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 Kentfield
Electric gate repair in Kentfield usually means one of two things: a cantilever slide gate on a steep Kent Woodlands driveway that’s binding on packed redwood debris, or an older swing gate with a control board that gave out years past its service life. Most repairs run between $240 and $680 and are quoted in writing before we touch anything. If your gate is stuck open, stuck closed, or groaning mid-cycle, call (626) 649-4572 and a live person will answer, any hour, any day.
We work on gates throughout Kentfield regularly, from the valley floor up into Kent Woodlands, and we know how the 10 to 18 percent grades up there change what a repair actually requires. A flat-lot gate company can swap a motor. We clear the tracks, check the bearings, and rebuild the post footings so the same failure doesn’t come back in eight months.
Why Latch & Post Gate Repair Is Kentfield’s Preferred Electric Gate Repair Company
Latch & Post is part of the Cedarwell family of independently owned gate specialists, and every job is led by Cody Beckman. Cody has been running gate repair and installation work since 2009, and the routine on every Kentfield visit is the same: background-checked, uniformed technicians, a written price before any work begins, shoe covers and drop cloths inside the house, and a photo of the cleanup before we leave. Families with kids and dogs are the reason that routine exists. Quiet tools when a baby is napping isn’t a courtesy here. It’s the standard.
Kentfield homeowners call us for gate motors, openers, keypads, remote controls, safety sensors, and control boards on LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule equipment. We don’t guess at diagnostics. We test the board, the motor, the photo eyes, and the track before we quote, so the price you sign off on is the price you pay.
Every repair carries the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If something isn’t right within a year, we come back and make it right. No argument, no fine print. That’s the only guarantee we offer and the only one you need.
Electric Gate Motor in Kentfield
An Electric Gate Motor in Kentfield does the heavy lifting for gates that weigh hundreds of pounds, and on Kent Woodlands driveways that weight fights gravity too. Grade changes everything. A motor rated for a flat driveway in Corte Madera or Larkspur may overheat on a 12 percent incline in Kent Woodlands if the carriage isn’t clean, the bearings aren’t fresh, and the post anchors aren’t solid. When we replace a motor here, we address all three, not just the failed part. A typical gate motor replacement in Kentfield runs $380 to $720, depending on brand and gate weight.
When a Kentfield Gate Motor Needs Attention
Motors fail in predictable ways: humming without movement, starting then reversing, tripping breakers, or grinding when the gears strip. In Kentfield, we also see motors burn out because the cantilever carriage was jammed with redwood needles and acorns and nobody cleared it for two seasons. The motor isn’t always the root problem. A binding track will kill a new motor just as fast as it killed the old one, which is why we inspect the full run before quoting.
What a Motor Replacement Includes
If the motor is truly dead, we remove the old unit, fit the new one, test the full open-close cycle at least five times, set the limit switches, and verify the safety reversal. You receive a written price first, and the cleanup photo after. On gates with a gate entry keypad, we’ll reprogram your existing codes at no extra charge.
Gate Access Control in Kentfield
Gate Access Control in Kentfield covers the keypads, remote controls, intercoms, and vehicle sensors that let family and regular visitors in while keeping the driveway private. Older Kent Woodlands estates often have gates from the 1980s and 1990s with access control that never anticipated modern needs. Those systems can almost always be upgraded without replacing the gate itself. Keypad replacement in Kentfield typically runs $180 to $320 installed. A new vehicle exit sensor is usually $220 to $380.
Retrofitting Access Control on Older Gates
The gate itself may have decades of life left. A 1990s ornamental iron gate in Kent Woodlands is often thicker and better built than anything sold today. When we retrofit, we add a current control board, fresh safety photocells, and a keypad or remote receiver that works with your family’s phones. You don’t need a whole new system. You need a technician who knows which components are compatible with the existing hardware.
Programming and Code Changes
New codes, removed codes, temporary visitor codes, garage-linking, and holiday schedules all fall under access control. We’ll walk through the whole job with you on site, test each keypad and remote before we leave, and write down the new codes for you. The price is agreed before any parts are ordered.
