Free on-site gate assessment - hinges, posts, and your LiftMaster or Nice gate operator checked before anything is quoted
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Fast, Reliable Gate Access Control Across Fort Worth
Gate access control in Fort Worth comes down to one question: does the system open when you want it to, and stay closed when you don’t? We’ve been answering that question for homeowners and property managers across Tarrant County since 2001, and we answer it with a live person on the phone any hour of the day or night. If your keypad is dead, your remote only works from ten feet away, or your gate has started acting up after the last ice storm, call us at (817) 241-4067. We’ll tell you honestly whether it’s a job we can handle on the spot or whether you’re better off replacing the operator entirely.
What makes Fort Worth different, and what most generic gate companies miss, is that this city spans two very different worlds. East of downtown you’ve got HOA-governed subdivisions with automated slide gates and video intercoms at the entrance. West toward Benbrook and Aledo, you’ve got ranch properties with solar openers on pipe gates, and the same red clay that makes the prairie grass grow is under all of it, shifting with every rain and drought cycle. A tech who only knows one side of that equation is going to misdiagnose half the jobs he takes. We know both sides because we work both sides every week.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Fort Worth’s Preferred Gate Access Control Company
Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road, not three states away. That’s the oldest accountability there is, and it’s the reason people in Fort Worth keep our number in their phone. We’ve been locally owned and owner-operated since 2001, with a published address and license number anyone can look up before they let us on their property. When you call, the person who answers is one of us, not a call center routing a ticket. And when the job needs a weld or a part that’s acting strange, Hal himself is likely the one standing in your driveway.
Every job we do in Fort Worth carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. Not buried in fine print, not “up to” or “in most cases.” If it’s not done right, one call brings us back. We also offer upfront pricing that doesn’t change at the door: $40 off any repair over $200, a free second opinion on any written estimate you’ve gotten from another company, no trip charge anywhere inside the county, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. You’ll know the price before we touch a tool, and that price is what you’ll pay.
Response time to Fort Worth is same-day for access control failures, because we know a gate stuck open or stuck shut isn’t an inconvenience you can schedule around. It’s a security issue. We stock parts for the brands Fort Worth homes actually have: LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. That means we’re not ordering a board and hoping it shows up by Thursday. We’re fixing the gate today.
Our Gate Access Control Services in Fort Worth
Access control isn’t one thing. It’s the keypad at the driveway, the remote in your visor, the intercom at the gate, the card reader at the HOA entrance, and the loop detector buried in the concrete. Here’s how we handle the systems we see most often in Fort Worth.
Keypad Entry
Keypads are the most common failure point on Fort Worth gates because they sit outside in the sun, the ice, and the dust. On older Fairmount and Ryan Place homes, we regularly see keypad entry systems that won’t engage because the gate panel itself has sagged from a rotted hinge post in the Blackland Prairie clay, misaligning the latch and the strike plate. We fix that from the post up rather than soldering a new keypad onto a gate that’s still going to sag next spring. A typical keypad replacement or reprogramming in Fort Worth runs $180 to $340, and if the keypad is fine but the gate won’t latch, we’ll tell you that plainly instead of selling you a part you don’t need.

Remote Control
If your remote only opens the gate from twenty feet, the problem is usually not the remote itself. It’s the receiver, the antenna, or interference from the aluminum and steel construction common in newer Fort Worth subdivisions. We test the signal path before we start swapping parts, because a new remote paired to a receiver with a failing antenna is just money spent on the wrong thing. Remote signal troubleshooting and receiver replacement in Fort Worth runs $140 to $280, and we carry remotes for LiftMaster, Linear, and Viking on the truck.

Phone Entry
Phone entry systems are the standard at multi-property gates and larger Fort Worth estates, and they fail in ways that are predictable if you know the climate. Freeze-thaw cycles from North Texas ice storms can seize the relay that gives the gate its “open” command, and summer heat can kill the cellular modem in a poorly ventilated enclosure. We replace the board, not the whole system, whenever the board is the actual problem. Phone entry repair in Fort Worth typically runs $260 to $480 depending on whether it’s a relay replacement or a full board swap.

Card Reader
Card readers at Fort Worth HOA entrances and commercial properties take a beating from sun, rain, and the occasional fender. We replace worn strikers, re-seal enclosures, and re-pair readers to the gate controller. We also handle the loop detector side of the system, which is where a lot of card reader “failures” actually live: the gate arms, the reader reads the card, but the loop detector never tells the operator a vehicle is waiting. That’s a calibration issue, not a card issue. Card reader service in Fort Worth runs $200 to $420.

Loop Detectors and Video Intercoms
Loop detectors are the buried wires that tell an automated gate when a car is present. On Fort Worth’s expansive clay soil, these loops shift. After a freeze-thaw cycle or a wet spring, the calibration drifts and the gate either stays open, closes on a car, or reverses mid-travel. Fixing the loop means re-cutting and re-sealing the saw cut, then recalibrating the detector to the new wire position. That’s a $350 to $650 repair, and it’s one of the most misdiagnosed problems in the entire access control trade. Video intercoms are the other growth area: many Fort Worth homeowners are adding them to existing gates rather than replacing the whole system. We can retrofit a video intercom onto most gates built after about 1990, provided there’s a power source nearby and a place to mount the camera. Expect $700 to $1,300 for a full video intercom retrofit, including wiring and setup.

