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 Motor & Opener Across North Hollywood
Gate motor repair in North Hollywood usually runs $285-$640, and we can typically have someone at your gate the same day you call. If your opener stopped mid-cycle on a 105°F afternoon, or your apartment’s 40-year-old slide motor finally seized on its rusted track, we know exactly what you’re dealing with. Hal Gatewood has been fixing gates since 2001, and our Gate Motor & Opener crew works throughout North Hollywood every week. Call (350) 247-4763 and a live person answers, day or night.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is North Hollywood’s Preferred Gate Motor & Opener Company
We’re the shop that welds on site and fixes what other companies want to haul away. North Hollywood customers call us because we don’t send a sales rep with a pitch deck; we send someone who can diagnose a heat-fried LiftMaster board in five minutes and tell you honestly whether it’s worth saving. Hal’s name is on the shop and on every invoice. The address is published. The license number is right there for anyone to look up. That’s the kind of accountability homeowners in the NoHo Arts District, Valley Village, and the bungalow blocks off Burbank Boulevard actually want.
We answer the phone around the clock with a live person. Not a recording, not a call queue. When a gate motor dies at 11 p.m. and your car is trapped in the carport, you need a decision from someone who knows gates, and you get it. We’ve pulled plenty of 1980s DoorKing and Viking units out of North Hollywood apartment complexes and seen the same failures over and over: varnished grease, corroded tracks, boards baked by direct sun on a west-facing post.
Our 90-Day Done Right Promise is stamped in writing on every job. If it’s not right, one call brings Hal back. No runaround, no fine print. That promise matters in North Hollywood, where the heat finds weak spots fast and a sloppy install shows itself within weeks, not months.
Our Gate Motor & Opener Services in North Hollywood
Motor Installation
A new gate motor installation in North Hollywood runs $750-$2,400 depending on gate weight, width, and whether you need a battery backup or solar kit. We stock operators sized for the Valley’s mix of narrow bungalow driveway gates and wide ranch entrances, and we always quote the full job in writing before a single part gets ordered. On older properties we flag the electrical panel question upfront so a City of LA inspection doesn’t blindside you later.
Motor Repair
Most North Hollywood motor repairs are heat-related. A circuit board that cooked on a 108°F afternoon, a capacitor that finally gave out, a gear train ground down by a warped gate dragging against the track. We carry replacement boards, capacitors, limit switches, and gear kits for FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking on the truck, so most repairs happen in one visit. If the gate frame itself is out of square, we weld and re-align on site rather than slapping a new motor on a bad gate and charging you twice.
Linear Motor
Linear motors are common on North Hollywood ranch properties where the driveway is long and the gate is heavy. A typical Linear arm operator installation runs $850-$1,800. The dry Valley heat embrittles the plastic casing and the internal drive gears over time, so we check gear wear during any repair call. If your Linear is grinding or drifting out of its limit stops, call us before the motor burns itself out trying to hold a warped gate closed.
Slide Motor
Slide gate motor repair in North Hollywood usually costs $325-$750. The apartment complexes along Magnolia Boulevard and Lankershim Boulevard still run original slide-gate systems from the 1980s, and those motors seize when factory grease turns to varnish. Hard water mineral scale on the rollers and track makes it worse. We clean, re-lubricate, replace rollers, and reset the chain tension. If the motor is truly dead, we’ll tell you that too, with a straight price for a new one.
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 North Hollywood
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, and in North Hollywood we see a lot of FAAC, BFT, and Linear equipment. We stock common parts for those three locally because we know what the heat does to them. If you’ve got an older Viking slide operator on a 1980s apartment carport, we can still get parts and we’ll tell you honestly when it’s smarter to retire the unit than rebuild it. When we recommend a replacement, we recommend an operator that survives Valley summers; a fan-cooled board makes a real difference here.
Common Gate Motor & Opener Problems We See in North Hollywood Homes
- Heat-fried circuit boards. When ambient temps hit 105-110°F, a motor housing bolted to a sun-baked steel post becomes an oven. Boards crack, capacitors swell, and the opener just stops. We see this every summer, especially on west-facing gates with no shade.
- Seized 1980s slide motors on apartment carports. The factory grease turns to varnish, the track rusts, and hard-water scale binds the rollers. One day the motor can’t pull the gate any more and burns out trying. We clean and re-lube as part of every slide motor repair.
- Warped swing gates stripping the operator gear. In the Valley’s dry heat, metal gate frames expand and shift. A rack-and-pinion operator grinding against a gate that no longer hangs square will strip teeth off the gear. We fix the post and the hinge first, then the motor; replace the motor without fixing the gate and you’ll be replacing it again within a year.
