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 Northridge
Gate installation in Northridge is different from most of Los Angeles, and it starts with what’s under your feet. Northridge sits on the 1994 earthquake epicenter, and the rebuilding wave that followed means thousands of gates, posts, and footings installed between 1994 and 2000 are failing at the same time right now. That’s why we start every installation by checking the post footing, not the gate itself. If you’re on Tampa Avenue, near CSUN, or up in the neighborhoods west of Reseda Boulevard, call (760) 361-6706 and we’ll schedule a free estimate with Hal Gatewood’s crew, the people who answer the phone when you call.
We’ve been owner-operated since 2001, and our name is on the shop. When you call Gate Installation at Gatewood Fence & Gate, you get a real person who knows what a 1996 hinge post looks like when the footing underneath was poured too shallow to survive the next quake. That’s not something a call center three states away can tell you.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Northridge’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
We’re not a franchise and we don’t subcontract. Hal Gatewood started this company in 2001 and still shows up at the job site. Northridge homeowners call us because the person who quotes the work is the person who does the work, and because we publish our license number and address where anyone can look them up. The name is on the shop, and the shop is down the road, that’s the oldest accountability there is.
Our reviews from Northridge customers repeatedly mention two things: we show up in the window we promised, and we fix what the last company left behind. We’ve replaced gate posts on White Oak Avenue where a national outfit had bolted a new gate onto a post that was already leaning. We’ve rebuilt slide tracks on Lassen Street that had buckled in the heat and burned out a motor, and we’ve handled Gate Repair - Northridge jobs others couldn’t finish. These aren’t edge cases in Northridge, they’re the norm, and knowing the difference comes from doing this work here for 24 years.
Every job carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not done right, we make it right. One call brings Hal back, no runaround. We also answer calls with a live person 24/7, not a voicemail, not a chatbot. And our background-checked, uniformed crew, meaning Hal and the guys he’s trained, treat your driveway like it’s their own.
Our Gate Installation Services in Northridge
Driveway Gate Installation
A driveway gate in Northridge has to do two jobs: hold up to Santa Ana winds and stand on soil that’s been through a 6.7 magnitude quake. We spec the post depth, footing size, and gate frame to match the home’s earthquake history, not just the driveway width. Most Northridge driveway gates we install are steel frame with wood infill or powder-coated steel, and we weld on site so the gate stays in your driveway during the entire job.
Swing Gate Installation
Swing gates are the most common style on Northridge’s post-WWII ranch homes, and the most vulnerable to what the 1994 quake did to pilasters. We regularly pair a new swing gate with fresh concrete footings and stainless anchor bolts, because hanging a new panel on a cracked CMU pilaster is how you get a sagging gate in under a year. For double swing gates on wide Northridge driveways, we run steel frames with internal cross bracing to fight wind rock.
Sliding Gate Installation
Sliding gates make sense on Northridge lots with sloped or tight driveways where a swing arc won’t clear. But steel slide tracks expand in the Valley’s 105°F summers, and if the track was laid straight at 70 degrees, it binds at 105. We install cantilever and tracked slide systems with the thermal gap sized for Northridge’s actual summer heat, not a spec sheet written for coastal weather. We also set the rack and pinion alignment with the track at operating temperature, which is why our slide gates don’t eat motors.
Pedestrian Gate Installation
Pedestrian gates in Northridge often live between a house and a block wall, and the block wall is usually the problem. We install pedestal post footings that go deep enough to stabilize the gate independently of the wall, so a wind gust leaning the wall doesn’t drag the gate latch out of alignment. It’s small work, but it’s the difference between a gate that closes itself for twenty years and one you’re adjusting every fall.
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 Northridge
Gatewood Fence & Gate is certified to service LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule operators. For Northridge customers, that means we stock common FAAC and BFT parts locally through our Gate Parts & Welding - Northridge service, so a swing gate arm or a slide gate limit switch is not a two-week wait. We also install LiftMaster and Linear operators on new gates, because their thermal cutoffs and wind resistance hold up to Valley heat and Santa Ana gusts better than cheap online alternatives. If you already have a Viking board from the 90s, we’ll tell you honestly whether it’s worth saving.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Northridge Homes
- Undersized post-quake footings. The 1994-2000 rebuild wave moved fast, and a lot of contractors poured 18-inch footings to save time. Twenty-five years later, those hinge posts are leaning, and a new gate bolted on top will lean with it. New installation means new footings first, and that’s the majority of our Northridge installs.
