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.
Before
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Before
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Before
AfterTrusted Gate Installation for Van Nuys Homeowners
Gate installation in Van Nuys means getting the post depth right, the hinge alignment square, and the operator wired so it closes soft every single time. Most gates we replace in this neighborhood weren’t installed wrong by accident. They were installed by someone in a hurry who set posts in shallow concrete, hung a panel that was never meant to carry that much weight, and left before the first Santa Ana wind found the weak spot.
Hal Gatewood started Gatewood Fence & Gate in 2001, and he still runs it today, still answers the phone himself most days, and still welds on site in your driveway instead of hauling your gate off somewhere you’ve never seen. We install driveway gates, pedestrian gates, sliding gates, swing gates, double gates, and security gates across Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, and the rest of the San Fernando Valley. Every installation carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing, and every call is answered by a live person, 24/7. If you’re thinking about a new gate, call (951) 749-5734 and tell us what you’re working with. We’ll give you a straight answer and an honest price.
What Our Gate Installation Service Includes
Every gate we install is a complete job, not a partial one. That means the posts, the hinges, the panel, the hardware, and the opener if you’re having one. We don’t drop a gate on existing posts and call it done unless those posts are actually worth keeping, and most of the time in Van Nuys, they’re not. Here’s what each type of installation looks like.
Driveway Gate
A driveway gate is the entry gate that controls vehicle access to your property. In Van Nuys, most homeowners want one for two reasons: keeping people from turning around in the driveway and making it obvious that the house is not an open invitation. We build driveway gates from steel or ornamental iron, size them to your opening, and set posts deep enough that they’ll still be plumb ten years from now. Every driveway gate install includes hardware rated for the panel weight, plus an opener if you want one, wired by the person who installed the gate, not a subcontractor.
Pedestrian Gate
A pedestrian gate is the walk-through gate beside your driveway or along your side yard. These gates fail faster than anything else because they’re used daily, often by kids, and they get slammed or left swinging in the wind. When we install a pedestrian gate in Van Nuys, we set the post in concrete that goes below the frost line trend, hang the panel with adjustable hinges, and make sure the latch catches clean every time. We also check the ground slope, because a pedestrian gate on a sloped lot without accounting for the grade will drag or swing open on its own.
Sliding Gate
A sliding gate rolls sideways along a track instead of swinging open. For narrow Van Nuys driveways or properties where a swing gate would block the sidewalk or the street, slide is the right answer. We install cantilever sliding gates that ride on rollers above ground, which means no track to dig out and no problems when dirt and leaves pile up. We set the receiver posts, weld the support frame, and dial in the operator so the gate starts slow, moves smooth, and stops without slamming.
Swing Gate
A swing gate opens in or out on hinges, and in the Valley it’s the most common style for homes with room at the driveway mouth. Swings need posts that can hold real weight, because a sagging panel is almost always a failed post, not a failed hinge. We install single and double swing gates, pipe posts filled with concrete, and operators mounted so they don’t tear themselves off the post. We’re picky about this because we’ve repaired too many swing gates where the opener was bolted on by someone who didn’t understand torque.
Double Gate
A double gate is a pair of panels that meet in the middle, typically for a wide driveway or a corner lot in Van Nuys where access needs to be generous. Double gates put twice the load on the posts and the operators, so the install matters more than the panels. We set both posts in heavy concrete, align the meeting point so the two panels close flush without fighting, and synchronize the openers so they don’t drift out of sequence. When you see a double gate that one side closes before the other, that’s an install problem we fix on day one, not after two years of complaints.
Security Gate
A security gate is a heavier-built gate meant to stop someone who actually wants in, not just someone who wandered by. In Van Nuys, we build security gates from box steel or reinforced ornamental iron, usually with a cage or solid panel design, and pair them with an access control system like a keypad or a phone app. A security gate is only as good as its frame and its posts, so we overbuild both. The gate has to look good from the street, but it has to work when someone tests it at two in the morning, and that’s the standard we build to.
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.
Brands We Service for Gate Installation
We install and service LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule, but the ones we see the most in Van Nuys driveways are Linear, DoorKing, and Ghost Controls. When you’re choosing an operator for a new gate, we’ll tell you which one fits the gate, the ground, and the way you use it, not just the one we happen to have in the truck.
We’ve installed enough Linear operators across the Valley to know their quirks, like how they behave when the power dips in a heat wave and what to adjust so the gate doesn’t creep. DoorKing is a workhorse on heavier swing and slide gates, and we stock the parts you’re most likely to need down the road so we’re not ordering from a warehouse while your gate sits open. Ghost Controls makes a clean residential opener we like for smaller single-panel gates, and we’ve put them in throughout Sherman Oaks and Encino. Whether you have one of these brands or something else entirely, we can install it, wire it, and stand behind it.
Signs You Need Gate Installation Right Now
- The gate drags the ground when it swings. That’s almost always a post that’s tilted or settled because it wasn’t set in enough concrete. A dragging gate gets worse every week until the hinges bind and something snaps, usually when you’re already late for work.
- You can see the gap change when the gate opens. When the gap at the hinge side widens and narrows as the gate moves, the post is flexing. It’s not a hinge problem. We see this all over Van Nuys where gates were hung on posts set in two bags of quick-crete. The only fix is pulling the post and setting it properly.
- The opener stopped closing the gate all the way. Sometimes it’s the limits, but more often it’s a panel out of square or a wheel binding on the track. A gate that won’t close is a gate that doesn’t do its job. If the gate closes but won’t seal, that’s the same as no gate to a dog or a kid.
