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 Repair Across San Rafael
Gate repair in San Rafael runs $225 to $1,800 depending on the failure. A hinge weld fix, a limit switch adjustment, or a realignment job sits at the lower end. A new operator, a re-poured footing, or a full panel rebuild lands higher. Most repairs in San Rafael are done in one visit, with the written price agreed before any work starts. If your gate is dragging, binding, or refusing to open, call (469) 530-2485 and a live person answers.
Our crews work San Rafael neighborhoods every week, from Gerstle Park and Peacock Gap up through Terra Linda and Santa Venetia. We know the clay. We know the wet winters. We know why gates fail here, and we fix the cause, not just the symptom. Gate Repair in San Rafael is all we do.
Why Carver Gate Repair Is San Rafael’s Preferred Gate Repair Company
Carver Gate Repair operates under The Garrison Standard, and that means three things San Rafael homeowners notice fast. Every customer gets a written price before any work starts. Every technician on your property is background-checked and uniformed. And every repair is covered in writing for a full year. If the repair fails inside that window, we return free of charge. No argument. No second invoice.
Lonnie Burke runs our San Rafael service area. The crew works on nine gate motor brands, including FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking, so the parts and the know-how match the system already installed at your house. Phones are answered by a person around the clock, every day of the year. When a gate fails on a Sunday night or a holiday morning, the call goes through.
We also know what San Rafael gates go through. The soil here swells in winter. Salt air works on electronics near the canal. Wrought iron gates sag at the hinge post. None of this surprises us anymore. It just gets fixed, with a written guarantee that lasts a year.
Wrought Iron Gate Repair in San Rafael
Wrought iron gate repair in San Rafael usually means one of three things: a sagging gate panel that drags at the latch, a broken or rusted hinge that has pulled away from the post, or a weld that has cracked under years of ground movement. Homes in Terra Linda, Santa Venetia, and the older hillside streets off Lincoln Avenue have plenty of heavy iron gates, and many sit on footings that were undersized when they were poured. The wet winters swell the clay, the post shifts, and the gate starts dragging.
A typical wrought iron repair in San Rafael runs $300 to $900. Straightening a panel, re-welding a hinge, or adding a steel gusset falls in that range. If the footing itself has moved, which we see often after a rainy season, the job costs more because we cut, re-pour, and re-set the post before touching the gate itself. Fixing the panel without fixing the post means fixing it again next year.
Hinge Post Correction
When a wrought iron swing gate sags, the problem is almost never the gate leaf. It is the hinge post leaning under load. In Gerstle Park, a wrought iron swing gate had sagged at the hinge post after years of use. Correcting the post rather than just the gate panel got it swinging true again. We set the post plumb, reinforce the footing where the soil has softened, and re-hang the gate so it latches clean.
Weld and Rust Repair
Salt air and moisture near the San Rafael canal corrode iron faster than inland air. We grind out rust, weld cracked joints, and coat the repair so it does not fail in the next wet season. A cracked hinge weld is a safety issue, not a cosmetic one. We treat it that way.
Metal Gate Repair in San Rafael
Metal gate repair in San Rafael covers steel and aluminum gates, both swing and slide. Aluminum gates are common on newer builds in northern San Rafael neighborhoods, and they have their own failure modes: bent rails, failed rollers, and fatigued welds where the frame meets the panel. Steel gates, especially older ones on hillside properties, are more likely to rust at the base or pull away from the post bearings.
A metal gate repair in San Rafael typically runs $250 to $1,100. Replacing a roller, adjusting a latch, or fixing a bent aluminum rail is on the lower end. Rebuilding a steel frame corner or replacing a cantilever roller assembly runs higher. The written price is agreed before any work starts, so the number never moves at the door.
Gate Realignment and Roller Work
A sliding metal gate that binds mid-travel has usually come off its track or the rollers have worn flat. In San Rafael, clay soil movement is the usual cause. The post shifts a few degrees, the gate loses its line, and the motor starts working harder than it should. We re-set the track, replace worn rollers, and adjust the operator so the gate runs without strain.
Corrosion and Panel Repair
Gates near the water, around Santa Venetia and the canal-side streets, show corrosion faster than inland gates. We cut out rusted sections, weld in new steel or aluminum, and coat everything to stop the next cycle. For aluminum gates, we match the panel profile so the repair does not stand out.
