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 Installation Across Seattle
Gate installation in Seattle runs $1,450 to $5,800 for most residential jobs, with a new Western red cedar swing gate on standard posts typically landing around $2,200 to $3,400, and a motorized slide gate with operator closer to $4,000 to $6,500. That’s the honest range before we ever see your property. Tight side yards, hillside clay, and shared driveways shape most of what we do here, and a gate that ignores those conditions fails early. If you need Gate Repair in Seattle or a new gate installed correctly the first time, call us at (940) 412-7340. We quote in writing before any work begins.
Why Portcullis Gate Repair Is Seattle’s Preferred Gate Installation Company
We’ve built our Seattle reputation one job at a time since 2008, which is a long time to stay honest in a trade where no-shows and inflated invoices are common. Seattle homeowners call us because we answer the phone with a live person at any hour, because our technicians arrive in uniform and background-checked, and because the price we quote is the price you pay. No surprises after the gate is already disassembled and leaning against the fence. That matters more here than most places, because Seattle’s housing stock is old and its lots are tight. Craftsman bungalows in Ballard and Wallingford weren’t designed around modern gate hardware, and hillside side yards in Queen Anne or Beacon Hill have their own rules. We know those rules.
Every job carries the Kingswell Guarantee in writing: a written price before any work starts, a real arrival window, a clean job site, and a written guarantee on the installation. If our work fails within 365 days, we come back and fix it at no charge under the 365-Day Done Right Promise. That’s the standard across every Kingswell company, and it’s stamped on your invoice, not recited by a salesperson. Dean Prescott leads this location and stands behind every gate we hang.
Gate Installation Services in Seattle
Gate Installation services in Seattle cover the full job: removing the old gate, assessing and often replacing the posts, hanging the new gate, and making sure it swings or slides cleanly without dragging or binding. Most Seattle homes we work on have a side-yard or backyard access gate, and the first question is always the same: does a swing gate actually fit this space? On a flat lot with room to spare, a swing gate is the economical choice. On a hillside lot with a shared driveway, it often isn’t. We measure the property line, check the grade, and tell you plainly which direction the gate should travel. Then we quote it in writing.
Driveway and Double Gate Installations
A driveway gate in Seattle runs $2,800 to $6,500 installed, depending on width, material, and whether you want it motorized. Double gates, the two-leaf style common on wider Seattle driveways, add roughly $800 to $1,200 over a single-leaf equivalent because both leaves need hardware, alignment, and a coordinated closer or operator. We set posts in concrete with drainage beds where the soil demands it, and we hang the leaves so they close square, not just close.
Pedestrian and Side-Yard Gate Installations
A pedestrian gate in a cedar fence line typically runs $1,450 to $3,000 in Seattle. The material is usually Western red cedar, the regional default because it shrugs off the damp better than fir or pine. We build these gates to swing into the yard, never into a shared path or sidewalk, and we size the hinges for wet-service duty so they don’t seize after one rainy season. If the old gate pulled the fence post over, we fix the post too. A gate is only as good as the post holding it.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Electric Gate Installation in Seattle
Electric gate installation in Seattle runs $3,400 to $6,500 for a single-leaf swing gate with an actuator, and $4,000 to $8,000 for a slide gate with an operator, including the power run where feasible. The job involves mounting the operator, running low-voltage control wiring, setting the travel limits, and adding the required entrapment protection. Seattle’s building stock adds a wrinkle: many older homes have no conduit to the gate location, and lots with rockeries or retaining walls can make trenching slow. We scope the power run before we quote, so the written price covers it. We install on FAAC, BFT, Linear, and Viking operators, among others, and we handle the safety edges and photo eyes that code requires. Every Seattle electric gate we install leaves with a written installation guarantee.
Slide Gate and Rack-and-Pinion Setups
On Seattle’s hillside lots, a slide gate is frequently the only gate that fits. A swing gate needs an arc of clear space equal to its width, and in a narrow side yard that arc crosses the property line or fouls the neighbor’s driveway. A slide gate travels along the fence line instead. Rack-and-pinion drives are the setup we specify for these installs because they handle the weight of a cedar gate without slipping, even on a grade. If your Seattle lot has no room for a swing, we’ll tell you that in the first ten minutes of the estimate.
Entrapment Protection and Code Compliance
Seattle requires automatic gates to meet UL 325 standards, which means entrapment protection devices: photo eyes across the gate opening, a reversing edge or safety edge on the leading edge of the gate, and audible warning if the gate is motorized. We don’t treat this as an add-on. It’s part of the install, and it’s in the written price. A gate that closes on a car, a kid, or a dog isn’t an installation, it’s a liability, and we won’t leave one behind.
Trusted Brands We Service in Seattle
Our Seattle technicians carry stock parts for FAAC, BFT, and Linear operators, along with the other major brands we service. That means when a control board fails or a limit switch burns out, we’re not waiting on a distributor to ship from Portland or Los Angeles. We fix it, often the same visit. For new installs, we recommend an operator based on the gate’s weight, the grade, and how often it cycles, not based on what’s on the truck. A Viking operator on a light pedestrian gate is overkill; a light-duty opener on a heavy double driveway gate is a callback waiting to happen. We spec it correctly the first time.