- Pre-arc-fault subpanel surprises. A lot of 1980s operators around North Hollywood were wired into electrical subpanels that predate modern code. When the motor dies and you replace it, the city wants the panel brought up to current arc-fault standard before the gate gets re-energized. We flag this on the first visit so you aren’t waiting weeks with a dead gate.
Pricing for Gate Motor & Opener in North Hollywood, CA
Here’s what North Hollywood homeowners and landlords actually pay, based on the jobs we’ve done here:
- Gate motor repair: $285-$640
- Slide motor repair: $325-$750
- New motor installation: $750-$2,400
- Linear arm operator installation: $850-$1,800
- Solar gate opener kit (added to new install): $600-$1,400
- Battery backup module: $250-$600
We price the job before we start and the number we quote is the number you pay. Every job also carries our standing offers: $40 off any repair over $200, no trip charge anywhere in the county, and a free second opinion on any written estimate you’ve gotten from another company. Seniors and veterans get a permanent 10% discount, every time. Call (350) 247-4763 for an exact quote; estimates are free and you’ll talk to a person who can price the job.
We Also Serve Cities Near North Hollywood
Our North Hollywood customers regularly ask us to handle gates for family or rental properties nearby. We serve Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, West Hollywood, and Panorama City, and our crews move between them daily. Same owner, same promise, same phone number. If your property is within a few miles of the NoHo Arts District, we can usually get someone there the same day.
Serving North Hollywood, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the North Hollywood 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 Motor & Opener in North Hollywood
Because North Hollywood sits in the geographic center of the San Fernando Valley, where summer temperatures routinely run 20-30°F hotter than Santa Monica or even downtown LA. Circuit boards and plastic motor housings sitting on a sun-baked steel post in 108°F ambient heat hit temperatures that destroy electronics. The same operator living ten miles south near the coast would last years longer. When we install in North Hollywood, we factor that heat into the equipment choice; a fan-cooled control board or a shaded housing position makes a measurable difference. Call (350) 247-4763 and we’ll tell you what your gate actually needs for this specific climate.
Yes, and it’s a common solution on ranch and equestrian properties in the flatter eastern stretches of North Hollywood where a driveway can be hundreds of feet from the panel. A solar gate opener kit with battery backup runs $600-$1,400 added to a new install, and it eliminates the trenching and conduit work entirely. The Valley’s clear sky makes solar genuinely practical here; we size the panel for a few cloudy days of buffer. One note: if the property already has a 1980s subpanel, sometimes the smarter move is a hybrid system that uses limited AC power for the strike lock and solar for the operator. We’ll spec it honestly. Call for a free site look at (350) 247-4763.
Because the motor replacement triggers an electrical permit, and the city will not re-energize a gate wired into a subpanel that predates arc-fault requirements. Many 1980s operators around North Hollywood were installed on pre-arc-fault panels, and the inspector will flag it. Savvy landlords get this news upfront from us, not after the motor is installed and the gate sits dead for three weeks. We can coordinate the electrical work and the inspection so the gate is back in service as fast as code allows. If you own a building in North Hollywood with an aging slide gate, call (350) 247-4763 and ask us to look at the panel before the motor dies.
For a wide ranch gate that swings open for horses, trailers, or livestock traffic, we typically recommend a heavy-duty linear or articulated-arm operator sized for the full gate weight, with a safety edge and a slow-start/stop setting so animals don’t spook. A FAAC 400 or comparable BFT unit handles a 16-foot ornamental iron gate without straining. We also set the open and close times to allow a trailer to clear without the gate starting its cycle early. Every ranch install is different; we look at the post depth, the hinge load, and the animal patterns before we recommend anything. Call for a free measure at (350) 247-4763.
Every 12 to 18 months. North Hollywood’s municipal water leaves mineral scale on hinges, rollers, and lock mechanisms, and the summer heat bakes lubricants faster than in coastal neighborhoods. On a slide gate, we clean the track, re-lubricate the chain, check roller wear, and test the motor’s amp draw during a service call. On a swing gate, we check the post alignment and gear wear. Skipping service here isn’t the cheap option; it’s how a $150 maintenance issue becomes a $600 motor replacement. We schedule recurring service calls for a lot of apartment complexes and ranch owners around North Hollywood; it’s the cheapest insurance a gate can have.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate. Hal has been fixing and installing gates in the Los Angeles area since 2001, and his name is on the shop, every invoice, and every 90-Day Done Right Promise.