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
Before
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AfterFast, Reliable Gate Installation Across North Hollywood
Most of the automatic gates you see rolling open along Magnolia Boulevard and the streets off Lankershim went in right after the 1994 Northridge quake. That means nearly every one of them is now 25 to 30 years old, and the San Fernando Valley heat has not been kind to them. If you’re looking for a gate that actually fits a narrow North Hollywood lot and keeps working through August, you’re in the right place. Call (951) 749-5734 and you’ll get Hal or one of his crew, not a call center.
We’ve been fixing and installing gates since 2001, and we know what North Hollywood throws at them: shared driveways, tight setbacks, crumbling stucco pilasters, and heat that pushes motors past their limits. A gate has to work here, not just look good in a photo.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is North Hollywood’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Our Gate Installation team works these streets every week. Hal Gatewood started this shop in 2001, and his name is on every invoice and every job we leave behind. If a gate sags six months after we set it, you call and we’re back. That’s the 90-Day Done Right Promise, stamped in writing, not buried in fine print.
North Hollywood homeowners call us because we answer the phone day or night, and because we fix what’s actually wrong. A lot of companies will tell you the whole post needs replacing when the real problem is a hinge that was never shimmed right in 1992. We weld on site, in your driveway, so nobody’s hauling your gate to a shop across the county. And if someone gave you a written estimate that feels high, bring it to us for a free second opinion. No trip charge inside the county.
We’re licensed, and our number is published for anyone to look up. That matters in a neighborhood where a lot of work gets done by unmarked vans that disappear. Hal still works the routes himself, and the person who shows up will be in a marked uniform and background-checked. You’re not dealing with a franchise that rotates through subcontractors.
Our Gate Installation Services in North Hollywood
Sliding Gate Installation
Sliding gates are the workhorse of North Hollywood because so many driveways here are too short for a swing gate to open without blocking the sidewalk or clipping a parked car. We set new steel posts, pour real footings, and run the track with the right slope for drainage so your gate doesn’t turn into a sled in winter rain. On tight lots off Burbank Boulevard or Vineland, we’ll spec a cantilever slide when a ground track would just collect debris and bind.
Swing Gate Installation
If your driveway off Riverside Drive or Tujunga has room, a swing gate gives you that clean look and a wider opening. But the hinge posts have to be set deep, and the post needs a concrete core that won’t lean under the weight of a heavy welded frame. We size the operator to the leaf weight, not the other way around, because an undersized motor on an oversized gate is the most common failure we see in North Hollywood when summer hits.
Security Gate Installation
For apartment buildings and backyard pedestrian access along Chandler Boulevard and the blocks around the NoHo Arts District, we install welded steel security gates that actually close and latch. A security gate that sags and hangs open is not security. We anchor the posts into existing block walls or set new ones, then hang the gate so it swings true and latches with one hand. These are the gates your tenants and your grandparents can operate daily without fighting.
Pedestrian Gate Installation
Pedestrian gates on North Hollywood side yards and alleys take a beating from daily use, and from the Valley’s sun breaking down cheap hinges and latches. We install self-closing, self-latching gates sized to fit the opening that’s already there, often welding a new frame onto the old post rather than tearing out the whole wall. If you’ve got a gate bricked shut or propped open with a cinder block, that’s a call to us.
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 North Hollywood
We service and install operators from Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, and DoorKing, plus all the majors you’d find on a North Hollywood driveway. If you already own one of those and it’s acting up, we’ll tell you honestly whether it’s worth repairing or if a replacement makes more sense. We stock common boards, remotes, photo eyes, and thermal fuses for these systems so we’re not leaving your gate dead while parts ride around on a truck for a week. July and August in the Valley are when motors give out, and we plan our route inventory accordingly.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in North Hollywood Homes
- Post-earthquake gate posts settling and leaning. Half the automatic gates in North Hollywood were installed in the mid-1990s after the Northridge rebuild, and the concrete footings are now 25 to 30 years into settling. We routinely pull up a leaning post to find a footing that’s cracked or only 18 inches deep when it should be three feet with rebar.
- Shared driveway gates binding on old tracks. In the narrow lots off Burbank Boulevard and Magnolia, two houses often share one slide gate, and the track sees double the daily cycles. The original installation may have skipped a proper base plate, and now the gate rocks and binds mid-travel, especially as the track expands in the heat.
