Ghost Controls Welding & Fabrication in Houston, TX

Ghost Controls Welding & Fabrication: The Houston Owner’s Guide

We stock and install Ghost Controls-compatible welding and fabrication parts for driveway gate systems across Houston, with most replacement jobs running $280-$680 installed and completed same-day when you call before noon. That covers hinge rebuilds, gate arm brackets, post plates, and structural frame repairs specific to Ghost Controls TSS1, TDS2, and APT series operators. Houston homeowners usually discover the problem on a Tuesday morning when the gate opens six inches and stops, or when the arm bracket cracks at the weld after years of vibration from Houston’s clay soil shifting the posts.

Call (888) 799-8389

Which Ghost Controls Models This Applies To

Ghost Controls welding and fabrication needs cluster around three product lines we see most in Houston neighborhoods: the TSS1 heavy-duty single swing series, the TDS2 dual swing, and the APT automatic pedestrian tube gate systems. The mounting brackets and hinge hardware are not interchangeable between these lines. TSS1 arms use a 2.5-inch square post plate with four 3/8-inch bolt holes on a 2-inch center; TDS2 dual systems need paired left-right brackets with the anti-sag gusset that Ghost Controls added after 2019. APT tube gates use a narrower 1.5-inch strap hinge with a specific 5/16-inch pin diameter.

To identify your part, check the white label on the operator motor housing for the series code, then measure your existing bracket center-to-center. We carry both OEM Ghost Controls brackets and aftermarket equivalents from our Houston fabrication shop. The aftermarket parts match ASTM A36 steel specs and carry the same load rating, though we always verify pin diameter and hole spacing against your existing gate before we bolt anything up. For estate gates over 16 feet or 800 pounds, we recommend OEM or our reinforced gusseted fabrication, since standard brackets can fatigue at the heel of the weld in Houston’s humidity cycle.

Signs Your Ghost Controls Welding & Fabrication Is Failing

• The gate arm drifts or droops when fully open. This usually means the main post bracket has cracked at the weld or the bolt holes have wallowed out from years of opening stress. Houston’s expansive clay soil accelerates this by letting the post shift microscopically with every wet-dry cycle.
• Loud clank or pop when the gate starts moving. A broken hinge pin or cracked gusset plate is letting the gate drop onto the bracket before the arm pulls. We see this often in Memorial and River Oaks on older TSS1 installs where the original 1/4-inch gusset was never upgraded.
• Gate opens but won’t close, or reverses mid-travel. The arm bracket may have shifted enough to bind the operator’s limit switch cam. Ghost Controls operators are sensitive to bracket angle; even 3 degrees off spec can throw the travel calibration.
• Visible rust streaks or scaling at any welded joint. Houston’s Gulf humidity means any compromised paint or galvanizing at a weld bead becomes a failure point in 18-24 months. We grind, weld, and re-galvanize rather than paint over.
• The gate physically sags and drags at the latch end. Hinge barrels have worn oval or the j-bolt has backed out. On dual TDS2 systems, this overloads one operator and burns out the control board, a $400 mistake that starts with a $40 hinge.

Replacement Cost & What’s Included

What drives the range: gate weight and width, whether the post itself needs reinforcement, and how far we have to dig into existing welds. We settle on an upfront price before we strike an arc. Every welding and fabrication job carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise, the Keystone Standard, in writing. No paperwork to file, no argument if something shifts. We also honor our standing $50 Off Any Repair Over $250, and our $89 Seasonal Tune-Up can catch bracket fatigue before it fails.

DIY or Call Us?

There is one thing you can safely check yourself: whether the problem is loose bolts or a cracked bracket. Tighten nothing until you have supported the gate weight with a floor jack and a 4×4, because a free-swinging 400-pound gate will injure you or tear the operator off the post. Do not attempt to weld or cut any gate component while the operator is connected. Ghost Controls arm brackets are under spring-return tension, and the control board capacitors hold charge after disconnect.

Where DIY goes wrong: Houston homeowners often grind and repaint a cracked weld without addressing why it cracked, usually post shift or undersized hardware. Six weeks later the crack reopens, sometimes with the gate in the open position at 11 PM. We will tell you what it needs, not what sells. If the bracket is sound and the post just needs shim and re-plumb, that is what we will do. Call (888) 799-8389 and we will walk through what you are seeing. Estimates are free.

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