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.
Fast, Reliable Gate Repair Across Plano
Gate repair in Plano usually costs between $180 and $650 for a residential service call, with most hinge and post repairs landing around $250 to $450. Hal Gatewood has been repairing gates in Plano since 2001, and the crew knows exactly what HOA architectural review boards along Hedgcoxe Road, Legacy Drive, and Independence Parkway will accept. Call (903) 829-4499 and you’ll get Hal or someone from his shop on the line, not a recording. We show up in Plano when we say we will, and the price we quote is the price you pay.
Why Plano Homeowners Call Gatewood Fence & Gate for Gate Repair
Most Plano gates are ornamental steel or wrought iron hung between brick masonry columns, built when the subdivisions went in during the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. Those columns crack when the blackland clay under them moves. The gate sags, the latch stops lining up, and the operator starts grinding. We have been fixing exactly that failure in Plano longer than most gate companies have existed, and Hal still checks the work himself before it’s called done.
Plano homeowners tell us the same thing over and over: they called someone else first, got a phone quote, and then watched the price climb once the truck pulled up. Hal doesn’t work that way. He publishes his address, puts his name on every invoice, and stands behind every job with a 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not done right, one call brings him back. No runaround, no fine print.
When a gate goes down in Plano, it’s often a security problem as much as a mechanical one. A sagging gate that won’t close all the way leaves a gap. A dead operator means the gate is stuck open or stuck shut. We get that, which is why calls are answered by a live person 24/7. Not a voicemail. Not a chatbot. You get the person who will actually show up.
Our Gate Repair Services in Plano
Electric Gate Repair
Plano’s automated gates run on low-voltage control boards, limit switches, and operators from brands like DoorKing, Elite, and LiftMaster. Power surges from spring thunderstorms and hard freezes like Uri in February 2021 are brutal on this equipment. We diagnose on site, carry common control boards and capacitors in the truck, and can often have a dead operator running again the same day. If the board is obsolete and can’t be sourced, Hal will tell you straight and quote an honest replacement instead of stringing you along.

Automatic Gate Repair
An automatic gate that starts and stops mid-travel, reverses for no reason, or refuses to close all the way usually has a safety sensor issue, a worn gear, or a failing control board. In Plano, we also see a lot of operators that were installed in the early 2000s in West Plano communities around Willow Bend and the Legacy corridor. Those units are now past their expected service life, and parts are getting harder to find. We can retrofit modern operators onto existing gates without replacing the whole thing, as long as the gate itself is sound.

Hinge & Post Repair
This is the repair we do most often in Plano, and it’s the one HOA boards care about. The hinge post is the foundation of the whole gate. When blackland clay heaves and the post moves, the hinges bind, screws strip, and the gate grinds. We don’t just swap hinges and call it fixed. We check the post first, because a gate sags in the hinge post, not in the middle, and that is where we start. If the post has shifted, we reset it below the active clay zone so it stays put through the next wet and dry cycle.

Gate Realignment
Plano gates move season by season. Heavy spring rain swells the clay and lifts posts. Summer heat bakes the ground and drops them. The result is a gate that latched fine in March and won’t catch by July. Realignment means more than adjusting the striker plate. We level the gate leaves, service the hinges, verify the post is still plumb, and then set the latching depth so the gate actually closes and stays closed. If we find a bigger problem, we’ll photograph it and show you before we touch anything else.

