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 Los Angeles
Gate motor and opener repair in Los Angeles typically runs $185 to $420 for common failures like post-shift binding, burned circuit boards, and Santa Ana wind damage. Most jobs we handle are done same-day or next-day, and the quote is locked before we start. If your gate stopped responding after the last quake, or it groans and stalls halfway down the track, call (350) 247-4763 and a live person answers, day or night. We’re not a call center in another state.
Los Angeles gates fail differently than gates in, say, Phoenix or Dallas. We’ve been chasing those differences since 2001, and we’ve learned that the motor is usually the victim, not the culprit. Our Gate Motor & Opener work starts with the post, the track, and the grade before we ever touch the operator. That’s the part most companies skip, and it’s the part that keeps your gate working five years from now.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Los Angeles’s Preferred Gate Motor & Opener Company
Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop and on every invoice. We’re locally owned and owner-operated, with a published address and license number anyone can look up. When you call, you talk to a person who knows Los Angeles gates: the shared driveways in Silver Lake, the hillside lots in Laurel Canyon, the 1920s wrought iron in Hancock Park. We’re not reading from a script.
Every job carries the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not right, one call brings Hal back, no runaround. That promise matters more in Los Angeles than almost anywhere, because the ground here moves. A repair that works on flat ground in the Valley can fail in six months on a Bel Air slope. We’ve been repairing gates in Los Angeles long enough to know the difference, and we’ve stood behind our work through quakes, Santa Anas, and every heat wave since 2001.
We answer the phone 24/7 with a live person. Not a voicemail, not a chatbot. When your gate won’t open at 6 a.m. and the cars are trapped in the driveway, you want a real voice. We’ve got one. And we’ll tell you honestly over the phone whether it’s an emergency or whether you can wait until morning.
Our Gate Motor & Opener Services in Los Angeles
Motor Installation
A new gate opener in Los Angeles runs $1,200 to $3,800 installed, depending on the operator type and your gate’s weight and travel. We install on swing, slide, and cantilever gates across Los Angeles, from flat Valley tracts to steep hillside estates. The quote includes the operator, mounting, wiring, safety edges, and programming. You’ll know the number before we start, and it won’t change at the door.
Motor Repair
Most motor repairs in Los Angeles fall between $185 and $420. We repair what other outfits want to replace. If the operator runs but the gate binds, the problem is almost always the post, the hinge, or the track, not the motor. In neighborhoods like Los Feliz and Silver Lake, where original ornamental gates from the 1920s and 1930s sit on pilaster anchors that have moved over decades, re-plumbing the post and re-setting the rack solves more “motor failures” than any new board ever will.
Linear Motor
Linear arm openers are common on Los Angeles swing gates, especially the ornamental iron gates on older Spanish Colonial homes in Hancock Park and Los Feliz. We service Linear motors and the equivalent models from FAAC and BFT. A linear arm repair in Los Angeles generally runs $210 to $480, including re-timing the open and close cycles and resetting the limits so the gate doesn’t slam or stall.
Slide Motor
Slide gates are the workhorse of Los Angeles properties with short setbacks or tight shared driveways, where a swing gate would block the sidewalk or the neighbor’s car. Slide motor repair in Los Angeles typically costs $240 to $560. We see a lot of slide gate failures after Santa Ana wind events, when gates get blown off their rollers or the rack gets knocked out of alignment with the pinion. We fix it on site, in your driveway, without hauling the gate to a shop.
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 Los Angeles
We’re certified to service nine major gate brands, including LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. For Los Angeles customers that means we carry common boards, limit switches, and safety edges in the truck, so we’re not waiting three days on a part from a warehouse. If your FAAC operator in Beverly Hills dies on a Friday, we can usually have it running that day with the parts on hand. If it’s a Viking slide motor in North Hollywood, same thing. We know these machines well enough to tell you honestly whether a repair is worth doing or whether the operator has lived its life.
Common Gate Motor & Opener Problems We See in Los Angeles Homes
- Post-shift binding after earthquakes. The region’s frequent small quakes and hillside soil creep knock posts and footings out of plumb. The motor still runs, but the gate drags, stalls, or trips the limit switch. If we only swap the board and skip the post, you’ll call us again in six months.
