FAAC Welding & Fabrication Nationwide

FAAC Welding & Fabrication: The North Hollywood Owner’s Guide

FAAC welding and fabrication in North Hollywood typically runs $280 to $650 installed, depending on whether we’re repairing a cracked hinge, rebuilding a bent gate frame, or fabricating a new mounting plate from scratch. We stock the common FAAC-compatible brackets, hinge weldments, and reinforcement plates on our trucks, and most weld repairs are completed same-day. The usual discovery: your gate starts dragging on the ground, or the FAAC operator strains at one point in the travel, or a weld pops with a sound like a gunshot and the gate hangs limp from one hinge.

Call (213) 566-1045

Which FAAC Models This Applies To

The welding and fabrication work we do covers the full FAAC swing-gate line: the 400 series operators, the 412 and 415 24-volt units, the 750 and 770 hydraulic operators, and the newer S418 and S450 models. The operator itself rarely needs welding. What fails is the metal around it: the hinge weldments on the gate leaf, the post brackets the operator mounts to, and the arm attachment points that take the brunt of every open-close cycle.

Here’s the FAAC-specific gotcha: the 770 hydraulic operator moves a heavy gate slowly, which means a slightly misaligned hinge puts enormous lateral stress on the weld over months, not days. By the time you see the crack, the underlying alignment problem has usually been present for a year or more. We measure the existing hinge positions and gate sag before we weld anything, because welding a new hinge onto a gate that’s still out-of-square just moves the failure point six inches down the frame.

On the OEM-versus-aftermarket question for FAAC specifically: the hinge weldments and mounting brackets from FAAC’s factory are well-made but priced at a premium, and the aftermarket equivalents for the 400 series in particular are dimensionally identical. For structural parts that hold the gate’s weight, we prefer OEM or a US-machined aftermarket bracket with a documented steel spec. For non-structural brackets and covers, a quality aftermarket part saves you real money with no functional difference.

Signs Your FAAC Welding & Fabrication Is Failing

• The gate scrapes or drags at one specific point in the swing. A worn or broken hinge weld lets the far end of the gate droop, so the latch-side corner catches the driveway. The operator keeps pushing, which accelerates the hinge failure.
• A visible rust line or crack runs along a factory weld. The original weld held fine for years. What changed is usually the gate’s weight distribution: a waterlogged wood insert, a new heavier overlay, or a bent frame member now stresses the old joint past its original design.
• The FAAC operator makes a straining sound at one point in the travel. The operator is working against a mechanical bind created by a failing weld or bent bracket. That bind is also burning through the operator’s duty cycle faster than it should.
• The gate “bounces” or shudders as it starts or stops. A cracked weld opens and closes under load, so the gate leaves and returns to the operator’s control instead of moving with it. Each shudder hammers the crack wider.
• The hinge pins show uneven wear, shiny on one side only. This tells us the hinge leaves are no longer parallel, which means the weld or the post has shifted. Replacing the hinge without fixing the shift means you’ll be back here in a year.

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Replacement Cost & What’s Included

Here’s where the price actually lands in North Hollywood. A simple hinge weld repair on an existing bracket runs $280 to $380, including grinding out the failed weld, re-welding with proper penetration, and painting the repair. Rebuilding a bent gate frame section or fabricating a new post bracket runs $400 to $550. A full custom fabrication job, like a new steel gate insert or a substantial mounting plate for a hydraulic operator, runs $550 to $650 and up, depending on the steel gauge and the amount of fitting involved.

The price is written down and handed to you before we strike an arc. That’s how every Vance Gate Repair job works, and the FAAC welding work is no exception. What’s included in that number: the steel, the welding consumables, the grinding and prep, the paint or primer on the repair, and the labor. If we find additional damage once we open the area up, we stop, photograph it, and hand you a revised number before continuing. Your repair is covered by the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the weld fails within a year under normal use, we fix it at no charge.

DIY or Call Us?

Welding a gate hinge in North Hollywood is not a weekend instructional-video project. The welds on a swing gate hold hundreds of pounds at a leverage point, and a failed weld lets that weight fall on whoever or whatever is underneath it. A homeowner can safely check the obvious things: look for visible cracks, push on the gate leaf at the latch corner to feel for play, and photograph any rust lines at the hinge welds so you can show us exactly what you found. What a homeowner should not do is run a 110-volt flux-core welder at a cracked hinge on a 400-pound steel gate. Undercut the weld, and the gate comes down. The joint needs full-penetration welding, the gate needs to be supported and squared during the work, and the repair needs to be painted properly or it rusts out inside two years in coastal-adjacent North Hollywood humidity.

If you want to check a few measurements before committing, we’ll walk you through what to look for over the phone. But the welding itself is a trained-professional job. Call (213) 566-1045 and we’ll get a technician to your driveway.

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