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 Access Control Across Hurst
Gate access control in Hurst most often comes down to two things: getting power to a wide swing gate, and keeping that gate square when the clay underneath it moves. That’s the real starting point here, not the keypad. In this city, the same expansive clay that built those 1955-1980 ranch homes also tilts gate hinge posts several inches per season, so a keypad or operator installed on a drifting post will lose alignment and fail entrapment tests within a year unless the footing is addressed first. Hal Gatewood has been sorting out exactly this kind of problem since 2001, and a live person answers our phone at (817) 241-4067 any hour you want to talk about what your gate is doing.
We’re not some call center three states away. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our Dallas-Fort Worth office, but the person who shows up at your gate off Pipeline Road or Precinct Line Road is one of us, driving a Gatewood truck, carrying tools that get used, not carried around for show.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Hurst’s Preferred Gate Access Control Company
When someone in Hurst calls us about a gate keypad that eats batteries, a swing gate that drags in July, or an opener that reverses for no reason, they get Hal or one of his crew on the line. Not a dispatcher reading a script. The person who answers will ask what the gate is doing, what neighborhood you’re in, and what brand of operator is on the post. Because that’s how you figure out whether it’s the board, the limit switch, or the post shifted in the clay.
We’ve been at this since 2001, owner-operated the whole time. My name is on the shop, and any Hurst customer can drive to the shop and look me in the eye. That’s the oldest accountability there is. Every job we do in Hurst carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing, not buried in fine print. If it’s not done right, one call brings us back. No runaround.
Our crew knows the neighborhoods here. We know the 1960s ranchers off Pipeline Road. We know the tract homes along Precinct Line Road where the latch-side post has drifted inward two inches because its 1970s footing tilted in the clay. That’s the difference between swapping a keypad and actually fixing the gate.
Our Gate Access Control Services in Hurst
Here’s what we actually do in Hurst, and where each service runs into local conditions. We don’t sell you a box of hardware and wave goodbye. We make the system work on your gate, on your post, in your soil.
Keypad Entry
A keypad entry system in Hurst usually means a wired or wireless keypad mounted near the gate, tied into an operator that was installed years ago, maybe decades. The failure we see most in Hurst’s older ranch neighborhoods isn’t the keypad itself. It’s the 1970s low-voltage wiring buried along the fence line that’s been nicked by post resetting or tree roots, dropping power to the controller. We trace that wiring, fix the break, then program the keypad so it actually holds its codes. If the post has drifted, we fix that first. A keypad on a leaning post is a keypad that won’t align with the latch, no matter what code you punch in.
Remote Control
Remote controls for gates in Hurst run into the same thing remotes run into everywhere: dead batteries, lost remotes, changed codes. But we also see remotes that work fine until the gate hits a hot summer week, when the wood frame swells and the operator draws more current, tripping the limit and kicking the remote out of sync. We service remotes for Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, Mighty Mule, and the other major brands we carry. If your remote works in the morning and not in the afternoon during a Hurst heat wave, that’s a real diagnostic clue, not a coincidence.
Phone Entry
Phone entry systems let you buzz the gate open with a call, a text, or an app. In Hurst, these systems work great until the gate’s power or internet goes down, or until the controller’s firmware gets out of date and starts dropping entries. We install and service phone entry systems on both swing and slide gates, and we make sure the system is wired so a power blip in a Tarrant County storm doesn’t lock you out of your own driveway.
Card Reader
Card readers show up on Hurst rent-home gates and small HOA entrances more than people expect. They’re simple, but they’re also the first thing to fail when the gate itself isn’t closing square. A card reader that passes a fob but won’t open the gate is usually not a card reader problem. It’s the gate’s position sensor, or the operator’s limit switch, or the post that moved. We fix the root cause, not just re-fob and leave.
We also handle loop detectors, smart access systems, video intercoms, and full operator replacement when the time comes. If it opens or closes or decides who gets in, it’s on our list.
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 Hurst
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, and in Hurst we do a lot of work on Ghost Controls, DoorKing, and Elite operators. Because that’s what people here have. We keep common parts for those brands in our trucks, so when a DoorKing board goes out or a Ghost Controls arm starts flexing, we don’t have to order it in and make you wait a week. We also service LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, and Mighty Mule. If you’ve got a brand we didn’t list, call (817) 241-4067 and ask. Nine times out of ten, we can help.
Common Gate Access Control Problems We See in Hurst Homes
These are the calls we get from Hurst homeowners over and over. Not the generic stuff. The stuff that happens here.
- Clay heave tilts the hinge post inward, so the swing gate drags every summer. The concrete footing from the 1960s or 1970s wasn’t poured deep enough for Tarrant County clay, and thirty or forty seasons of wet-dry cycles have moved the post two to three inches. The gate drags, the safety photocell beam gets blocked, and the operator shuts down in a fault loop.
