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 Richland Hills
Gate repair in Richland Hills usually comes down to one thing: the soil under your posts. Most gates in this city drag, bind, or refuse to latch because the near-side hinge post has tilted as the Blackland Prairie clay dried out and shrank beneath it. That’s a footing problem, not a hinge problem, and it’s the first thing we check. Hal Gatewood has been fixing gates the right way since 2001, and our crew works throughout Richland Hills weekly. If your gate is giving you trouble, call (817) 241-4067 and a live person picks up, day or night.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Richland Hills’s Preferred Gate Repair Company
Richland Hills is a tight, 2.8-square-mile residential city where neighbors talk. Word gets around fast, and we’ve earned our reputation here the slow way: by showing up when we say we will and fixing the post instead of just the hinge. We’re locally owned and owner-operated. Hal’s name is on the shop and every invoice, and our address is published so anyone can look us up or stop by. That’s the oldest accountability there is.
Our Gate Repair crew has worked on gates all over town, from the 1950s ranch houses near Richland Park to the streets off Rufe Snow Drive and Baker Boulevard. We know these lots. We know their original concrete footings were poured too shallow for the clay movement that happens here. When a Richland Hills customer calls about a gate that will not close, we already know what we’ll likely find before the truck rolls up.
Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not done right, Hal comes back and makes it right. No runaround, no fine print. That promise, plus upfront pricing and the fact that a live person answers the phone 24/7, is why homeowners in Richland Hills keep our number in their phone.
Our Gate Repair Services in Richland Hills
Hinge & Post Repair
This is the work we do most in Richland Hills, and it’s where most other companies fall short. On these older lots, the original 1950s to 1970s gate footings were poured maybe 18 to 24 inches deep. That’s nowhere near deep enough for the seasonal shrink-swell of Tarrant County clay. The post footing pivots underground, the post leans toward the yard, and suddenly the gate drags across the driveway. We reset the post in a concrete collar at least 36 inches down, below the active clay zone, then rehang the gate with new bearing hinges. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
Gate Realignment
A gate that looks straight but will not latch is usually out of plane because the hinge post has shifted a fraction of an inch at the base, which translates to a big swing at the gate’s free edge. In Richland Hills, this shows up most in late summer after the long 100°F stretches bake the clay, and again in fall after the first heavy rains rehydrate it. That’s the busiest season for realignment calls in this area. We do not just adjust the latch plate and call it done. We check the hinge post, the gate’s plane, and the striker alignment, then correct what actually moved.
Electric Gate Repair
Automatic gate operators on Richland Hills properties often stop working because the gate’s geometry has changed, not because the motor failed. When the hinge post shifts, the gate’s arc changes and the safety photocells lose alignment. The system trips, the gate stops mid-cycle, or the opener grinds. We service LiftMaster, BFT, Linear, and other major brands. Our repair-first approach means we diagnose the post movement and correct it before recalibrating the operator, so the fix lasts instead of failing again in eight weeks.
Automatic Gate Repair
If your gate opener runs but the gate binds or reverses, the problem is usually the gate itself, not the circuit board. On Richland Hills’s older ranch houses, the operator is often a retrofit bolted onto a gate that was never built for automation in the first place. The hinges are worn, the post has moved, and the operator is fighting the gate every cycle. We rehang, re-level, and recalibrate. A correctly hung gate lets the operator do its job with a fraction of the stress.
Lock Repair
The lock not latching is the symptom, not the disease. On Richland Hills lots with the original wooden privacy gates, the striker plate and the latch bolt drift apart as the clay moves through the year. We realign the gate to the post and the lock to the gate, then set the hardware so it holds through the next dry spell. We also replace worn keyed locks and add heavy-duty latches for those older cedar gates that are holding more weight than they were built for.
Weld & Rust Repair
Chain-link side-yard gates and steel driveway gates in Richland Hills have been through decades of North Texas heat and rain. We weld on site, at your property. We do not haul your gate off to a shop and leave your driveway open for a week. Broken hinge welds, rusted-through frame corners, sagging pickets, cracked operator brackets. Hal welds them in place, grinds them smooth, and paints or rust-treats the repair. If the gate can be saved, we save it.
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 Richland Hills
We’re certified to work on nine major gate operator brands, and around Richland Hills we most often see LiftMaster, BFT, and Linear openers on the older custom gates, plus Ghost Controls on newer retrofit installs. We keep common parts and safety sensors in the truck, so a lot of opener jobs are done in one trip. If your opener is a Viking or Mighty Mule, we handle those too. One call covers the operator and the gate it’s mounted on, which matters because on Richland Hills clay, the two are usually failing together.
Common Gate Repair Problems We See in Richland Hills Homes
- Gate drags starting in late summer. The clay under the hinge post dries and shrinks after months of 100°F heat, the post tilts toward the yard, and the gate’s free edge drops and scrapes the driveway. The fix is a post reset, not a hinge adjustment.
