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 Electric Gate Repair Across Burien
If your electric gate in Burien has stopped opening, is grinding mid-travel, or the keypad won’t respond, the fix usually comes down to one of three things: a worn opener, a failed control board, or a post that has shifted in the clay soil. We repair all of them, and we’ll give you a written price before we touch anything. Call (626) 649-4572 and a live person answers, day or night.
Burien gates carry a weight problem most other King County suburbs never see. Homes under Sea-Tac’s flight paths got double-boarded, sound-mass fence panels installed years ago, and those panels sit on original 1950s cedar posts that were never engineered for the load. The result is a predictable failure pattern we see week after week here, and we’ve built our repair approach around it.
Why Latch & Post Gate Repair Is Burien’s Preferred Electric Gate Repair Company
We’re part of the Cedarwell family of independently owned and operated gate specialists, repairing gates since 2009. Latch & Post focuses on one trade: gates. Not fences, not decks, not general handyman work. Every gate comes down to two parts, the latch that holds it and the post that carries it. That’s the job we focus on.
Burien homeowners call us because we understand what the airport flight paths did to their fencing. When a double-boarded gate panel exceeds 200 pounds on a two-hinge residential frame, tightening the hinge bolts is rarely enough. Our technicians know to check the post footing, the hinge fastener pattern, and the operator’s current draw before recommending any fix. Dispatched and scheduled from our Seattle office, crews reach Burien quickly, and Burien customers consistently tell us the written-price-before-work-starts routine is why they call back.
Every technician is background-checked and uniformed, trained on the brands Burien families actually own. We lay drop cloths at every doorway, put on shoe covers before stepping inside, and send you a photo of the clean-up before we leave. That’s the Cedarwell C.A.R.E. routine: clean up like it’s our own home, ask before we move or touch anything, respect your time and quiet hours, and explain the price before the work. If a repair isn’t right, the 365-Day Done Right Promise means we make it right, no argument.
Gate Opener Repair in Burien
Gate opener repair in Burien typically involves a failed control board, stripped drive gears, or a motor that’s drawing too much current against a heavy 200-pound sound-barrier gate panel. Most opener repairs here run between $180 and $340 for the common failures, and you’ll see the exact number in writing before we start.
Older Operators on Heavy Panels
Many Burien gates still run original LiftMaster or FAAC operators wired to panels they were never sized for. The motor works harder every cycle, and the control board eventually fails. We test the board first, then the capacitor, then the gear train, in that order, because that’s the order Burien failures actually happen.
What Can Be Retrofitted, What Should Be Replaced
When an operator is less than ten years old and the board is the only failed component, a retrofit makes sense and costs less than half a replacement. When the motor bearings are screaming and the gear teeth are rounded off, installing a new unit is the honest answer. We’ll show you the worn part before we quote either path.
Automatic Gate Repair in Burien
Automatic gate repair in Burien almost always starts with a season-related issue: the panel has heaved on the clay, the safety photocells drifted out of alignment, and the operator shuts down mid-travel as a safety precaution. Standard automatic gate repairs in Burien run roughly $160 to $320, with the written quote confirmed before work begins. The phone number is (626) 649-4572.
Safety Systems That Drift in Wet Winters
Burien’s fall and winter rainfall saturates the glacial clay under gate posts. The post leans a half inch, the photocell beam misses its reflector, and the gate refuses to close. Re-aligning the photocells and re-leveling the post fixes it, but only if the post footing is addressed, not just the sensor.
Refitting Older Gates for Modern Safety
Gates hung before current entrapment standards often lack the safety edges and photocell coverage modern code expects. We can retrofit a safety edge onto most existing wood or steel gates. The job preserves the gate and brings the system up to a standard that keeps kids and pets out of the pinch zone.
Trusted Brands We Service in Burien
Our technicians are factory-trained on FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking equipment, four brands we see constantly on Burien gates. When a control board fails on an older FAAC slide operator near Seahurst, or a Viking keypad stops reading codes in Gregory Heights, we typically have the replacement part stocked locally. That means no multi-week wait for a board that should have been swapped the same week. We service the full Electric Gate Repair range without pushing you toward a brand you don’t already own.
