per square mile than almost anywhere else in Fairfax County, and those properties share the same three failure modes: shallow footings, corroded hinge posts, and operators that were undersized on the day they were installed. We have fixed all three more times than we can count, and we bring that experience to every job.
Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our Washington, DC office, but the crew that shows up in Seven Corners is a local crew. Background-checked, uniformed, and trained to weld on site. Not a subcontractor we have never met. Not someone reading a manual for the first time in your parking lot. Our Gate Repair team carries parts for the brands we service, which means we usually finish in one visit instead of two.
Our Gate Repair Services in Seven Corners
Electric Gate Repair
When an electric gate stops responding in Seven Corners, it is usually one of three things: a burned-out loop detector, a gear that stripped in the operator, or a safety photocell that got knocked out of alignment. We diagnose all three on site. Most electric gate repairs in Seven Corners run $185 to $450 depending on whether it is a sensor, a board, or a gear set. We quote the price before we touch a single wire, and the price you see is the price you pay.
Automatic Gate Repair
Automatic gates in Seven Corners apartment communities cycle constantly, far more than the manufacturer ever intended when these systems were installed in the 1980s. Operators burn out, rack and pinion gears strip, and loop detectors fail under constant use. We service and repair all of it. If your gate opens fine but never quite closes, or closes when it should not, that is usually an entrapment sensor problem, which is also a safety problem. We fix it the same visit.
Hinge & Post Repair
A gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle. That is where we start. In Seven Corners, the freeze-thaw cycles through Northern Virginia winters push shallow footings around every year, and a post set in 1972 was not built for 50 winters of that. We dig down, break out the old footing, pour a deeper one with rebar, and weld in a new post so the gate actually closes and latches. This is the most common repair we do in Seven Corners, and it is the one other companies skip because it is labor. We do not skip it. It is the whole point.
Gate Realignment
When a swing gate drifts out of alignment, it binds at the latch or drags the ground. Realigning the gate usually means addressing what moved it in the first place. That can be a worn hinge, a bent post, or clay soil that shifted over a wet winter. We realign the gate and fix the cause, not just the symptom. In Seven Corners, a realignment alone often runs $150 to $320. If the post needs work, we will tell you before we start and give you a number in writing.
What happens when you call
- 1
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 Seven Corners
We are certified to service nine major gate brands, including FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking. Seven Corners has a lot of older Linear units still running from the 1990s, and we know those operators inside and out. We keep common parts stocked so we are not ordering a board from across the country while your gate sits open. Whether you have a FAAC on a townhouse entry or a Viking on a commercial perimeter, we can get it working again, usually the same day we show up.
Common Gate Repair Problems We See in Seven Corners Homes
- Post heave from freeze-thaw cycles. Northern Virginia gets 30 to 50 freeze-thaw cycles a year. Combine that with Piedmont clay soil, and a shallow 1970s footing will heave and rack the post out of plumb every winter. Your gate binds, fails to latch, or drags. The fix is a deeper footing, not a shim.
- Corroded hinge posts on original wrought iron. We regularly pull posts in Seven Corners that are rotted clean through below grade. The panel was fine. The post was the problem. If a maintenance crew keeps adjusting hinges and the gate keeps sagging, the post is gone. We replace it and weld in a new one.
- Undersized operators from the 1980s. These gates were built for maybe a hundred cars a day. Now they cycle hundreds of times. The operator burns out, strips gears, or the loop detector fails. Upgrading the operator to handle today’s traffic is usually the right call, especially for HOA entries.
- Failed latch alignment on shared entry systems. A gate that will not latch is a security problem and a liability problem. We get calls from property managers who have residents propping gates open with rocks. That is how people get hurt and how communities get sued. We fix the latch so the gate locks on its own.
