Murfreesboro, Tennessee · Rutherford County
A gate gets used more than any other part of a fence, so it's the part that gives out first. The latch stops catching, the bottom starts dragging a groove in the grass, or the automatic gate stops halfway and beeps. Most of these problems have a short list of causes, and most can be fixed without replacing the gate.
This is the most common cause by far. The hinge post carries the whole gate on one side, and in wet clay a post that was too small or too shallow slowly tips toward the gate. The fix is resetting or replacing the post, usually with a heavier one set deeper in concrete. Re-hanging a gate on a leaning post just puts off the problem.
Wood gates pull out of square as they age and the joints loosen. We square the frame and add a diagonal brace that runs from the bottom hinge corner up to the top latch corner, or a cable-and-turnbuckle anti-sag kit that can be tightened later.
Hinges wear, screws pull out of soft wood, and latches drift out of line as the gate moves. We replace them with heavier hardware, through-bolting where screws keep stripping.
Chain link gate frames bend, and their hinge and latch fittings slip. Vinyl gates sag when they were hung without a steel stiffener. Both can usually be straightened and re-hung.
When an automatic gate acts up, we start by checking whether the gate itself still moves freely by hand. DASMA's installer checklist treats that as a basic requirement, and a binding gate burns out operators. Then we work through the operator, the limit settings, the photo eyes and edge sensors, the receiver and keypad, and the power supply, whether batteries, solar or hardwired. We also re-test the safety reversal before we leave. If an old operator isn't worth another repair, we'll tell you and quote a replacement on our automatic gate openers page.
HomeGuide's national figures:
If the hinge post is sound and the gate is just out of adjustment, repair wins every time. If the post is rotted at the ground, the frame is cracked, and the gate was never sized for its opening, a new gate on new posts usually costs less in the long run. See driveway gates. If the problem is the fence and not the gate, go to fence repair.
Inside Murfreesboro city limits, the City treats minor repairs as normal maintenance that doesn't need a permit.
Send us a photo or a short video of the gate opening and closing, plus what it's doing wrong. We'll tell you what we think the cause is and quote the repair. Call (629) 334-2020 anytime or use the quote form.
Rather talk it through? Call (629) 334-2020 anytime.
Back to Murfreesboro Fencing Company for every fence and gate we build.
