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 Arlington
Gate installation in Arlington usually means one of two jobs: hanging a new gate on an existing fence line, or building and setting a complete gate and post structure from scratch. Either way, the real cost driver in Arlington is what’s under the dirt. The clay soils here expand when wet and shrink when dry, walking posts out of plumb season after season. If the post isn’t set right, the gate fails no matter how much you paid for the latch. Hal Gatewood has been setting posts and hanging gates in North Texas since 2001, and he’ll tell you the hole matters more than the hinges. Call (817) 241-4067 and you’ll get a live person, not a phone tree, any hour of the day.
We serve every corner of Arlington, from the 1970s ranch subdivisions off Cooper Street to the newer master-planned communities south of I-20. If you’re in central Arlington near the University of Texas campus, or out east toward the Grand Prairie line, we’re familiar with what your gate was built on and what it’s doing now.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Arlington’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop and on every invoice. We don’t work through a call center and we don’t send someone you’ll never see again. When we hang a gate in Arlington, the person who measured it is the person who builds it, and if something’s not right, one phone call brings us back. Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not done right, we make it right. That’s the whole sentence.
We answer the phone at (817) 241-4067 with a live person, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You won’t leave a voicemail and hope. Dispatch and scheduling run from our Dallas-Fort Worth office, and crews serve Arlington locally, so we can be in your driveway quickly when a gate goes down or a post shifts out of plumb. Homeowners across Arlington have called us about sagging single swing gates off Park Row Drive, automated driveway gates in the Viridian area, and pedestrian gates along Collins Street. The work is local, and the person doing it lives within driving distance.
Arlington is not a town where you can hang a gate on a shallow post and drive away. We know the soil here. We know what a 1985 cedar frame looks like when it’s been through 40 Texas summers. And we know the difference between a hinge adjustment and a real fix. That local knowledge is what keeps our Arlington customers calling back when they add a second gate or finally automate the one they’ve been swinging by hand for 20 years.
Our Gate Installation Services in Arlington
We install every kind of gate Arlington homeowners ask for, and we build them to stay square through the clay soil’s wet-dry cycle. Here’s what we do most often:
Driveway Gate
A driveway gate in Arlington is usually a single swing gate on the alley side or a wider double gate on the street side. In the older ranch neighborhoods north of Pioneer Parkway, driveway gates are often 10 to 12 feet wide and hung on 4×4 posts that have heaved out of plumb over 40 years. We set posts with a deeper, belled concrete footing so the gate doesn’t drag by August. If you want an automated opener on it, we’ll talk through operator selection before we dig the first hole, because the opener depends on the post being solid, not the other way around.
Pedestrian Gate
Pedestrian gates in Arlington take the most abuse because they’re used daily and often hung on lightweight posts at the side of the house. Around east Arlington and the subdivisions off Division Street, we see pedestrian gates whose bottom rails have rotted out from splash-back against concrete walkways. We build new pedestrian gates with pressure-treated frames and proper hinge spacing, and we set the latch side so it doesn’t bind when the clay shifts. A pedestrian gate should close with one hand, every month of the year.
Sliding Gate
Sliding gates make sense on Arlington lots with short driveway aprons or steep slopes where a swing gate would drag. Most sliding gates in Arlington are on newer properties south of I-20, where lots are tighter and driveway automation is expected. We install track and cantilever style sliding gates, set the concrete track base below grade, and adjust the rollers after the first wet season. Sliding gates need a flat, stable run, and in Arlington clay, that means proper base prep before the track ever goes in.
Swing Gate
Swing gates are the standard gate for Arlington’s older subdivisions, and they’re the ones most likely to fail at the post. In the 1975 to 1985 neighborhoods through central Arlington, the original posts were set in shallow concrete collars. Decades of wet springs and dry summers have walked those posts sideways, so the gate that latched fine in April won’t close by September. We reset the post with a deep, belled footing and hang the gate square. That’s the difference between a gate that holds and a gate you adjust every season.
We also install double gates, security gates, and ornamental iron gates. If you’re not sure what style fits your lot, we’ll come out, look at the ground, look at the fence line, and tell you what will actually work in Arlington’s soil and heat.
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 Arlington
We’re certified to install and service nine major gate brands, including LiftMaster, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, FAAC, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. For Arlington homeowners, that means we’re not locked into selling one brand and hoping it fits your gate. If you’re automating an existing swing gate, a Ghost Controls or Viking operator often retrofits cleanly onto a wood gate post. For heavier driveway gates, a BFT or LiftMaster operator gives you the torque you need without straining the motor. We stock common parts locally, so when an Arlington gate opener fails, we’re not waiting on a shipment from across the country to get you back to working.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Arlington Homes
- Posts walked out of plumb by clay soil. The expansive clay under Arlington expands in wet weather and shrinks in drought, shifting posts a little each cycle. A gate that worked in April drags by late June. The fix is resetting the post in a deeper, belled footing, not cranking the hinges again.