Pricing for Gate Repair in Seven Corners, VA
Gate repair in Seven Corners runs a wide range because the jobs vary so much. A hinge adjustment or latch repair usually lands between $150 and $300. Replacing a corroded hinge post with a new footing typically runs $500 to $900 depending on depth and access. A new operator for an HOA entry gate generally runs $1,200 to $2,800 installed, and that includes entrapment protection and programming. Weld and rust repair on ornamental iron typically runs $200 to $600 per section. We quote every job before we start, in writing, and that is the number on the invoice. No trip charge inside the county. $40 off any repair over $200. Free second opinion on any written estimate. Seniors and veterans get 10 percent off, every job, permanently.
If you have a written estimate from another company, bring it to us. We will look at it honestly. If the price is fair, we will say so. If someone is trying to sell you a full replacement when a welded hinge post would do, we will tell you that too. That is what a local shop owes its neighbors. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Seven Corners
Our crew covers Seven Corners and the surrounding communities, including Baileys Crossroads, Lake Barcroft, Falls Church, and West Falls Church. If you are just over the line in any of those neighborhoods, the same people answer the phone and the same crew shows up. Learn more about Gate Repair in Seven Corners and what makes this area different from anywhere else we work.
Serving Seven Corners, VA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Seven Corners 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 Seven Corners
Yes, if the gate is over 4 feet tall and the property is in a multi-family zone, Fairfax County requires a zoning permit. This catches a lot of HOA boards off guard because they assume a gate replacement is like-for-like maintenance. It is not. The county treats it as a structural change. The permit is pulled at the Herrity Building in Fairfax, and it can take several weeks. We will flag this on the first visit so you are not staring at a collapsed gate with no timeline. Call (877) 610-2993 and we will walk you through it.
Because the hinge post is rotted or shifted below grade, and adjusting hinges just re-bends the gate around a moving post. In Seven Corners, the original posts on 1960s and 1970s garden apartment gates were set in shallow footings, and 40 to 50 freeze-thaw cycles have done their work. The fix is to pull the post, pour a deeper footing with rebar, and weld in a new post. Anything less is temporary. Call (877) 610-2993 for an honest look.
Usually, yes. A failed or drifting loop detector will think a car is always present, so the gate stays open. It can also fail the other way and close on a car, which is an entrapment hazard and a liability problem. We test the loop, replace the detector if needed, and verify the entrapment protection so the gate closes safely every time. Call (877) 610-2993 and we will get it sorted.
Yes, and we prefer that. The ornamental iron on a 1970s Seven Corners property is often better metal than anything sold today. We will keep your original gate, weld in a new hinge post if needed, realign it, and install a modern opener with UL 325 entrapment protection and a beefier motor rated for the traffic your community actually sees. You get the security of a new system without losing the gate that matches your property. Call (877) 610-2993 for a free estimate.
We can usually cut out the rusted section and weld in a new bottom rail and matching chain-link fabric, which runs a fraction of a full replacement. If the rust has spread into the frame corners or the hinge post, we will tell you before we start. We do not replace gates that can be repaired, and we do not hide behind “you need a whole new gate” because it pads the invoice. Call (877) 610-2993 and we will give you an honest answer.
The Seven Corners Gate Reality
Seven Corners sits where Routes 50, 29, and 7 collide inside Fairfax County. It is one of the densest unincorporated communities in Northern Virginia, full of 1960s to 1980s garden apartments and townhouse HOAs whose original perimeter gates and access control systems are now 40 to 60 years old. Gate repair here is not a single-family home issue. It is an HOA and property-management issue. The gates are shared. The failures are shared. The permit requirements are shared. And the person who has to coordinate all of it is usually a property manager who has been burned by a national outfit that quoted one price on the phone and handed over a different invoice at the door.
That is the customer we are built for. We show up when we say. We quote in writing before we start. We do not change the number when the gate is half apart. The name on the shop is Hal Gatewood, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise is stamped on every job. If it is not done right, one call brings him back. No runaround.
So if your Seven Corners property has a sagging ornamental iron gate off Wilson Boulevard, or a chain-link perimeter that has rusted through at the bottom rail, or an operator that will not close when a car is waiting, call (877) 610-2993. A live person answers. The estimate is free. And the person who shows up is the person whose name is on the invoice.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Seven Corners since 2001.