Gates · Yakima
Walk gates, drive gates and slide gates in Yakima
A gate is the one moving part on a fence line, so it gets built heavier than the fence around it and hung on posts that can hold it true.
Chapter 01
Why the gate gives out before the fence does
A fence line stands still. A gate swings, carries the weight of whoever leans on it, and takes the slam from wind and from hurry. That is why the gate is usually the first part of a yard to start dragging on the ground, missing its latch, or pulling the post it hangs from out of plumb. The fence on either side can look fine while the gate has quietly stopped closing right.
Wind finishes the job. Donald Farmer described his mother-in-law's fence and gate as "severely damaged due to the recent wind storm". A gate with a loose hinge post or a sagging frame has nothing left to resist a gust like that, and a gate that blows open stops doing the one thing it was hung to do.
Size changes everything. A walk gate beside a house, a pair of double drive gates for a truck and a 28' slide gate across a commercial yard are three different problems. Span, weight and how often it gets used decide how heavy the posts, footings and frame have to be before a single hinge goes on.
Galvanized chain link walk gate in a covered side passage
How Dustin sizes, builds and hangs a gate
It starts with a site visit from Dustin Owen. He looks at the opening, asks who and what comes through it, and works out where the swing or the slide needs to clear. Jim Hilton wrote that Dustin "asked what I was thinking" and then "made suggestions that made everything work better". That conversation is where a gate gets its width, its direction of swing and its hardware.
Then the build. Gate posts are set heavier than line posts, with footings sized to the load, because every pound the gate carries ends up in those two posts. The frame goes together square, the hinges and latch are matched to the gate's weight, and the gate is hung and adjusted until it swings and latches without a shove. On a cedar privacy fence, that means a Z-brace cedar gate that matches the boards beside it, with black hardware that sits quietly against the wood. On chain link, it means a solid frame with the fabric stretched tight and tension bands doing their job.
The posted jobs show the range. Dustin's September 1, 2026 post described a 6' galvanized commercial job with a man gate, a double drive gate and a 28' slide gate. His post the next day was a 4' black chain link job on a terraced yard, with gates set where timber steps climb a hillside and retaining walls change the grade under every post. MF Fencing is licensed with Washington L&I as MFFENFL804RS, insured and bonded, and has been licensed since 2021.
Chapter 03
Custom hardware, and how to tell a gate needs attention
Gates are also where small custom work shows up. A customer whose mailbox was flattened by a passing driver drew the hanger he wanted on notebook paper and sent Dustin a photo. The welded galvanized hanger ended up on a gate post the same day, built from the customer's own sketch. Any specialty request on or around a gate is worth asking about.
The warning signs are easy to spot once you know them. The bottom corner drags or scuffs the ground. The latch has to be lifted or pushed to catch. The gap between gate and post is wider at the top than at the bottom. The hinge post leans, even slightly. A gate that shows any of these is carrying load it was not built for, and caught early it is often a hinge and latch adjustment rather than a rebuild.
If a gate on your property is dragging, blowing open or just never closed right, call Dustin at (509) 594-9013. He bids in person around Yakima and the Yakima Valley, Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM, and he will tell you what the gate needs.
"He came right out and assessed the damage and immediately gave us a bid estimate which we accepted." Donald Farmer, Google review, after a wind storm damaged a fence and gate.