- Santa Ana wind damage. September through November, the winds blow slide gates off their tracks, bend tubular steel frames, and strip latch hardware. We brace the track and re-align the rack so the next big blow doesn’t push you off the rollers again.
- UV-degraded circuit boards and seals. Year-round Southern California sun bakes the rubber seals and plastic housings on operators far faster than in marine-layer cities. Intermittent failure, especially in the afternoon heat, is often a heat-stressed board, not a dead motor.
- Shared driveway access issues. On a shared driveway in Los Feliz or Silver Lake, the gate has to keep working while we work. We stage the repair to keep one side open for the neighbors’ cars, and we do it without leaving the driveway blocked overnight.
Pricing for Gate Motor & Opener in Los Angeles, CA
Here’s what Los Angeles homeowners can expect to pay. A basic motor repair, like a limit switch or a capacitor, runs $185 to $300. A full operator replacement on a swing gate runs $1,200 to $2,500 installed. Slide gate operators run $1,800 to $3,800, depending on weight and track condition. Battery backup systems, which matter more in Los Angeles than people think, run $350 to $800 installed.
What moves the price in Los Angeles: hillside access, post condition, gate weight, and whether we’re working around a shared driveway or a narrow side setback. We quote the job before any work starts, in writing. No trip charge inside the county. $40 off any repair over $200. Free second opinion on any written estimate. And a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. Call (350) 247-4763 for your number, and it’s the number you’ll pay.
We Also Serve Cities Near Los Angeles
Our crews serve West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and North Hollywood with the same owner-operated standard and the same 90-Day Done Right Promise. If you’re just outside the city line, call anyway. We’d rather tell you over the phone whether we can get to you than have you guess. This is Gate Motor & Opener in Los Angeles work done by people who know the neighborhoods, not by a routing algorithm.
Serving Los Angeles, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles
Because the quake shifted the gate post or the concrete footing out of plumb, which binds the operator arm or drags the bottom of the gate against a cracked apron slab, even though the motor still runs fine. The motor is rarely the problem in Los Angeles after a quake; the post is. We re-plumb the post, re-level the track, and re-align the rack and pinion before we even test the operator. Call (350) 247-4763 for a free estimate, and we’ll tell you what actually moved.
Yes, and we do it regularly. Shared driveways in Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Los Feliz mean the gate has to keep moving for the neighbors while we work. We stage the repair to keep one side open for vehicle traffic, and we work in a window that doesn’t strand anyone. The Los Feliz job we remember most replaced a corroded LiftMaster slide operator where the hinge post had shifted after a 4.2 quake. We cut and re-poured the footing, reset the rack, and upgraded the safety photocells while keeping one lane open the whole time.
Yes. Hillside lots in Laurel Canyon, Bel Air, and the Hollywood Hills are where we do a lot of our Los Angeles motor work, because soil creep and grade changes throw swing and cantilever gates out of alignment faster than anywhere else in the basin. The repair has to account for the slope, not just the operator. We re-set posts with deeper footings, re-level tracks to the current grade, and set the operator limits with room for the ground to move. That’s the difference between a repair that lasts and one that fails again in six months.
Very common. Santa Ana wind events, most intense from September through November, blow slide gates off their tracks, bend tubular steel frames, and strip latch hardware across the Los Angeles basin. It’s a predictable seasonal surge for us. We brace the track, re-align the rack and pinion, and re-set the stops so the gate stays on the rollers through the next big blow. Call (350) 247-4763 and we’ll schedule it before the next wind event, not after.
Yes, and in Los Angeles this is one of the most common non-mechanical failures we see. Intense year-round UV exposure bakes the plastic on keypads, receiver boxes, and operator housings until they crack and let moisture into the board. We replace the housing or the keypad, re-seal the enclosure, and reposition it out of direct afternoon sun where the layout allows. It’s a small fix, usually under $200, and it prevents a $400 board failure later. Call us for a free estimate.
If your gate motor in Los Angeles is acting up, don’t wait for the next quake or the next Santa Ana to finish it off. Call (350) 247-4763. Hal or someone from his crew will answer, ask the right questions, and give you an honest number before anyone gets in a truck. Free estimates, no trip charge inside Los Angeles County, and a 90-Day Done Right Promise on every job.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Los Angeles since 2001.