- Operators failing in August’s sustained triple-digit heat. Valley heat is a different animal from coastal LA. By late summer, automatic operators up here hit thermal cutoff repeatedly until they fail for good. If your gate gets lazy in the afternoon and works again after sunset, the motor is giving you a warning.
- Santa Ana wind damage to swing gates. Fall winds push laterally on swing gates that have slightly worn hinge pins, and the result is a gate that sags an inch or two and starts dragging on its latch. That’s a separate failure season from the summer motor burnouts, and it’s why we check hinge pin play on every new install.
Pricing for Gate Installation in North Hollywood, CA
A straightforward single-leaf swing gate installation in North Hollywood typically runs $1,800 to $3,200, depending on the width of the opening and whether we’re setting new posts or tying into existing pilasters. A sliding gate is generally $2,400 to $4,500, because the track, receiver post, and operator all add up, and a double slide or a heavy security gate will land higher. If you’re adding a new operator to an existing gate, figure on $1,100 to $1,900 installed, including safety sensors and remotes.
Every price is agreed in writing before any work starts. You’ll know what you’re paying, and the number won’t change at the door. Call (951) 749-5734, and we’ll come out, measure, and hand you a written price with no obligation. The estimate is free, and seniors and veterans get 10% off, always.
We Also Serve Cities Near North Hollywood
When you need Gate Installation in North Hollywood, you’re getting a crew that knows the Valley. We also run regular routes through Studio City, Van Nuys, Sun Valley, and Sherman Oaks, so the same crew and the same warranty follow you anywhere along the 101 and the 170.
Serving North Hollywood, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the North Hollywood 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 Installation in North Hollywood
The San Fernando Valley’s inland basin traps heat that coastal LA never sees, and by August, gate operators here run near their thermal threshold every afternoon. Sustained triple-digit days cause the motor’s thermal cutoff to trip repeatedly, and after enough cycles, the circuit board or motor burns out for good. Metal tracks also expand and bind mid-season, which loads the motor even harder. We stock extra operators and thermal fuses specifically for July and August on our North Hollywood routes, because we know the calendar. If your gate slows down in the heat, call (951) 749-5734 before it quits entirely.
Yes. Shared driveways are common off Burbank Boulevard and throughout the bungalow blocks near Vineland, and we plan the entire job around keeping both households moving. On a shared driveway job near Burbank and Vineland, our crew replaced a 28-year-old Viking operator on a slide gate serving two bungalows while both houses kept vehicle access through the pedestrian gate the whole day. We set new post footings, realigned the track, and wired in a new operator with a safety photocell retrofit before dark. We’ll also verify the property line and any shared use agreement with you before we set a single post.
We spec a sliding gate instead. On the tight postwar lots behind Lankershim and Tujunga, a swing gate often would arc across the sidewalk or into a parked car, so the right answer is usually a ground-track or cantilever slide that never leaves the property line. We measure the full setback and the driveway slope before recommending a gate, and we don’t sell a swing gate into a space where it can’t physically function. Hal would rather talk you out of the wrong gate than install one you’ll fight every day.
The hinge post was never set deep enough or cored with concrete, so the weight of the gate eventually leans the post out of plumb. We see this constantly on gates installed during the 1990s, when some contractors cut the footing depth to save time. The sag isn’t in the gate leaf; it’s in the post, and that’s where we start. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice. On new installs, we go at least three feet down with rebar and concrete, and we weld the hinge into the post so it can’t work loose.
Yes. California requires automatic gates to have primary and secondary entrapment protection, meaning photoelectric sensors and/or contact edges that reverse the gate if something or someone is in the way. We retrofit older North Hollywood gates with UL 325 compliant photo eyes and safety edges as part of every new operator install, because a lot of the mid-1990s gates predate current code. This is not an add-on you can skip, and we won’t activate a gate we haven’t made safe. Call (951) 749-5734 for exact installation pricing; estimates are free.
Contact Gatewood Fence & Gate in North Hollywood
We’re the shop with the name on the door and the number that rings to a live person, 24/7. Hal Gatewood has been at this since 2001, and when you call (951) 749-5734, you’ll get a straight answer and a written price before anything starts. Free estimates, no trip charge inside the county, and a 90-Day Done Right Promise on every job. If it’s not done right, we make it right. That’s the deal, and it’s in writing.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving North Hollywood since 2001.