Trusted Brands We Service in San Rafael
We service the operators already installed on San Rafael properties, including FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking. We stock common boards, limit switches, safety photocells, and remote transmitters for these brands locally, so a typical operator repair happens in one visit. If a FAAC swing operator on a hillside gate fails, we know which control board revision it uses and which replacement part is correct. If a Viking slide operator near the canal has a corroded board, we swap it and seal the enclosure. No guesswork. Gate Repair is what our team does every day.
Common Gate Repair Problems We See in San Rafael Homes
- Post footings lifted by clay soil. San Rafael’s clay swells with winter rain and shrinks in summer. This seasonal movement lifts hinge posts, which makes swing gates drag and slide gates derail. We pour deeper, wider footings and check drainage around the post when we re-set it.
- Corroded control boards and photocells. Salt air and moisture near the canal and San Rafael Bay work on operator electronics. Intermittent open/close faults, keypads that stop responding, and safety beams that fail are common failures we trace back to corrosion on the board.
- Safety reversal failures on older operators. A gate that stops reversing when it hits something has a problem with the force setting, the safety edge, or the photocell. This is a UL 325 safety issue, not a convenience one. We test reversal force on every repair.
- Shallowly buried power and tripping breakers. Older hillside properties in San Rafael often have undersized electrical runs to the gate. When the ground shifts, the conduit can strain, connections loosen, and the operator trips the breaker. We check the power run before replacing the operator.
Pricing for Gate Repair in San Rafael, CA
Gate repair in San Rafael typically costs between $225 and $1,800. A simple latch adjustment or a hinge tightening runs $225 to $400. A realignment with new rollers or a weld repair runs $400 to $900. A full operator replacement, including parts, runs $900 to $1,800 depending on the brand: BFT and FAAC swing operators sit at the higher end, while Linear and Viking units are usually less. A footing re-pour adds $500 to $1,000 when the post has shifted. Every quote is written before work starts. Call (469) 530-2485 for a free estimate.
We do not promise same-day installation on new gates or full operator replacements. That work is measured, ordered, and scheduled. What we do promise is a written price, a background-checked technician, and a full-year guarantee on every repair.
We Also Serve Cities Near San Rafael
Our San Rafael crews handle gate repair calls across central Marin. We serve Larkspur, Kentfield, Corte Madera, and San Anselmo with the same written pricing and the same full-year guarantee. If your gate is acting up and you are in one of those areas, call (469) 530-2485.
Serving San Rafael, CA – Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Rafael 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 About Gate Repair in San Rafael
A swing gate that sags at the hinge post is almost always a footing problem, not a gate panel problem. San Rafael’s clay soil swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and over years that movement loosens the post foundation. The post leans, the gate drops, and the latch side drags. We re-set the post in a deeper, wider footing and check drainage around it, because fixing only the panel will not hold. Call (469) 530-2485 and we will take a look.
No, that is not normal. A gate that fails to reverse on contact has a safety fault, usually in the force setting, the safety edge, or the photocell. UL 325 standards require the gate to reverse when it encounters resistance. This is a safety repair, and it should be handled by a trained technician because the springs, cables, and operators store real energy. Call (469) 530-2485 for an inspection.
No. Gate installation is measured, ordered, and scheduled, not dispatched same-day. A proper installation includes groundworks, power runs, and safety edge and reversal testing, and rushing any of it makes the gate unsafe. We provide a free measure and a written price, then schedule the work. Call (469) 530-2485 to get started.
We service FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, LiftMaster, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule operators. Our technicians are trained on all nine, and we stock common replacement boards, limit switches, and photocells for San Rafael jobs so most repairs finish in one visit. Call (469) 530-2485 with your operator brand and model.
Yes, that is one of the most common repairs we do in San Rafael. Rainy-season binding usually means the post footing has lifted and the gate has come out of alignment. We diagnose whether the post moved, the track shifted, or the rollers wore, and we fix all three. Prices for this work run $300 to $900 for most San Rafael properties. Call (469) 530-2485 for an exact quote.
Written by Lonnie Burke, Owner at Carver Gate Repair, serving San Rafael under The Garrison Standard.