Common Gate Installation Problems We See in Seattle Homes
- Post heave on clay soil. Hillside neighborhoods like Queen Anne and Beacon Hill sit on clay that saturates through the rainy season and expands, tilting a newly installed post before the first summer. The fix is a deeper footing with a gravel drainage bed, not a bigger hammer.
- Hinge and latch corrosion from constant damp. Seattle’s drizzle keeps hardware wet for months at a time. Standard zinc or uncoated steel hinges seize within a year or two. We specify stainless or hot-dipped galvanized hardware rated for continuous wet exposure.
- Swing gates that never fit the space. A surprising number of Seattle gates are installed by someone who never measured the property line. The gate clears the fence but swings into the neighbor’s driveway or across the sidewalk. We flag this before we sell you a swing gate.
- Cedar panels that swell and jam. Western red cedar is rot-resistant but it still moves with moisture. A gate built tight in August won’t close in January. We build with proper clearances and seal the end grain, which is where water enters.
Pricing for Gate Installation in Seattle, WA
Here’s what Seattle homeowners can expect to pay, parts and labor included:
- Pedestrian sidewalk gate, Western red cedar: $1,450 to $3,000
- Single driveway swing gate, no operator: $2,800 to $4,500
- Double driveway swing gate, no operator: $3,600 to $5,800
- Motorized single swing gate with actuator and entrapment protection: $3,400 to $6,500
- Motorized slide gate with operator and rack: $4,000 to $8,000
- Post replacement with deeper footing and drainage bed: $600 to $1,200 per post
What moves the number: gate width, grade changes, whether we’re trenching for power, and the condition of the existing posts. What doesn’t move it: the price once we’ve quoted it. The written price we hand you is what you pay. Call (940) 412-7340 for a free estimate on your Seattle gate installation.
We Also Serve Cities Near Seattle
Our crews work across the wider metro, so if your property sits just outside the city line, we can usually schedule you the same week. We regularly install gates in Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, and Bainbridge Island, often for the same Seattle homeowners we’ve worked with before. If you’re near Seattle but not in it, call anyway. We’ll tell you straight whether we can get there.
Serving Seattle, WA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Seattle 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 Installation in Seattle
You can if the side yard is wide enough to contain the full swing arc without crossing the property line, but most Seattle side yards aren’t. In older hillside neighborhoods like Queen Anne and Beacon Hill, the side yard is often four to six feet wide and runs alongside a shared driveway or the neighbor’s fence line. A gate swinging into that space hits the neighbor’s car or the fence. A slide gate travels along the fence line and clears the same opening without any arc at all. That’s why we measure the swing path before we recommend anything. Call (940) 412-7340 and we’ll tell you what fits your yard.
Yes, and this is the hill every cheap gate install dies on. Seattle’s hillside clay holds water through the rainy season, and when a post is set in concrete directly against that clay, the saturated soil expands and pushes the footing upward. The post tilts, the gate drags, and you’re calling us a year later. We dig a deeper footing and place a gravel drainage bed beneath the concrete so water flows away. On a flat, sandy lot it matters less. On Seattle’s hillsides it’s the difference between a gate that lasts fifteen years and one that leans by March.
We install and service FAAC, BFT, Linear, Viking, LiftMaster, Ghost Controls, Doorking service in Seattle, Elite, and Mighty Mule. For Seattle’s climate and typical gate sizes, we commonly recommend FAAC or BFT for residential swing gates because their actuators are sealed well against moisture, and Linear or Viking for slide gates on grades. We stock parts for several brands locally, which shortens repair time when something does fail. The operator you get should match the gate, not the brand we happen to prefer that week.
Yes, it’s code. Any automatic gate in Seattle must comply with UL 325, which requires photo eyes across the opening, a reversing edge or safety edge on the gate, and audible or visual warning when the gate operates. Every electric gate we install includes these as part of the quoted price, never as a line-item upgrade. If another company quotes you an electric gate without mentioning entrapment protection, walk away. That gate isn’t legal to operate, and it’s dangerous.
Western red cedar is the best wood available for Seattle gates, and it’s been the standard here for decades specifically because it resists rot in continuous damp. But it still moves with moisture, and it still needs the right construction. We seal the end grain before assembly, build with clearance gaps sized for winter swelling, and use stainless hardware. A cedar gate built that way will last twenty years in Seattle. One built tight with uncoated hardware will bind by January and need work within two years.
If your gate is heaving, dragging, or never fit right to begin with, call (940) 412-7340. We’ll send a technician to measure, tell you plainly what the job needs, and hand you a written price before any work starts. That’s how we’ve done it in Seattle since 2008, and that’s how the Kingswell Guarantee says it has to be.
Written by Dean Prescott, Owner at Portcullis Gate Repair, serving Seattle since 2008.