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 Novato
Electric gate repair in Novato usually means one of two things: a motor that quit mid-cycle, or a gate that no longer hangs square on its posts. Most calls we take from Novato homeowners are for gates built in the 1970s through the 1990s, and the fix often runs $180 to $520 depending on whether we’re replacing a capacitor, a control board, or a full operator arm. We answer the phone 24/7 at (626) 649-4572, and a live person picks up, not a voicemail tree. If your gate won’t open, you’ll want a straight answer about whether it’s worth fixing before you spend money on a new motor.
Dispatch and scheduling for Novato are coordinated from the brand’s San Francisco Bay Area office, and crews serve Novato locally. We know which streets in Hamilton have HOA finish requirements, and we know what the afternoon wind does to a swing gate on Ignacio Boulevard. That local knowledge changes how we quote, what parts we carry on the truck, and how we approach your repair.
Why Latch & Post Gate Repair Is Novato’s Preferred Electric Gate Repair Company
Latch & Post Gate Repair has been part of the Cedarwell family of independently owned and operated gate specialists since 2009. We focus on gates. Not gates plus gutters plus handyman work. Gate repair, gate installation, and Electric Gate Repair. 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, and it’s why we can tell you in the first call whether your Novato gate is worth repairing or has reached the end of its serviceable life.
Novato homeowners call us because the technician who shows up is background-checked, uniformed, and factory-trained on the brands families actually own here: FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking among them. Before any work starts, you get a written price. Not a verbal estimate, not a range. A number on paper. We lay drop cloths on the floor and put on shoe covers before we step inside your home. And before the technician leaves, you get a photo of the clean-up. That’s the Cedarwell C.A.R.E. routine on every visit: clean up like it is our own home, ask before we move or touch anything, respect your time and quiet hours, and explain the price before the work.
Every repair and installation we perform in Novato is covered by the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the repair isn’t done right, Latch & Post makes it right. No argument, no fine print.
Electric Gate Motor in Novato
Electric gate motor repair in Novato is almost always a wind story. Novato sits squarely in the Petaluma Gap wind corridor, where afternoon Delta winds funnel through the valley with force that most of Marin never feels. A motor on a gate in San Rafael might last ten years on cycle count alone. The same motor on a swing gate off Atherton Avenue in Novato takes sustained lateral gusts against the gate panel, so the arm and the internal gears wear from torque, not from opening and closing. We size replacement motors for sustained afternoon wind load here, not just for gate weight.
Operator Arm Replacements
When a FAAC or BFT arm has been pounded by Petaluma Gap wind for years, the internal limit switches and drive gears are usually the first parts to go. In Novato, we regularly see arms that still run but overshoot their stops, or arms that strain against the gate because the geometry has shifted. Replacing the arm without checking the hinge posts is a waste of your money. We always check post alignment before bolting on a new motor.
Control Boards and Capacitors
Older LiftMaster and Linear boards sold before about 2008 didn’t include inputs for modern safety photocells. If your Novato gate has an original control board, adding UL 325 entrapment protection usually means swapping the board, not just adding sensors. A replacement control board in Novato generally runs $220 to $420 with labor. The technician will tell you if your existing board can be retrofitted or if it’s time for a board with current safety inputs.
Gate Access Control in Novato
Gate access control repair in Novato is the part of the job most people don’t think about until a keypad stops accepting the code or a remote stops waking the gate. Access control covers the keypad, the remote, the receiver, and the safety sensors or loops that tell the operator when to stop. In Novato, where many gates are older installations around Hamilton, Ignacio, and the hillside ranch properties, access systems are often a mix of generations: a newer keypad wired to a 1990s receiver. Those mismatches cause most of the failures we see.
Keypads and Wireless Receivers
A keypad that works sometimes usually has a failing membrane or a receiver that’s losing signal at the gate. Keypad replacement in Novato typically runs $160 to $280, and remote reprogramming on most Linear and Viking receivers is included inside a service call. If the keypad is original to a 1980s gate, we may need to upgrade the receiver to speak to both your old hardware and anything new.
Safety Sensors and Photocell Inputs
Safety sensor repair keeps a gate from closing on a child, a dog, or a car. Monitored photocells are an entrapment protection requirement under UL 325, and many Novato gates either don’t have them or have sensors that were never wired into the board. Replacing or aligning photocells runs about $140 to $260 in Novato, depending on the wiring. We check sensors on every electric gate repair visit, not just when you think something is wrong.
Trusted Brands We Service in Novato
Our technicians are factory-trained on the brands families actually own around Novato. We stock boards, arms, and receivers for FAAC, BFT, and Linear systems on the truck, and we’re also factory-trained on Viking, LiftMaster, Ghost Controls, DoorKing, Elite, and Mighty Mule. The advantage for you is speed. When your FAAC swing arm fails on a windy Thursday afternoon, the replacement part is usually on the truck already, not ordered from a distributor in Hayward. For Novato homeowners with older operators, that means a repair can often happen on the first visit instead of a second trip.
Common Electric Gate Repair Problems We See in Novato Homes
- Petaluma Gap wind torque on hinge posts. Afternoon winds funnel through the Novato valley and twist gate panels against their posts until sag correction alone cannot recover alignment. When a post has moved, the real fix is excavating and re-pouring the footing, not just adjusting the hinges.