- Rotted wood frames on 30 to 50-year-old gates. Most original Arlington privacy gates from the 1970s and 1980s were built from cedar or pine with no rot treatment at the bottom rail. Four decades of rain splash and Texas sun leave the frame split and the hinges pulling out of punk wood.
- Rusted strap hinges tearing out. On old Arlington gates, the strap hinges are often original and rusted through from the inside. When the gate sags, someone tightens the hinge, and the screws rip out of the frame. We replace the hinge with a heavier one and bolt through, not just lag into, the post.
- Retrofitted openers failing on heaving posts. We see Arlington gates where a previous company bolted an automated opener onto a post that was already moving in the clay. Within a season, the rack and pinion gears strip and the loop detector false-trips. The opener wasn’t the problem. The post was. We fix the post first, then hang the operator.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Arlington, TX
A new pedestrian gate in Arlington typically runs $450 to $900, depending on width, material, and whether we’re setting new posts or hanging on existing ones that are still solid. A single swing driveway gate usually falls between $900 and $1,800, including new posts when needed. A full double driveway gate with new posts, frame, and hardware runs $1,800 to $3,500. Adding an automated opener with safety photocells typically adds $800 to $1,600, depending on the operator and whether we’re running power to the gate. Sliding gates run higher, usually $2,500 to $5,000, because of the concrete track base and heavier frame.
We quote every Arlington gate installation before any work starts. That price is the price. We don’t add surprises at the door. Estimates are free, and if the post is the real problem, we’ll tell you that before we hang a new gate on a post that’s moving. Call (817) 241-4067 and we’ll schedule a free measure and written quote.
Standing offers for Arlington customers: $40 off any repair over $200, no trip charge inside the county, a free second opinion on any written estimate, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans.
We Also Serve Cities Near Arlington
We work throughout the mid-cities and surrounding communities, including Arlington, Kennedale, Fort Worth, Hurst, and North Richland Hills. If you’re on the Arlington-Kennedale line or just north in North Richland Hills, we’ll come out the same way we do for our Arlington customers, with a live person answering the phone and a straight price before any work begins. The Gate Installation team at Gatewood Fence & Gate covers the whole area.
Serving Arlington, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Arlington 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 Arlington
Your post is moving in the expansive clay soil that runs under most of Arlington. Spring rain swells the soil and pushes the post one direction. Summer drought shrinks it and the post settles back the other way. A few cycles of that and the post is out of plumb, which throws the latch alignment off and makes the gate drag or swing open. The real fix is digging out the old post, augering a deeper hole, and setting a new post in a belled concrete footing that extends below the active clay zone. Adjusting the hinges buys you a month. Resetting the post buys you decades. Call (817) 241-4067 and we’ll tell you which one your gate needs.
Yes, if the post is still solid and the gate frame isn’t rotted through. We retrofit openers from Ghost Controls, Viking, and LiftMaster onto existing wood swing gates all over Arlington. The catch is the post. If it’s a 1980s post that’s been walking in the clay for 40 years, the opener will fight the movement and strip its gears within a season or two. We’ll check the post first, reset it if it’s moving, then hang the operator. A retrofit on a stable post is a good investment. A retrofit on a heaving post is a repair you’ll make twice.
For Arlington’s heat, ornamental iron or steel tube frames hold up better over time than wood, because 100-degree summers and UV exposure split wood boards fast. But the material matters less than the post and the footing. A steel gate hung on a shallow post in Arlington clay will bind and drag the same as a wood one. If you want wood, use pressure-treated or cedar with proper sealing, and expect to reface boards every decade or so. If you want the longest life with the least maintenance, we recommend a steel or iron gate set on deep, belled concrete footings. Either way, the ground is the issue, not the panel.
Yes. Any automated gate in Arlington should have safety photocells and a reversing edge, both to meet current safety standards and to protect kids, pets, and vehicles that cross the gate path. We install operators with photocells across the gate opening and a safety edge that stops the gate if it contacts something. An automated gate that closes on its own is a safety hazard without these, and we won’t leave a gate without them.
Look at the post and the frame. If the post has heaved out of plumb more than a couple of inches and the frame is rotted at the bottom rail or split along the stiles, replacement is usually cheaper than repeated repair. We replaced a 1987 swing gate in a central Arlington ranch subdivision a while back where the original cedar frame had split along every stile and the hinge post had heaved 3 inches out of plumb from the clay. We pulled the old post, augered a 36-inch belled footing, set a new pressure-treated post, and hung a custom 6-foot gate with a LiftMaster operator and safety photocells. Six months later the gate still closes square, even after a wet spring and a 100-degree summer. If your gate is that far gone, patching it is throwing money at a post that’s still moving. Call (817) 241-4067 for an honest read on which way to go.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Arlington and the surrounding communities since 2001.