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 Fort Worth
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, so we’re not guessing when we open a control box in Fort Worth: LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. BFT and Linear are heavily represented in Fort Worth’s HOA communities, and Ghost Controls units show up all the time on solar ranch gates to the west, where there’s no grid power at the gate line. Because we work both sides of the Fort Worth market, we stock linear actuators, solar panel charge controllers, and loop detector modules in the truck. You won’t wait three days for a part from a warehouse.
Common Gate Access Control Problems We See in Fort Worth Homes
- Clay soil heaving the gate out of alignment. Fort Worth sits on Blackland Prairie clay that swells with spring rain and shrinks in summer drought. Shallow hinge posts from the 1920s through 1940s in Fairmount and Ryan Place move with that clay, dropping the gate an inch or two until the keypad and latch no longer line up. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
- Freeze-thaw damage to loop detectors and relays. Ice storms are the real killer here, not heat. When water freezes in the saw cut around a loop detector, it expands and shifts the wire. Come spring, the gate behaves erratically. We re-cut and recalibrate these loops every year in Fort Worth.
- Solar gate opener failures on west-side ranch properties. Red clay dust kicked up by spring rains coats the solar panel and photo-eye on pipe gates near Benbrook and Aledo, cutting the charge and blocking the safety beam. The remote still sends a signal. The gate just doesn’t have the voltage to move.
- Obsolete control boards with no replacement path. We see 15- and 20-year-old access control boards in Fort Worth that the manufacturer stopped supporting years ago. Sometimes a new board retrofits cleanly. Sometimes the honest answer is that a new operator costs less than chasing a dying system with patch repairs.
Pricing for Gate Access Control in Fort Worth, TX
Here are the actual numbers we quote in Fort Worth, and these are the ranges, not the opening bid. A keypad replacement runs $180 to $340. Remote receiver troubleshooting runs $140 to $280. Phone entry repair runs $260 to $480. Card reader service runs $200 to $420. Loop detector repair and recalibration runs $350 to $650. A video intercom retrofit runs $700 to $1,300. Every price is quoted and agreed in writing before any work starts. We don’t surprise you at the door, because the number on our work order is the number you approved.
What changes the price is the condition of what’s already there. A clean retrofit onto a properly set post is faster than a repair on a gate that’s been sagging for three years, so the post work gets priced separately and honestly. Call (817) 241-4067 for a free estimate. The number we give you is the number you’ll pay.
We Also Serve Cities Near Fort Worth
Beyond Fort Worth itself, our Gate Access Control team works in Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Hurst, and Kennedale on a regular basis. If you’re in one of those areas and your gate is acting up, we’re already on the road near you. Learn more about our work across the Dallas-Fort Worth region on our Gate Access Control in Fort Worth page, or just call the number below and talk to a person.
Serving Fort Worth, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Fort Worth 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 Access Control in Fort Worth
The ice storm itself is rarely what breaks your gate. What breaks it is water freezing inside the saw cut around your loop detector or inside the relay enclosure, expanding as ice, and shifting the wiring just enough to throw off the calibration. When it warms up, the gate reverses mid-travel or stays open because the detector no longer knows where a car is. We fix this by re-cutting and re-sealing the loop saw cut and recalibrating the detector to the new wire position. Call (817) 241-4067 and we’ll get it sorted before the next freeze.
Yes, in most cases. A video intercom retrofit works fine on gates built from about 1990 onward, as long as there’s a power source at the gate and a clear spot to mount the camera and speaker. Older ornamental iron gates from the 1920s through 1940s in Fairmount and Ryan Place sometimes need a new gate panel or a rebuilt hinge post before the intercom can work, because the gate itself has to close squarely for the latch to engage. We’ll tell you if the retrofit is worth doing or if you’re better off replacing the gate and intercom together. Estimates are free at (817) 241-4067.
A slide gate runs on a track and uses a loop detector to know when a car is present, while a swing gate pivots on hinge posts and relies more heavily on the posts staying square in the ground. On Fort Worth clay, swing gates fail more often because the hinge posts heave. Slide gates fail differently: the loop detector wires shift with the soil, and the gate either won’t close or closes too early. Your access control components, keypads, card readers, remotes, work the same on both types, but the failure points are completely different. That’s why we diagnose the gate type first.
No. A working remote should open the gate from 50 to 100 feet or more, depending on terrain. If you’re getting 20 feet, the problem is usually the receiver antenna inside the control box, interference from metal fencing or building materials, or a failing receiver board. Sometimes a fresh battery fixes it, but if it doesn’t, we test the antenna and receiver first, because replacing the remote won’t fix a receiver problem. Call (817) 241-4067 and we’ll figure out which side is actually failing.
Yes, and not just because they’re required by safety code. Photo-eyes are what stop the gate from closing on a horse, a kid, or a trailer. On ranch properties west of Fort Worth, those photo-eyes get caked with red clay dust after spring rains, and that’s why the gate starts acting up. The safety beam gets blocked, the gate reverses or refuses to close, and the remote seems dead when the remote was never the problem. We clean, re-align, and when needed, replace the photo-eyes so the safety system works as designed. It’s the difference between a gate and a liability.
If your gate access control system is giving you trouble anywhere in Fort Worth, call us at (817) 241-4067. You’ll talk to a person, get a straight answer, and get a price that doesn’t change when we show up. Free estimates, no trip charge inside the county, and a 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing on every job we do.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Fort Worth since 2001.





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