Bay Area Gate Repair, Refinishing & Maintenance

Most hardwood gates in the Bay Area need a refinish every 2–4 years depending on sun exposure. Wait too long and you're not refinishing anymore — you're sanding off real wood fiber to expose fresh material under the gray.

We pressure-wash with a controlled tip and pressure that won't fuzz the grain, hand-sand transitions, spot-repair any failing finish, and reapply the original finish system: Penofin Verde Marine Oil for marine and high-sun gates, Armstrong Clark for deep-color stability, Cabot Australian Timber Oil for warmer tones, Sikkens Cetol for film-finish projects, Messmer's UV Plus for higher UV resistance, or TWP for lower-VOC requirements. Matching the original system matters — film-finishes and penetrating oils are not compatible and trying to layer them is what causes peeling.

Hinges loosen. Latches drift out of alignment. Posts settle in Bay Area expansive clay, especially after wet winters and long dry summers.

We re-shim, re-torque, re-plumb, and replace anything past its working life. On older gates with failing tenons, split rails, or rotted bottom rails we cut out the failed members, sister in matched Sapele or species-correct stock, re-joint the assembly with marine adhesive and stainless draw-bores, and refinish to blend. A structural repair done well can add 10–15 years to a gate that looked like a replacement candidate.

If your automatic gate is hesitating, reversing on close, losing connection, or making new sounds you don't recognize, we diagnose the operator, sensors, control board, and access control end to end. We service FAAC, BFT, LiftMaster, Viking, DoorKing, and the other major brands.

Common fixes: photo-eye realignment after a landscaping change, edge-sensor replacement after a UV-aged rubber failure, control-board surge replacement after a PG&E event, and re-pairing of myQ or U-Base smartphone apps. We also re-certify gates to current UL 325 standards — meaningful when you sell the home and the inspection report needs to be clean.

About 70% of the older gates we look at can be cost-effectively repaired rather than replaced. The structural shell — posts, primary frame, joinery — is usually still good. What's failed is the finish, the hardware, and (on automated gates) the operator electronics.

We give you a written assessment that itemizes what can be repaired, what should be replaced, what the cost difference is between repair and replacement, and how many additional years of life you can realistically expect from a repair. The other 30% are gates built originally with the wrong wood, wrong joinery, or wrong post setup — and for those, replacement is the honest answer.