- Steel slide tracks buckling in summer heat. Northridge regularly hits 105°F in July and August. A track that was installed without a proper thermal expansion gap will bind, throw the rack and pinion out of alignment, and burn out a motor. We size the gap for Valley temperatures.
- Santa Ana wind rocking posts loose. Fall and winter Santa Anas funnel through the Valley at 50-60 mph gusts. If the post footing was already marginal, the wind finishes the job, and the gate tears hinges out of the CMU pilaster. We see this every year, and the fix is always the same: dig deeper, pour bigger, anchor with stainless.
- Mismatched anchoring ages. Northridge has original mid-century concrete pilasters paired with 1990s gate hardware, and the two ages don’t anchor the same way. What holds in a 1960s block may not hold in a 1996 quake-repair block, and that mismatch is exactly what we diagnose before quoting a new gate.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Northridge, CA
A typical single swing driveway gate in Northridge runs from $2,800 to $5,500 installed, and that includes the gate frame, hinges, operator if you want one, and the concrete work the post needs. A sliding gate runs $4,000 to $8,500 depending on track length and whether we’re cutting into the driveway. Pedestrian gates run $900 to $2,200. The single biggest variable in Northridge is footing replacement, when we excavate an undersized post-quake footing and repour it deeper, that adds $400 to $1,200 per post depending on access. We quote the full price before any work starts, and that’s the price. No changes at the door. Call (760) 361-6706 for a free estimate; estimates are free, and there’s no trip charge inside the county.
We Also Serve Cities Near Northridge
Gatewood Fence & Gate serves Northridge and the surrounding Valley communities including Gate Installation in Northridge, Reseda, Chatsworth, Granada Hills, and Canoga Park. If you’re on the edge of Northridge and not sure if we cover your street, call us. If we don’t, we’ll tell you straight, not string you along.
Serving Northridge, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Northridge area and know this community well, and we specialize in Northridge Gate Access Control systems. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Gate Installation in Northridge
Because the post-quake rebuilding wave from 1994 to 2000 put a lot of gates on footings that are only 18 inches deep and were poured in a rush. Those footings have spent 25-plus years in shifting soil, and now the posts lean, the pilasters crack, and a new gate bolted onto that base will fail early. The right fix is to excavate, repour a deeper footing with stainless anchor bolts, and install the new gate on that. A free estimate from us tells you upfront if yours needs it. Call (760) 361-6706.
If your driveway is flat and has room for a swing arc, a swing gate is usually the better value in Northridge, because the hardware is simpler and the gate weight rests on the hinges rather than a track. If the driveway slopes up into the house or you’re tight on swing clearance, a slide gate is the answer, and we’ll size the track and motor for Northridge’s summer heat so it doesn’t bind in July. Both work; the right choice depends on your driveway, not on whichever one we’d rather sell. Call for a free driveway assessment.
Yes, if it’s sized and installed for them. A swing gate operator on a properly anchored post with a wind-rated gearset will handle 50-60 mph gusts without stripping, and a slide gate operator with a properly sized motor and thermal protection won’t burn out when the wind pushes the gate sideways. The failures we see are almost always from an undersized operator bolted to a compromised post, not from the wind itself. We install operators with the wind load calculated, not guessed.
Generally no, and any company that says they can is selling you a temporary fix. A leaning post usually means the footing underneath is cracked or undersized, and straightening the post without fixing the footing means it will lean again, often within one windy season. In Northridge, where so many posts were poured in the post-quake rush, we almost always recommend excavating the old footing, pouring a new one to the right depth, and re-setting the post. Hal will explain what he’s seeing in person, and you pay the price he quotes before work starts.
The footing is bad and nobody looked. On a ranch home off Tampa Avenue, we found a 1996 steel swing gate with its hinge post sheared at the base; the post-quake footing was only 18 inches deep. We excavated the lean, poured a 36-inch concrete footing with stainless anchor bolts, and hung a new LiftMaster swing gate operator with safety photocells before the Santa Anas hit. The gate itself was fine. The hole it was standing in wasn’t. That’s the thing someone has to dig and look at, and that’s exactly what we do before quoting a new gate. Call (760) 361-6706 for a free estimate.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Northridge with honest gate installation and repair since 2001.