- Bel Marin Keys salt-air corrosion. Standard powder-coat steel gates blister and rust within two to three seasons near the San Pablo Bay shoreline. Ferrous operator mounts and welds corrode there at a rate you won’t see a few miles inland, so marine-grade galvanized or aluminum is the only practical long-term spec.
- Obsolete control boards without safety inputs. Original operators on 1980s and 1990s Novato gates often lack modern photocell inputs. UL 325 entrapment protection cannot simply be added without a board or operator replacement, which changes the scope of the repair.
- Wood-post gates in CAL FIRE Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. Many hillside and semi-rural Novato properties fall inside fire hazard zones where Marin County enforces non-combustible material standards at property entrances. Aging wood-post gates there cannot be repaired in kind and must be rebuilt in steel or aluminum.
Pricing for Electric Gate Repair in Novato, CA
A typical electric gate motor repair in Novato runs $180 to $520 with labor, depending on whether we’re replacing a capacitor, a control board, or an operator arm. Keypad repair ranges from $160 to $280, and safety sensor replacement runs $140 to $260. The biggest cost driver is wind. In Novato, a gate that has been torqued by Petaluma Gap gusts for years often needs a post footing replacement at $350 to $650 before a new motor can go on, because hanging a fresh arm on a loose post just burns out the new motor. You’ll see the exact number in writing before we touch anything. Always. Call (626) 649-4572 for a free estimate. Estimates are free, and nobody pressures you into accepting.
We Also Serve Cities Near Novato
Latch & Post Gate Repair serves Electric Gate Repair in Novato and the surrounding North Bay communities. We regularly take calls from Fairfax, San Anselmo, Petaluma, and San Rafael, and many of the same wind and salt-air failure patterns apply across those areas. If you’re in one of those cities, the gate issue you’re dealing with is probably one we’ve fixed a hundred times in this corridor.
Serving Novato, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Novato 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 Novato
We start by checking the hinge post, because in Novato the sag is usually the post, not the panel. Years of Petaluma Gap wind torque lean the post until the gate drags on the ground. If the post has moved, simply adjusting the hinges or planing the panel won’t hold. We’ll excavate and re-pour the footing, bring the gate back to a true hinge line, and install galvanized hinges. Most sag repairs in Novato run $220 to $480, and the price is in writing before work starts. Call (626) 649-4572 and we’ll give you a straight answer.
Often no, but sometimes yes. If the board is discontinued and the motor itself is still sound, we can usually fit a compatible aftermarket board and add modern safety photocell inputs at the same time, which runs about $220 to $420. But if the wind has been working the arm for twenty years, the gears and limit switches are usually worn too, and a full operator replacement is the cheaper long answer than piecing an old unit back together. We’ll tell you which one applies to your gate before you spend a dollar.
Yes. Bel Marin Keys sits close enough to the San Pablo Bay that salt-laden air corrodes standard powder-coat steel gates and ferrous operator mounts within two to three seasons. Welds that would hold up fine a few miles inland fail at the coast there. Marine-grade galvanized or aluminum construction is the only practical long-term spec. Standard powder coat will look good for a season and blister by the third winter.
Yes, but the gate itself may need to be rebuilt with non-combustible materials. Marin County enforces defensible-space and non-combustible standards at property entrances in fire hazard zones, so an aging wood-post gate cannot be repaired in kind. We can retrofit your existing operator onto a steel or aluminum gate and post, which satisfies the fire-safety requirement without abandoning your working automation. The retrofit usually makes more sense than buying a whole new system.
Test the photocell by blocking the beam while the gate is closing. The gate should stop and reverse immediately. If it doesn’t, the sensor is either misaligned or, more commonly in older Novato installations, never wired into the control board at all. A monitored photocell that isn’t connected to the board provides no entrapment protection. We check this on every visit, and replacement or rewiring runs about $140 to $260. Call (626) 649-4572 and we can walk you through a quick test right now.
What Older Novato Gates Actually Need
In the hills above the Hamilton neighborhood, we replaced a LiftMaster operator on a 1970s swing gate whose original welded steel frame had pounded its hinge post loose through years of Petaluma Gap gusts. We excavated and re-poured the post footing, brought the sag correction back to a true hinge line, and fitted galvanized hinges before commissioning the new arm. The gate has held alignment through two full wind seasons since. That’s the difference between a repair that lasts and a repair that fails the next October.
Most older Novato gates were hung before modern safety requirements existed. The operators were simpler, the safety inputs were absent, and the posts were often set shallow. Wind torque here finds those weaknesses faster than anywhere else in Marin. Some of what we find can be retrofitted: a new control board with photocell inputs, a sturdier hinge, a fresh receiver. Some of what we find costs more to patch than to replace, and we’ll tell you honestly which one applies. We’d rather leave a gate that holds alignment for ten years than patch one that needs us back every September.
When you call Latch & Post Gate Repair, a live person answers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We’ll ask about your gate, give you a straight read on what’s likely wrong, and schedule a visit with a written price before any work begins. Shoe covers on, drop cloths down, cleanup photo before we go. If it isn’t done right, the 365-Day Done Right Promise says we make it right. No argument. Call (626) 649-4572 for a free estimate today.
Written by Cody Beckman, Owner at Latch & Post Gate Repair, serving Novato since 2009.