- Latch misses the striker plate. The gate may look square, but the entire plane shifted when the near-side post footing pivoted underground. This is the most common call we take in Richland Hills all year.
- Automatic opener keeps tripping or reversing. On older automatic gates, the safety photocell loses alignment when the post moves. The operator is not broken; it is protecting against an obstruction that is actually the gate itself shifting.
- Original 1960s post footing fails under a new gate. Homeowners replace an old wooden gate with heavier cedar or vinyl and hang it on the original shallow concrete footing. Within a season or two, the added weight and the clay movement pull the footing out of true. We set new posts in a 36-inch-minimum concrete collar to carry the load.
Pricing for Gate Repair in Richland Hills, TX
Here are the numbers for Richland Hills, straight from our most recent work in the area. A hinge adjustment or latch realignment on a wooden gate runs $90-$180. Post reset work, which is the proper fix for most dragging or non-latching gates here, typically runs $220-$450 per post depending on depth, concrete volume, and whether we’re salvaging the original post or setting a new one. Electric gate repair, meaning diagnosing an operator, realigning the safety sensors, and rechecking limit settings, runs $145-$320. Full automatic gate operator replacement runs $850-$2,400 depending on brand and gate weight. Weld and rust repair runs $120-$400 depending on the extent of corrosion. The price is quoted and agreed before any work starts, and it does not change when the job is done. Free estimates, no trip charge inside the county, $40 off any repair over $200, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. Call (817) 241-4067 for your exact quote.
What One Richland Hills Gate Job Actually Looked Like
We reset the hinge post on a sagging swing gate off Labadie Drive where the original 1960s footing had heaved out of square. The post was leaning a good two inches toward the yard, the gate was dragging across the concrete, and the LiftMaster operator’s safety photocell was tripping every cycle. Our crew dug down to 40 inches, poured a deeper concrete collar, and rehung the gate with new bearing hinges. Then we recalibrated the photocell to clear the corrected arc. The gate has been opening and latching cleanly since. That’s the thing about Richland Hills: show me the gate closing on its own and I’ll show you where the post is failing. The fix that lasts is the one that starts with the footing.
We Also Serve Cities Near Richland Hills
Our crews work Gate Repair in Richland Hills and the surrounding Tarrant County communities every week. If you’re in Arlington, Fort Worth, Colleyville, or Irving, we’re close by and we know the same clay, the same aging gate stock, and the same post-and-footing failures that plague this part of North Texas. Same pricing, same 90-Day Done Right Promise, same live person on the phone.
Serving Richland Hills, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Richland Hills 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 Richland Hills
Because the Blackland Prairie clay under your hinge post is shrinking in the dry heat and swelling after rain, and that movement tilts the post enough to drop the gate’s free edge. In Richland Hills, this is a soil problem first and a hardware problem second. We fix it by resetting the post in a concrete collar at least 36 inches deep, below the active clay zone, then rehanging the gate. Call (817) 241-4067 and we’ll look at the post before we touch the hinges.
The hinge post is likely shifting and the gate’s swing arc is changing, which knocks the safety photocells out of alignment. The operator thinks something is in the way and trips. We see this pattern constantly on Richland Hills’s 1950s through 1970s lots. The repair that lasts is resetting the post, then recalibrating the photocells and limits to the corrected arc. We’ll give you an exact quote before any work starts; estimates are free at (817) 241-4067.
Usually not. Those original footings were poured too shallow for today’s clay movement, and a heavier gate adds load they were never built to carry. Rehanging a new cedar or vinyl gate on 50-year-old footings means you’ll be calling us again in a year. We’ll evaluate the post condition, but in most cases we recommend setting new posts in a 36-inch-minimum concrete collar, which gives the gate a footing that can handle the weight and the clay. Call (817) 241-4067 for a free assessment.
Yes, we service solar openers from BFT, Linear, Ghost Controls, and others. For properties just outside Richland Hills with long driveway runs where running mains power is impractical, a solar operator with a properly sized panel and battery bank is a solid option. We can install, repair, and reprogram them. The same clay-movement issues apply, so we’ll check the post and hinge condition before we touch the operator. Free quotes at (817) 241-4067.
Yes. A gate that looks straight to the eye can still be out of plane enough that the latch bolt misses the striker plate. The cause is almost always the near-side hinge post tilting a fraction of an inch as the clay shifts beneath it. That tiny movement at the base becomes a big miss at the latch. We see it weekly across Richland Hills. The fix is to reset the post so the gate hangs true, then set the latch to hold through the next dry spell. Call (817) 241-4067 and we’ll confirm it on site.
Get Your Richland Hills Gate Fixed Right
If your gate drags, binds, will not latch, or the opener will not stop tripping, call (817) 241-4067. A live person answers, 24/7. We’ll give you an honest assessment over the phone, schedule a time to come out, and quote the price before we touch the gate. No trip charge inside the county. Free estimates. 90-Day Done Right Promise on everything. Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop, the shop is down the road, and that’s the oldest accountability there is.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, fixing gates across Tarrant County since 2001.