- You’re holding the panel together with a chain and a padlock. If the latch broke and the fix was a chain from Home Depot, the gate hardware was undersized for the panel weight. We can weld in new hardware, but if the frame is twisted from being yanked around, replacement is the honest answer.
- The gate was installed before you owned the house. Van Nuys homes built before the 1990s often have gates that are older than the current opener, older than the current code, and older than whoever installed the last repair. If you don’t know how deep the posts go or what the frame is made of, it’s worth having someone look at it before it fails in a way that damages a car or injures a person.
Our Gate Installation Process - Step by Step
We don’t do mystery pricing and we don’t do mystery timelines. Here’s exactly how a gate installation works when you call Gatewood Fence & Gate, and here’s how Gate Installation pricing breaks down.
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You call, and a person answers. That’s me, Hal, or someone from the crew who has actually worked on gates, not an answering service reading a script. We’ll ask what you have now, what the gate is doing or not doing, and whether you’re replacing or starting fresh.
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We come out and measure. We check the opening width, the ground pitch, the existing posts if they might stay, the distance for the power run, and the clearance needed for the gate swing or slide. We’ll also look at what the gate is mounted on, because a post set in dirt is a post that’s about to move.
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We give you a written price before any work starts. The quote includes the gate, the posts, the hardware, the opener if you’re getting one, and the labor. That’s the price you pay, not an estimate that grows when the truck arrives. We don’t do that.
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We install, weld, and wire on site. We set posts properly, hang the panel square, weld any steel that needs welding right there in your driveway, and run the electrical for the operator to code. We’re not hauling your gate to a shop. The gate stays where it belongs, on your property.
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We test it while you watch. We cycle the gate open and close, check the safety edges, adjust the force so it won’t crush anything, and then hand you the remote and let you run it yourself. Every install includes the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something’s off, you call, we come back. That’s the deal.
How Much Does Gate Installation Cost in Van Nuys?
A new driveway gate in Van Nuys typically runs $2,800 to $6,500 for the gate, posts, hardware, and installation. A pedestrian gate alone usually lands between $900 and $2,200. Adding an opener brings that up by $1,200 to $3,000 depending on the operator brand, the gate type, and whether you want a keypad or phone-controlled access. These are honest ranges based on what we’ve installed across the Valley, not a guess meant to make the phone ring.
What moves the price: gate width, panel weight, whether the posts are new or can be reused, ground conditions or concrete work, and the distance of the electrical run from your panel to the gate. The way to avoid overpaying is simple: get a price that includes everything before you say yes, and don’t chase the lowest bid in the neighborhood. We quote the full job. No trip charge inside the county, and a free second opinion on any written estimate from another company. Bring it to us, and we’ll tell you honestly if it’s fair.
We also stand by our standing offers: $40 off any repair over $200, no trip charge inside the county, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. The price we quote is the price you pay, agreed before work begins.
Gate Installation Near Van Nuys - Our Service Area
We’re based right here in the San Fernando Valley, so when a Van Nuys homeowner calls, we’re not driving in from Riverside. We install gates across Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, Encino, North Hollywood, and over the hill into Santa Monica. We’re usually at your door within a day or two for a measure and quote, and if you’ve got a gate that won’t close and you need someone to look at it today, call us. The home page has more about who we are, and you’re welcome to come by the shop and meet Hal yourself. The address is published because he’s not hiding.
Serving Van Nuys, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Van Nuys area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked Questions - Gate Installation in Van Nuys
Gate installation is the full process of setting posts, hanging the gate panel, installing hardware and hinges, and wiring an automatic opener if you’re having one. In Van Nuys, it usually means removing an existing gate or setting up a brand new opening. We handle the whole job on site, from concrete to final adjustment.
Most single driveway gate installations are done in one day once the concrete is set. Posts need time to cure, so if we’re setting new posts, expect the job to span two visits over about four to seven days. We’ll give you a clear timeline when we quote, not a vague window that keeps sliding. Call (951) 749-5734 and we’ll tell you what your specific gate needs.
A full driveway gate install in Van Nuys typically runs $2,800 to $6,500, and a pedestrian gate $900 to $2,200. Openers add $1,200 to $3,000. The best way to get an exact number is to call for a free measure and quote, because width, weight, post condition, and power access all change the price. Estimates are free, and the price is locked before work starts.
Yes. We install and service DoorKing, Linear, Ghost Controls, LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Viking, Elite, and Mighty Mule operators in Van Nuys and across the Valley. If you already have an operator and you’re replacing the gate, we’ll tell you honestly whether the old opener is worth keeping or should be swapped while we’re in there.
If your gate is stuck open, stuck closed, or someone hit it and it’s blocking your driveway, call us right now. A live person answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we’ll tell you what we can do. We don’t promise same-day on measured installs, but for a gate that’s off its track or a panel that won’t move, we make time.
Every installation carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not done right, we make it right, no runaround. The hardware and operators have their own manufacturer warranties, and we’ll register those for you and walk you through what’s covered.
Clear the area around the gate opening so we have room to work, move any cars out of the driveway the day of the install, and let us know if your dogs are fence-fighters so someone doesn’t get a surprise. we’ll handle permits if your project needs them, and we’ll tell you about that at the quote stage, not after the work starts.
Schedule Your Gate Installation Service in Van Nuys Today
If your Van Nuys gate is sagging, stuck, or just done for, call (951) 749-5734 and let’s get you on the schedule. We’ll come out, measure, give you a real price, and get the gate built right. Hal started this shop in 2001, his name is on it, and he still stands behind every gate that leaves the driveway. No obligation, no pressure, just a straight answer.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Van Nuys since 2001.