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 Installation Across Lakewood
Gate installation in Lakewood typically runs $1,800-$6,500 depending on whether we’re hanging a new driveway swing gate, retrofitting a 1940s ornamental iron original, or adding a full operator with safety edges. Most Lakewood jobs take one to two days once materials land, and we quote the full price in writing before any work starts. Hal Gatewood has been doing this since 2001, and the name is on the shop. Call (325) 936-1371 and a live person answers, even at 2 a.m.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Lakewood’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
We work Lakewood streets every week, which means we already know what the clay is going to do to your posts before we dig the first hole. This isn’t a neighborhood where you can set a post in quick-crete and walk away. The expansive black clay under Lakewood swells in the wet season and contracts hard during summer drought, and any gate hung on a post without a proper footing will rack out of plumb within a couple of seasons. We check post lean first, every time, before we talk hinges or operators.
Hal’s crew has been in and out of the historic streets around White Rock Lake long enough to recognize a vintage ornamental gate that’s worth saving. Most national outfits won’t touch a 1930s Spanish eclectic driveway gate; they’d rather sell you a new aluminum panel and call it done. We’d rather fix the post, rebuild the hinge, and keep the gate that was built with the house. That’s why the 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on every invoice: one call brings Hal back, no runaround.
When you call (325) 936-1371, Hal or one of his crew picks up. Not a voicemail, not a call center. And if you want to drive to the shop and look him in the eye before you sign anything, the address is published and the license number’s there for anyone to check.
Our Gate Installation Services in Lakewood
Our Gate Installation team handles everything from a simple garden gate to a full security gate with operators, loop detectors, and keypads. Here’s how it breaks down in Lakewood specifically:
Swing Gate Installation
Swing gates are the most common install we do in Lakewood, and they’re also the most abused by the clay. A single driveway swing gate in the historic district usually runs $2,200-$4,800 installed, depending on whether the posts need resetting first. We use heavy-wall steel posts set in proper concrete footings, and we check the gate’s travel arc against the slope of your driveway so it doesn’t drag when the ground shifts after a wet spring.
Pedestrian Gate Installation
Pedestrian gates off the alley are a Lakewood staple. The older bungalows and Tudors around Tokalon Drive and Gaston Avenue often have a narrow alley-facing garden gate that gets cycled three or four times a day. Those gates see more wear than the front driveway gate, and they’re usually the ones hung on the shallowest posts. Figure $1,200-$2,600 for a solid pedestrian gate with new posts and proper hinges.
Sliding Gate Installation
Sliding gates work well on Lakewood lots where a swing gate would eat too much driveway or where the approach slopes up to the house. A cantilever slide gate starts around $3,500 and runs up from there, depending on length and operator choice. The key in Lakewood is getting the track and guide posts set so the gate doesn’t bind when the ground moves; we set slide gate posts deeper than the clay’s active zone and use a heavier gauge track than the big-box kits come with.
Security Gate Installation
A security gate is a different animal than a decorative driveway gate. It’s usually steel, usually automated, and usually load-bearing for daily use with a keypad, remote, or intercom. In Lakewood, a full security gate with operator, safety photocells, and a keypad runs $5,000-$8,500 before any custom ironwork. We also stock parts for BFT, Linear, and Ghost Controls operators locally, so if a board fails on a Friday we’re not waiting on a shipment from some warehouse in Ohio.
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 Lakewood
We’re certified to service and install nine major gate brands, and we keep parts on the truck for the ones we see most in Lakewood: BFT, Linear, Viking, and Ghost Controls. If your gate operator was installed by a previous owner and you don’t know what brand it is, we’ll identify it on arrival and usually have the common replacement parts with us. No week-long waits for a control board that died over the weekend.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Lakewood Homes
- Leaning legacy posts with no footings. Many original Lakewood gates were hung on posts simply driven into the clay with no concrete at all. A post set that way will move every single wet-dry cycle. We reset it properly or the gate will never close right.
- Obsolete control boards without entrapment protection. Pre-UL 325 operators don’t have the safety reverses required now. Before we reinstall or replace any operator, we check for current photocells or edge sensors and bring the install up to code.