Trusted Brands We Service in Kentfield
We’re factory-trained on the brands Kentfield families actually have: LiftMaster, FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. If you know your current operator is an older Linear or DoorKing from the 1990s or early 2000s, you’re in the majority around Kent Woodlands. We keep common parts and retrofitted control boards available for those older systems, and we know which Viking and Ghost Controls models swap in cleanly when the original board can’t be reprogrammed. That means shorter turnaround and fewer return visits for Kentfield homeowners.
Common Electric Gate Repair Problems We See in Kentfield Homes
- Obsolete control boards on 20 to 40-year-old operators. These fail mid-cycle, often locking a heavy estate gate halfway open on a steep grade. A modern board can usually be retrofitted without replacing the gate, the posts, or the operator housing.
- Cantilever roller carriages packed with redwood needles and acorns. Kent Woodlands debris clogs the carriage every fall and spring, which binds the track and burns out otherwise healthy motors. This is a predictable maintenance item here, not a random failure.
- Hinge-post and post-footing rot in hillside soil. The saturated redwood canopy keeps humidity high year-round, and iron hinges rust while wooden post footings rot and shift. What looks like a sagging gate panel is usually a post problem at the base.
- Safety photocells and edge sensors from pre-2000 installations. These gates predate modern safety requirements. Adding current photocells and safety edges is straightforward for a trained technician and brings the gate up to today’s standards without replacing the panels.
Pricing for Electric Gate Repair in Kentfield, CA
Here’s what Kentfield homeowners can expect to pay for common electric gate work: motor replacement runs $380 to $720. Control board replacement ranges $260 to $480. Keypad replacement runs $180 to $320. Safety sensor replacement is $150 to $280 per pair. Full track cleaning and bearing replacement on a cantilever system runs $220 to $380. The final price is always quoted in writing before the first tool comes off the truck, and estimates are free. Call (626) 649-4572 and we’ll give you a straight number.
We Also Serve Cities Near Kentfield
Latch & Post handles Electric Gate Repair throughout central Marin. In addition to our work across Kentfield, we regularly serve Larkspur, San Anselmo, San Rafael, and Corte Madera. Scheduling is coordinated from our Bay Area office, and crews serve Kentfield locally.
Serving Kentfield, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Kentfield 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 Kentfield
Most of the time, a retrofit is the right answer. The gate itself, especially ornamental iron from the 1980s and 1990s, usually outlasts the control board by decades. We remove the obsolete board, install a current one, and match it to your existing motor and access control. If the gate is heavy and the motor was undersized originally, we’ll tell you honestly that a fuller replacement is the cheaper path long-term. Call (626) 649-4572 for a free on-site assessment and a written price.
Redwood needles and acorns pack into the cantilever roller carriages each fall, and on a 10 to 18 percent grade, even a small amount of debris creates enough resistance to bind the track and strain the motor. The fix is seasonal track cleaning and bearing inspection, done before the debris hardens into the carriage. On Kent Woodlands driveways with heavy canopy, we recommend a cleaning every fall and spring, which costs less than a replacement motor. Call (626) 649-4572 and we’ll schedule it before the next rain.
Yes, and we recommend retrofitting them on any gate that opens automatically. Photocells detect a child, pet, or vehicle in the gate’s path and reverse the operation before contact. Gates from the 1980s and 1990s rarely have them. Adding them is straightforward on most operators, and we include them whenever we replace a control board or motor. Call (626) 649-4572 if your older gate lacks photocells and we’ll quote the upgrade.
Usually yes. Sag on a hillside driveway in Kentfield is almost always caused by failure at the post, not the panel. The post footing shifts in saturated soil, or the hinge post rots, and the gate leans. We rebuild the footing, replace the hinge post if needed, and re-hang the existing gate. Unless the gate itself is rusted through, replacement isn’t necessary. Call (626) 649-4572 for a free inspection.
The year-round canopy humidity in Kentfield keeps moisture on iron hinges far longer than in drier inland towns, which accelerates rust on those hinges and on iron gate hardware. Heavy winter rainfall in the valley also saturates wooden gate frames, and the summer heat spikes, which are often 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the Marin coast, then dry the wood quickly. That wet-dry cycle causes swelling, racking, and splitting. We clean and lubricate hinges during every repair and recommend sealed hardware where practical. Call (626) 649-4572 and we’ll take a look.
Written by Cody Beckman, Owner at Latch & Post Gate Repair, serving Kentfield since 2009.