Gate Installation in Glendale, CA

A gate is the only part of a fence with moving parts, which is why it is almost always the first thing to fail. A simple walk gate runs about $350 to $1,600 depending on the material, and a driveway gate runs anywhere from $1,400 for a basic wood one up to $12,000 or more for automatic iron. Most gate calls we get are not new fences. They are a gate that dropped, dragged, or stopped latching on a fence that is otherwise fine.

The reason gates fail is simple. A fence panel just stands there, but a gate hangs off one post and swings, so all its weight pulls on that single post every time somebody opens it. Do that a few thousand times and the post leans, and once the post leans the gate drags and stops latching. Almost every sagging gate in Glendale is a post problem rather than a gate problem.

That is why a good gate job spends most of the money underground and on hardware. The gate post goes deeper than the run posts and gets more concrete. On a vinyl gate it needs steel inside it. On a wide wood gate it usually wants a diagonal brace or a steel frame so the gate cannot rack out of square under its own weight.

What Actually Goes Wrong With Gates Here

Driveway gates are their own project. Anything automatic brings in an electrician for the power, a safety loop or sensor so it cannot close on a car, and a separate approval on top of the fence work. On the hillside streets there is a further catch, which is that a driveway on a grade needs either a swing gate with enough flat ground to open into, or a sliding gate with enough room alongside to slide.

What A Gate Costs In Glendale

The post is the first thing, and it is the same story that ends wood fences in this city. Sprinkler spray keeps the bottom of the post damp several times a week through seven dry months, and a gate post carrying swinging weight fails a lot sooner than a run post just standing there. If your gate has dropped, look at the post before you look at the gate.

Hardware is the second. Hinges and latches are the parts doing the actual work, and cheap ones are where a cheap gate gets cheap. On a pool gate this is not just a nuisance, because state law requires the gate to close and latch by itself every time, with the latch sitting sixty inches up or higher. A self closing hinge that has gone lazy is a failed pool barrier.

Wind is the third, and it hits driveway gates hardest. A wide solid gate in one of the Verdugo canyons is a large flat surface catching downhill Santa Ana wind, and that load goes straight into the hinges and the post. Contractors who work those streets often use an open iron design or leave a gap at the bottom so the wind passes through.

How Long It Takes

Ground clearance is the fourth, and it is the one people cause themselves. A gate hung tight to the ground looks neat on day one, then the first winter rain settles the ground or lifts it and the gate starts dragging. On a slope it is worse, because a gate swinging downhill needs clearance that a level gate does not.