- Surface rust on lake-adjacent wrought iron. The humidity off White Rock Lake keeps uncoated iron hardware damp for months at a time. We see hinges and latch bolts rusted through within a year of installation if they were never sealed or powder-coated.
- Alley gates that drag or won’t latch after a heavy rain. The clay expands when it’s wet and the gate geometry shifts. If a gate that closed fine in July drags the pavement in November, the post has moved - not the hinge.
The thing about Lakewood is that the old gates are usually worth saving. They’re period pieces. But the hardware hanging them, the posts holding them, and the operators running them are often decades past their useful life. The honest answer is sometimes a retrofit, sometimes a new post footing, and sometimes a full replacement because the panel is too far gone. We’ll tell you which is cheaper long-term, not whichever one makes us a bigger invoice today.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Lakewood, TX
Here’s what we see in Lakewood’s market right now. A pedestrian gate install runs $1,200-$2,600. A single driveway swing gate runs $2,200-$4,800. A sliding driveway gate starts around $3,500. A full security gate with operator and keypad runs $5,000-$8,500. A leaning post reset alone, including removing the old post, digging a proper footing through the clay, and re-hanging the existing gate, typically runs $500-$1,100 per post.
What changes the number: the condition of the existing posts, whether we’re matching vintage ironwork or going with new steel, the length and weight of the gate, and whether you want automation. The price we quote is the price you pay; we agree on it before any work starts. Seniors and veterans get a permanent 10% discount, and we don’t charge a trip fee inside the county. Call (325) 936-1371 for a free written estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Lakewood
Our crews cover the whole Dallas-Fort Worth metro from our DFW office. We handle Lakewood daily, and we also work Highland Park, Dallas proper, Plano, and Irving. If you’re just outside the neighborhood, call and ask; we’re usually within range without a special trip.
Serving Lakewood, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Lakewood 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 Lakewood
Because the expansive clay under your posts swells when it gets wet, pushing the post slightly out of plumb and changing the gate’s hang angle. Tightening the hinge alone won’t fix it; the post has to be reset on a proper footing or it will keep moving every season. If you’re adjusting hinges more than once a year in Lakewood, the post is the problem. Call (325) 936-1371 and we’ll check the lean before we touch anything else.
In most cases we can retrofit it. The gate panel itself usually has decades of life left, but the posts, hinges, and any attached hardware need to be assessed first. We can add a modern operator with photocells and edge sensors to an original ornamental gate, provided the post can be reset stable enough to carry the load. If the iron is rusted through at the hinge stile or the post is corroded below grade, replacement may be cheaper than a patch. We’ll show you the condition and quote both paths honestly.
Look for three things: does the gate reverse when it meets resistance, is the control board showing any error codes, and is the operator’s mounting bracket still attached to something solid. If the gate no longer reverses properly, that’s a safety problem, not a convenience problem. Don’t keep using it. Call us and we’ll diagnose the board and the mounting before recommending repair or replacement; we carry BFT, Linear, Viking, and Ghost Controls parts on the truck.
Yes, if the gate is automated and leads to a vehicle area. A keypad tells the gate to open when someone enters a code, but a loop detector senses when a vehicle is sitting in the gate’s path and holds it open, then closes after the vehicle clears. Without a loop, a gate can close on the car, or sit open because someone pulled through slowly and the timer expired. On Lakewood alleys, where cars back out into the gate path regularly, a loop is cheap insurance. We install them with all automated alley gates.
Resetting a single leaning post in Lakewood typically runs $500-$1,100, including excavation through the clay, a new concrete footing below the active heave zone, and re-hanging the existing gate with fresh hardware. If the post itself is rusted through or the gate panel is pulling away, the number changes. Call (325) 936-1371 and we’ll give you a written quote for the exact post, before any work begins.
If your gate is sagging, dragging, or stopped working entirely, call (325) 936-1371. A live person answers. We’ll set a time that actually works for you, show up, and tell you straight what it’ll take to make the gate right. Hal Gatewood has been at this since 2001, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise means if it’s not right, he comes back. The name is on the shop and the shop is down the road. That’s the oldest kind of accountability there is.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate.