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 Plano
Gate motor and opener repair in Plano usually runs $225-$475 for a motor replacement and $125-$300 for control board or limit switch work, and we can typically have someone at your door the same day you call. If your Plano gate is stuck open, grinding, or refusing to respond to the remote, call (903) 829-4499 and you’ll get Hal or a member of his crew, not a voicemail. We’ve worked Plano’s HOA-heavy neighborhoods long enough to know the approval rules, the soil problems, and the difference between a gate that needs a $40 part and one that needs a full operator swap.
Why Gatewood Fence & Gate Is Plano’s Preferred Gate Motor & Opener Company
Hal Gatewood started this shop in 2001 with a simple rule: fix what’s broken, replace only what can’t be fixed, and stand behind the work. That rule matters a lot in Plano, where HOA architectural review boards will reject a repair over the wrong hinge finish or an unapproved motor housing color. We photograph every detail before we touch anything, confirm the powder-coat code when an HOA has one on file, and we don’t hand you a bill unless the work is done right. The 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on every invoice we leave in Plano. One call brings Hal back, no runaround.
We answer the phone with a live person 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not a chatbot, not a call center three states away. If you live off Custer Road or near Legacy West and your gate motor dies at 9 p.m., you’ll talk to someone who knows what a gate motor is. We carry parts for the brands most common across Plano’s subdivisions, which means we don’t have to order-and-wait on most repairs. And if you’ve got a written estimate from another company, bring it to us. We’ll give you a free second opinion before you spend a dollar.
Our Gate Motor & Opener Services in Plano
Motor Replacement
Most Plano motor replacements we do are on gates that were installed when the house was built. In East Plano’s 1980s neighborhoods along Parker Road and Spring Creek Parkway, those first-generation operators are simply worn out. We replace them with new LiftMaster or Viking units sized for the gate’s actual weight and cycle count, and we re-set hinge posts that have drifted out of plumb from the clay. A motor bolted onto a leaning post will eat itself in a year, and we’d rather fix the post once than sell you a second motor.
Motor Repair
We repair gate motors in Plano before we replace them whenever it makes sense. Stripped gears, burned capacitors, failed limit switches, water-damaged boards, seized bearings. If the motor housing is sound and the windings test clean, Hal will repair the motor on site and hand you the old parts. You’ll get the 90-Day Done Right Promise on the repair either way. If the motor is past saving, we’ll tell you plainly and show you the test readings. Nobody at this company works on commission, and that keeps the advice honest.
Linear Motor
Linear arm motors are the workhorse on Plano’s swing gates, especially the ornamental iron gates hung between brick columns that you see throughout West Plano subdivisions. The arm pushes and pulls the gate leaf via a threaded shaft, and when the clay under the hinge post shifts, the angle of that arm changes just enough to bind the shaft and strip the internal gear. We see it constantly in neighborhoods like Willow Bend, where the gates are heavy and the columns hold moisture against the post base. We re-align the gate, re-shim the arm bracket, and if needed, replace the linear motor with a unit matched to the gate’s leaf length and weight.
Slide Motor
Slide gates in Plano estates and a few commercial properties face a different failure mode: rack and pinion misalignment. The blackland clay heaves the track footing, the rack teeth no longer seat correctly in the pinion gear, and the motor starts making the sound of someone dragging a chain across a manhole cover. We’ve replaced DoorKing slide operators in the Estates of Willow Bend after frost heave shifted the footing a full inch and a half. We set the footing deeper, re-leveled the track, and installed a fresh operator with a loop detector and safety photocells before the HOA even had to ask.
Intercom Integration
Plano HOAs and gated communities often run shared entry systems with intercom or phone-based access. When a motor dies inside one of those gates, the access system needs to keep working. We coordinate with the management company and the HOA board, wire the new operator into the existing intercom panel, and make sure the keypad, telephone entry, and fire department access still work on day one. For Plano subdivisions with guest entry codes, we program the new board to match the old one’s output so residents don’t have to relearn anything.
Battery Backup
After Winter Storm Uri, a lot of Plano homeowners decided they wanted a gate that still opens when the power is out. We add battery backup to existing operators so the gate cycles a limited number of times during an outage, and we hard-wire the charger into a protected circuit. If your operator didn’t come with a battery tray, we can mount an external enclosure that survives 100°F summers, which is not a small ask for a battery. We’ve upgraded several systems in the Legacy corridor with backup units specifically because those neighborhoods lost power for days in February 2021.
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 Plano
Gatewood Fence & Gate is certified to service nine major brands, and in Plano we see a lot of LiftMaster, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. We stock common boards, remotes, gear kits, and capacitors for those units on our truck, not in a warehouse two days away. If your operator is a Viking or a BFT or a Linear, we know those too. The brand matters less than the installation quality, and that’s where Plano homes most often get burned: a good motor installed badly will fail inside two seasons of clay heave.
Common Gate Motor & Opener Problems We See in Plano Homes
- Clay heave torques the post and binds the arm. Spring rains swell Plano’s blackland prairie clay, lifting the hinge post a fraction of an inch. That fraction bends the linear arm or throws the rack out of pitch, and the motor burns out trying to muscle a gate it should move effortlessly.
- HOA-mandated iron gates crack their own columns. Ornamental iron hung from brick masonry columns is the standard Plano look, but the column mortar cracks as the clay shifts, the hinge post goes loose, and the sagging gate rests its weight on the operator pinion until something strips.
- Ice events fry low-voltage boards. Uri seized pivots and cracked grease out of bearings. Boards went dead when power flickered and surged. Most of those operators were never spec’d for sustained single-digit temperatures, and we now see the long-term damage from moisture that got into housings during the thaw.
- First-generation operators hitting end of life. East Plano’s 1980s stock, around neighborhoods off 14th Street and Jupiter Road, was built before automated gates were common. The operators that were retrofitted in the 1990s are now 25 to 30 years old, and when they die, they die completely. No capacitor swap brings back a 1994 board with rotted tracing.
Pricing for Gate Motor & Opener in Plano, TX
Here are straight numbers for Plano. A basic motor replacement on a single swing gate runs $225-$475 depending on the gate weight and whether we’re re-setting the hinge post. A slide operator replacement runs $600-$1,400 including rack adjustment. Control board and limit switch repairs run $125-$300. Battery backup installation runs $350-$700 including the battery and charger. Intercom integration work is usually $150-$400 when we’re already changing the operator. Every price is quoted and agreed in writing before we start. No trip charge inside the county, $40 off any repair over $200, and a permanent 10% discount for seniors and veterans. Call (903) 829-4499 and we’ll give you an exact number over the phone, not a range.
We Also Serve Cities Near Plano
Our crew works Plano and the surrounding area regularly. If you’re in Coppell, Irving, Grapevine, or Flower Mound, the same crew and the same 90-Day Done Right Promise apply. You can see more about our Gate Motor & Opener services or read about the areas we cover across Plano on those pages.
Serving Plano, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Plano 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 Plano
Most Plano subdivisions do require architectural review before any gate alteration, including motor and operator replacement. The HOA’s architectural review committee typically wants the existing style, finish, and dimensions preserved, which means you may need to submit the operator housing color, the hinge type, and sometimes a photo of the planned work. We photograph everything before starting and we’ve handled enough Plano HOAs to know which ones enforce hard and which ones just want a courtesy notice. Our work is done to match the approved configuration, and we’ll help you put the right paperwork together.
Plano’s blackland prairie clay swells with spring rain and contracts hard in 100°F summer heat, which heaves gate posts and shifts the operator mounting geometry. If your new operator is bolted to a post set too shallow, it will bind within a season and the gears will strip. We set post footings deeper than the frost line and the shrink line, re-level the gate before mounting the arm or rack, and when we’re replacing a failed install, we fix the footing before we mount the new motor. Call (903) 829-4499 if your gate has been leaning for a while and the operator is starting to grind.
Yes, and we recommend it. We add battery backup to existing operators so the gate cycles during a power outage. In Plano, where Winter Storm Uri knocked out power for days and froze gates shut, a backup battery means you’re not stuck inside or left with a gate that won’t secure. We mount the battery in a ventilated enclosure rated for Plano’s summer heat, wire in the charger, and test the full cycle count. Most existing LiftMaster and DoorKing units accept a backup without changing the board.
The wrong finish. Plano HOA review boards have rejected repairs where a new operator housing or gate hinge was powder-coated in a color code that wasn’t on the approved list, forcing the homeowner to pay for the work twice. We photograph the existing hardware before we remove anything, confirm the HOA’s spec if one exists, and order parts in the approved finish. That’s one reason we do not guess. If your HOA has a written finish code, we’ll work to it without charging you extra for the coordination.
We coordinate with the management company and the HOA board when the gate is shared by a community. That means scheduling the work for the lowest-traffic window, wiring the new operator into the existing intercom or telephone entry system, and confirming that fire department access, guest codes, and resident remotes all function before we leave. In Plano communities along Hedgcoxe Road and in gated enclaves where the HOA manages the gate contract, we’re used to providing a written report with photos for the board’s records. Pricing is quoted before work starts, and the HOA gets the same 90-Day Done Right Promise as a single-family homeowner.
If your Plano gate motor is grinding, dead, or stuck open, call (903) 829-4499 now. A live person answers. We’ll quote the price before we touch anything, and we’ll show up when we say we will. Hal Gatewood’s name is on the shop and on every invoice.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Plano since 2001.