What happens when you call
- 1
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 Gate Brands We Service in Plano
We service and stock parts for the brands Plano homes actually have, including LiftMaster, DoorKing, and Elite. That matters when you need a repair this week and don’t want to wait on a special order. Hal has been certified to service nine major gate brands and keeps common parts on hand so we can fix most Plano gates in one trip. If your operator is a Mighty Mule or an older Linear unit and the board is dead, we’ll tell you honestly whether it’s worth repairing or whether a retrofit is the cheaper long-term answer.
Common Gate Problems We See in Plano Homes
- Post heaving from blackland clay. Plano sits on blackland prairie clay that expands dramatically after spring rains and contracts under triple-digit summer heat. Gate posts move a little every season until the gate won’t close. This is the number one reason Plano gates get service calls year after year.
- Mortar cracks on brick columns. The standard Plano gate hangs from tubular steel or ornamental iron set into brick masonry columns. When the clay under the column shifts, the mortar cracks and the column starts leaning. Fix the panel without the post and you’ll fix it twice.
- Legacy operators past end-of-life. East Plano’s 1980s neighborhoods and a lot of West Plano’s early 2000s builds still run first-generation or original operators. Control boards are obsolete, gears are worn, and safety sensors often don’t meet current standards. Some can be retrofitted. Some need full replacement. Hal will tell you which before any money changes hands.
- HOA compliance issues. Plano is one of the most HOA-saturated cities in Texas, and architectural review boards reject repairs over wrong hinge styles, unapproved powder-coat colors, or non-compliant dimensions. We photograph every detail before work starts so the HOA gets what it needs the first time.
Pricing for Gate Repair in Plano, TX
Here are honest numbers for the Plano market. A basic gate realignment on a single swing gate typically runs $180 to $350. Hinge replacement on an ornamental steel gate usually lands between $250 and $450. Post reset jobs, where we excavate and re-foot the hinge post below the active clay zone, run $400 to $800 depending on post size and soil conditions. Electric gate control board replacement or operator retrofit typically runs $350 to $900. Full operator replacement on a double gate can run $1,200 to $2,500.
Here’s what affects the price: gate width, steel gauge, whether the post is still sound, how accessible the footing is, and whether you’re in an HOA that requires specific hardware. Hal quotes the full price before any work starts. You get $40 off any repair over $200, there’s no trip charge inside the county, and seniors and veterans get a permanent 10% discount. If you have a written estimate from another Plano gate company, Hal will give you a free second opinion on it.
We Also Serve Cities Near Plano
Our crews are on the road around Plano every day, so getting to Coppell, Irving, Grapevine, and Flower Mound doesn’t add days to the schedule. If you’re just outside Plano proper, call and ask. Chances are we’re already headed your way this week. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our Dallas-Fort Worth office, but the folks who show up at your Plano gate are the same local crew every time.
Why Blackland Clay and HOA Rules Make Plano Gate Repair Different
Plano is among the most HOA-saturated cities in Texas, with the overwhelming majority of subdivisions governed by associations that mandate specific gate materials, finishes, and dimensions enforced by architectural review committees. That means virtually every residential gate repair job here requires navigating HOA approval before or alongside the work. Get it wrong and you’re redoing it at your own expense. We learned that lesson the hard way years ago, and we now photograph every gate detail before touching anything. Technicians working Plano’s HOA-heavy corridors along Hedgcoxe Road or in the Estates of Willow Bend quickly learn the same thing: HOA architectural review boards in these neighborhoods have rejected repairs using the wrong powder-coat color code or a hinge style not on the approved list.
Beneath all that steel and brick sits Plano’s other challenge: blackland prairie clay. This soil swells dramatically with the heavy spring rains and then shrinks and cracks under 100-degree summer heat. The result is a seasonal cycle of gate post heaving and chronic misalignment that distinguishes Plano from neighboring cities sitting on sandy or limestone soils. A gate in Coppell might stay plumb for a decade. A gate in Plano needs yearly attention because the ground itself is moving under it. Knowing where the active clay zone ends is the difference between a post that stays put and one that heaves again next spring. When we reset a post, we dig below that zone and re-foot it properly. That’s not code everywhere, but it’s good sense in Plano, and it’s why our post repairs don’t come back.
Field notes from the Estates of Willow Bend, spring of last year: We reset a sagging ornamental steel gate after the hinge post heaved an inch out of plumb. The original late-1980s swing gate had a first-generation operator with a cracked control board, so we installed new post footings below the active clay zone, replaced the hinge post, and retrofitted a modern LiftMaster operator with safety photocells, all with photos of the hinge style and powder-coat code for the HOA architectural review. That job covered all three Plano failure modes at once: clay heave, legacy hardware, and HOA compliance. It’s the kind of repair that separates a company that fixes gates from one that just swaps parts.
Retrofitting an Older Plano Gate vs. Replacing It
East Plano’s older 1980s neighborhoods are full of first-generation gates that were never automated or were automated with equipment long out of production. The steel is often still good. Those older gates were overbuilt compared to what’s sold today. What fails is the hardware: the hinges, the posts, the operator, the control board. When that happens, you have two choices: retrofit the old gate with modern hardware, or replace the whole thing. Retrofitting is usually cheaper and preserves the look your HOA already approved. But if the gate leaf itself is rusted through at the stress points, or the original posts were undersized for the soil, replacement is the honest answer. Hal will walk you through which one applies to your gate and explain the numbers so you’re not paying twice.
Winter is also hard on Plano’s older operators. Uri froze pivot bearings, cracked grease out of hinges, and killed more low-voltage control boards than we can count. If your gate stopped working after that freeze and hasn’t worked right since, the board is probably the culprit. Older boards can sometimes be repaired, but many are no longer manufactured. Before you sink money into a repair, ask whether that board is still being produced. If it’s not, a repair is a stopgap, and a retrofit is the fix that lasts. Hal will give you that straight, along with a written quote for both options.
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 Repair in Plano
Because the soil under the hinge post is moving. Plano’s blackland prairie clay swells after spring rains and contracts in summer heat, which pushes and pulls the post out of plumb. A gate that’s realigned at ground level without addressing the post will misalign again within a season. For a permanent fix, call (903) 829-4499 and we’ll check whether your post is still below the active clay zone or needs to be re-footed.
If your Plano subdivision has an architectural review committee, the answer is usually yes, and many of them require approval before work begins, not after. They’ll want to see the hinge style, the finish color, and sometimes the dimensions. We photograph everything and can provide what your HOA needs before we start. Call us first and we’ll help you get the paperwork squared away.
It depends on the control board. If the board is still manufactured, a repair may make sense. If it’s obsolete, which is common for 1990s and early 2000s operators in Plano, you’ll be buying used or incompatible parts, and replacement is usually the cheaper long-term answer. We’ll diagnose it on site and give you a written quote for both options before any work starts.
The hinge post has moved or the mortar around the hinge anchors has cracked. Brick columns are stiff, but they sit on the same blackland clay as everything else in Plano, and when the column shifts, the gate goes with it. We repair the post and the hinges together, because fixing one without the other is a half-repair that won’t hold. Call (903) 829-4499 for an exact quote, and estimates are free.
Yes. Any automatic gate installed or retrofitted today in Plano needs non-contact safety sensors and, on most residential swing gates, edge sensors or the equivalent. Older gates often lack these, especially first-generation installs from the 1980s and 1990s. If you have an older operator, we can retrofit modern safety equipment onto it. It’s not just about compliance; it’s about not trapping a kid or a pet under a moving gate.
Contact Gatewood Fence & Gate for Gate Repair in Plano
Hal’s name is on the shop, the shop’s address is published, and his number is (903) 829-4499. When you call, you’ll talk to a live person who lives in the same metro you do and knows Plano gates. We’ll give you a free estimate, quote the full price before any work starts, and stand behind it with the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If you’ve been burned before by a company that quoted one number on the phone and another at the door, call Hal. He’ll tell you what’s wrong, what it costs, and what he’d do if it were his own gate. That’s the oldest accountability there is.
Written by Hal Gatewood, Owner at Gatewood Fence & Gate, serving Plano since 2001.





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