Custom Gate & Access

David is a horrible communicator. He gave a terrible and incomplete quote. The work ended up costing far more than he stated. Do not work with this company.

I installed a custom gate in 2008. The installation was perfect. The material and electronics are far superior than anything in the market. These are niche products and are custom made. You can’t expect it to be done in one week. After easily one to likely two thousand door openings and closings the mother board died. I called Dave and he quickly came out, diagnosed the problem and had me up and running in less than one week. The replacement cost was reasonable and I fully expect another thousand+ openings and closings from the new mother board. Notice that no other issues for a door that gets so much use and is exposed to the weather. No warping, sagging or uneven closings. The steel pillars were installed in 5 ft. of cement. When the doors move they operate smoothly.
Last week a basketball was dragged by the doors and caught. The doors automatically stopped before damage could occur. I couldn’t reset it and called Dave. He had a solution for me within a day and I was able to reset it myself.
I’m at a loss to understand the negative reviews. They all appear to be with the service rather than the materials or workmanship. My advice is be patient. These are expensive doors custom made for your specific application. You can’t expect an instant turnaround that you would get with a cookie cutter door and gate. After 6 years the gate has provided us with security, comfort and minimal repair costs.

Custom Gate is in a niche field. I spent a lot of time researching companies, most did not want to do wood gates. My experience on the sales/​estimating side was that Custom Gate and Access was more responsive than the other companies I met with.
Utlimately, I felt the most confident with their expertise as it relates to wood gates. I am impressed with the construction methods and material. As a General Contractor, I am a little more sensitive to the scheduling process as it relates to companies that have multiple short duration projects. Ultimately, they met my scheduling expectations and most importantly I have a wood driveway gate that matches our house perfectly. I would highly recommend them to others considering installing a custom wood gate.

Should anyone make the terrible mistake I did in hiring this company, below is the intallation warranty support you should expect to receive from it’s owner. Unprofessional beyond comprehension.
From: David Hagelthorn [mailto:customgateandaccess@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 4:34 PM
To: Fred T
Cc: David Hagelthorn
Subject: Re: Gate
After reviewing your Unilocal post from June (attached), we’re baffled why you would call us for any work.
Best of luck,
Dave
David Hagelthorn
Custom Gate & Access, Inc.
(650)299−0655 (Bay Area)
(916)374−8460 (Sacramento)
On Mon, Nov 11, 2013 at 4:23 PM, Fred T wrote:
As my voicemail on your cell this Saturday, 11÷9÷13, indicated, your company’s defective installation of my gate continues to worsen. The driveway gate is now colliding with the garden gate post making the garden gate inoperable, a major safety concern. I have sent you and your office daily e-​mails and voicemails requesting you repair the defects under your installation warranty, that your company chosen to ignore.
I have given you ample time to remedy your defective installation. Specifically, you did not install adequate vertical support to hold the gate plumb. As a consequence, it leans forward, causing both cosmetic and structural damage. I originally made you aware of this defect condition on 10÷25÷13.
I’m too busy to chase you down to fix your poor workmanship. Unless I get an repair date in writing from you by 10AM PST, 11÷12÷13, I will engage a reputable 3^rd party gate company to perform the warranty repair work on your behalf. I need to act quickly to limit incremental structural damage and safety concerns.
From: Fred T
Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2013 1:20 PM
To: ‘David Hagelthorn’; ‘David Hagelthorn’
Subject: RE: Gate
Left message on your cell and spoke to your office today. Still waiting on a date. Very unprofessional to ignore your customers.
From: Fred T
Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 4:53 PM
To: David Hagelthorn; ‘David Hagelthorn’
Subject: Gate
When we spoke last Thursday, you committed to having someone come take a look at why my gate wasn’t shutting properly, Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. I haven’t heard anything since; what’s the plan?

Excellent work. This company does premium craftsmanship, uses the best materials. It’s hard to find companies that do this kind of finished product. I worked with Dave, he gave me detailed plans, specifications. Was happy with the finished product and the service.

Their workmanship is great but customer service is terrible.
The good news:
Wooden gate is beautiful, well made.
They know what they are doing.
The bad news:
Took way too long.
Need to make it clear who is responsible for what. Check your contract!
Requested progress payment before the specified work was completed.
Many times he said how busy they were. Not my problem.
Would not hire them again.

EXTREMELY DISSATISFIED. We had a driveway gate and two passage gates manufactured and installed by Dave Hagelthorn at Custom Gate & Access, Inc. and are very dissatisfied with the work. We began the project just over 8 months ago and are still waiting for the project to be completed. We mistakenly paid the full amount and have been unable to get Dave to complete the project. We have a filed a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau and are currently working with them to rectify the situation.

These guys fixed up our gate at our house — — put in key pads, made it so we could open it from the phone inside, etc. Basically modernized the whole system. The work they did and material used were excellent.
I would have given them more stars, but to actually get them to respond to phone calls, or give written quotes was quite a process. I think I had to call about 7 times over the course of a couple weeks before we got everything started. Once started they did a great job — — no complaints.