- Solar gate openers on wide rural gates lose charge when the panel is shaded or angled wrong. Hurst has plenty of wide farm-style gates off Precinct Line Road and Pipeline Road where mains power isn’t practical. A solar panel that’s shaded by overgrown cedar or angled for a summer sun path will leave the gate dead after a short winter day, especially following a hard freeze.
- Keypad systems fail because 1970s low-voltage wiring gets nicked by post resetting or roots. The wire runs along the fence line, shallow, often run decades ago without conduit. Post resetting, fence work, even just tree root growth can cut or short it, and suddenly the keypad has no power at all.
- Gates close too fast after a rain, slamming on the latch post. Wet clay expands, the gate binds, and the operator’s torque sensor misreads it. The result is a gate that slams shut right when the homeowner is walking through. That’s a safety problem and an entrapment hazard, and it needs a technician who understands why it’s happening, not just someone who adjusts the close speed and leaves.
Pricing for Gate Access Control in Hurst, TX
Here are real numbers for Hurst. A keypad entry installation typically runs $250-$450, depending on wired versus wireless and how far the wire run is. Phone entry systems usually land in the $450-$750 range. A card reader install is typically $300-$500. Video intercom systems run $500-$950. If an operator needs replacing, a basic swing gate operator starts around $650 installed, and a heavier slide gate operator for a wide farm-style gate can run $1,100-$1,600. Loop detectors add about $250-$400.
The number we quote is the number you pay. Every estimate is free, and the price is agreed before any work starts. We don’t show up and discover a reason to charge more. If we find a bigger problem when we get in there, we stop, show you, and quote it before we touch another thing. That’s just how we work.
We Also Serve Cities Near Hurst
We handle Gate Access Control work across the mid-cities, and if you’re in North Richland Hills, Bedford, Colleyville, or Euless, we’ll come to you. The clay is a little different block to block, but the problems rhyme. We’re Gate Access Control in Hurst specialists, and the phone rings the same live person whether you’re off Precinct Line Road or just across the line in Euless.
Serving Hurst, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Hurst 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 Hurst
Because North Texas clay expands and contracts with moisture swings, and your hinge post has probably drifted out of square. The concrete footing it sits in wasn’t poured deep enough to anchor against decades of Tarrant County wet-dry cycles, so the post tilts several inches into the gate’s path every summer as the clay dries and shrinks. No keypad, remote, or limit switch adjustment will fix that for long. The post needs resetting in a deeper, wider footing first, then the operator re-leveled and recalibrated. Call (817) 241-4067 and we’ll come look at it. The estimate is free.
Yes, in most cases. A solar panel paired with the right battery bank will run a swing gate operator even off-grid, but the panel placement and angle matter more in Hurst than people expect. Short winter days and a panel angled for summer sun will leave the battery dead right when you need the gate to work. We size the panel, battery, and operator to your gate’s weight and your actual sun exposure, not a spec-sheet guess. Call us and we’ll measure it properly before you spend money on a solar kit that underperforms.
Nine times out of ten in Hurst’s older ranch neighborhoods, the gate has shifted on its post - or the post has shifted in the clay - and something is binding or blocking the safety sensor. The operator gets confused, reads the resistance as an obstruction, and reverses. It’s not a keypad problem. The fix starts with checking the post and the swing path, then recalibrating the limits and entrapment sensors once the gate is square again. Call (817) 241-4067 and describe what you’re seeing. We’ll tell you over the phone whether it sounds like a sensor or a structural problem.
Yes, legally and practically. Any new operator we install in Hurst, retrofit or not, gets current UL 325 entrapment protection: safety photocells, a reversing edge or equivalent, and correct force settings. Older gates often never had this. When we put a smart opener or new keypad system on an existing gate, we bring the safety features up to current code at the same time. It’s part of the job, not an add-on you have to ask for.
After a rain, the clay around your gate’s posts swells and the gate binds slightly, which confuses the operator’s torque sensing and can cause it to overshoot the close limit. If your gate is slamming, something is already moving out of alignment. It’s a safety headache and an entrapment risk. We’ll find the bind, reset what’s out of square, and recalibrate the close speed so it shuts soft every time. Call (817) 241-4067 for a free estimate before it slams on someone trying to walk through.
One More Thing About Hurst
We got called out to a 1960s rancher off Pipeline Road where the homeowner’s new smart keypad kept losing sync every few weeks. Our tech found the latch-side post had drifted inward two inches as its 1970s concrete footing tilted in the clay, dragging the gate and flexing the operator arm. We reset the post in a deeper, wider footing, re-hung the swing gate square, and recalibrated the Loop Detector and safety photocells. Then we programmed the keypad entry and a LiftMaster remote so the system finally held its limits through the next big rain. That’s what a real fix looks like in Hurst. The name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road.
If your gate won’t open, won’t close, won’t hold a code, or just doesn’t listen anymore, call Hal at (817) 241-4067. You’ll get a live person, a straight answer, and a free estimate. The price is agreed before any work starts. That’s the way it’s been since 2001.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Hurst since 2001.