Common Electric Gate Repair Problems We See in Burien Homes
- Top hinge lag-screws strip out of 1950s cedar posts. Burien’s original fence posts were set shallow and often without concrete. A double-boarded noise-barrier panel hanging on those posts eventually pulls the top hinge fasteners straight out of the grain.
- Obsolete control boards fail after salt-air corrosion. The stretch of Burien along Puget Sound exposes hinges, terminals, and control boards to salt-laden air. Older LiftMaster and Linear boards lose programming or fry entirely, stopping the operator mid-travel.
- Clay soils heave posts laterally every fall. Post-WII ramblers and mid-century ranch homes around Boulevard Park and Three Tree Point sit on clay-heavy glacial soils that swell in the wet season. The post shifts, the gate drags, and the safety photocells fall out of alignment.
- Gates over 200 pounds overwhelm two-hinge frames. Under the heaviest airport noise corridors, homeowners double-boarded panels for sound mass. The frame holds for a few years, then the post leans and the latch no longer meets the strike.
We were called to a mid-century rambler off SW 152nd St where the top hinge lag-screws had stripped clean out of the cedar hinge post on a double-boarded noise-barrier swing gate. Our tech reset the post footing with concrete, rehung the panel on through-bolted hinges, and brought the old LiftMaster operator back to life with a new control board and tested safety photocells. The gate now runs level through the wet season instead of dragging on the clay.
Pricing for Electric Gate Repair in Burien, WA
We Also Serve Cities Near Burien
From our base serving Burien, we take repair calls in Seattle, Tacoma, and nearby communities. We also serve Vancouver. Each location is an independent local business working to the same Cedarwell Care Promise. Customers in each city get the same written price, the same drop cloths, and the same 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Serving Burien, WA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Burien 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 Electric Gate Repair in Burien
Why do my gate hinges keep pulling out of the post when my neighbor in Kent has no problem?
Because Burien sits under Sea-Tac flight paths and many local gates hang on double-boarded, sound-mass panels over 200 pounds, while Kent gates are typically lighter. The original 1950s cedar posts in Burien were not engineered for that load, so the top hinge lag-screws strip out within a few years. Fixing it means resetting the post in concrete and switching to through-bolted hinges. Call (626) 649-4572 and we’ll confirm the fix and the price in writing.
My old LiftMaster operator quit mid-travel, can it be repaired or does it need replacing?
If the control board is the failed part, repair usually makes sense and costs less than half a new unit. If the motor bearings are grinding or the gear teeth are worn down, replacement is the cheaper answer over the next five years. A technician will open the unit and show you the worn part before you approve either path.
Does my automatic gate need entrapment protection in Burien?
Yes, automatic gates should have functioning safety photocells and a reversing mechanism so they stop and reverse on contact or an obstructed beam. Many older Burien gates were hung before these standards existed. We can retrofit safety edges and test existing photocells on most wood and steel gate systems.
Why does my gate drag and then free up depending on the season?
Burien’s clay-heavy glacial soil absorbs fall and winter rain and swells, heaving the gate post laterally by a half inch or more. The panel drags, then frees up when the soil dries in summer. The real fix is re-setting the post in concrete, not just trimming the gate bottom.
Can you retrofit a modern operator onto my original 1950s cedar fence gate?
In most cases, yes. The operator mounts to the post and the gate panel, so the age of the cedar fence matters less than whether the post is solid and plumb. We’ll evaluate the post’s condition and the panel’s weight before quoting, because a heavy Burien sound-barrier gate may need post work before any operator goes on. Estimates are free.
Call for a Free Estimate
If your gate isn’t closing, is dragging on the clay, or the keypad stopped reading codes, call (626) 649-4572 now. A live person answers around the clock. We’ll schedule a visit to your Burien home, lay down drop cloths and shoe covers before stepping inside, and hand you a written price before any work begins.
Written by Cody Beckman, Owner at Latch & Post Gate Repair, part of the Cedarwell family of gate specialists serving Burien since 2009.