Eagle · Garfield · Pitkin · Summit · Routt County, Colorado
Fence Installation & Repair
Wood fence, ranch fence and gates — set deep enough that the frost can’t push them back out.
I’m Esaú Bejarano. Twins Wood Works is a family business out of Silt, Colorado. I build wood and ranch fence, hang gates, and straighten out the fences that went crooked after a winter or two.
Most of the time the wood is fine. The problem is under the ground, and that’s the part nobody looks at before they hire somebody.
Most of the fence contractors that show up in this valley drove over from Denver. I’m twenty minutes down I-70 from Glenwood Springs.
- 11 years in these mountains
- $0 for the estimate
- 1 carpenter, start to finish
The part under the ground
A fence post doesn’t lean because the wood went bad
It leans because the water in the soil around it freezes, expands, and lifts it. A fraction of an inch at a time, every freeze, for years. Come spring the post is sitting higher than it was, and a little looser, and the next winter it moves further.
The fix isn’t a thicker post or more concrete. It’s a deeper hole. Eagle County’s building department requires footings at 48 inches — that’s the county’s own number for how far down this ground freezes. A post set two feet deep is sitting inside the layer that moves. A post set below it isn’t.
Almost every leaning fence I get called out to look at was set about two feet deep. It saved whoever built it twenty minutes a hole, and it cost the owner the fence.
If a post is loose but the wood is solid, I’ll reset that post and leave the rest of your fence alone. I’m not going to sell you a new fence because three posts moved.
Four ways fence repair calls start
- The leanA whole section out of plumb, usually worst where the ground is wettest — downhill, under a gutter, next to where the snow gets shoveled.
- The gate that stopped closingThe gate didn’t change. The post it hangs on moved, and now the latch is a half inch off.
- The post you can rockGrab it and push. If it moves at the ground line, the wood down there is either rotted or was never deep enough.
- The rail that pulled looseThe posts moved apart, the rail didn’t stretch, and the fasteners lost. That one’s a symptom, not the problem.
What I build
Wood fence, ranch fence, gates and repairs
If you already know what you want, tell me and I’ll price it. If you don’t, I’ll come look at the property and tell you what makes sense for what’s around it.
Cedar or treated, full-height, for a yard you actually want closed off. Built with the posts carrying the load, not the pickets.
The fence most of this valley is made of. Two-rail, three-rail, buck and rail, and the corners and braces that hold a long run straight.
Walk gates and drive gates, hung on a post set for the weight. A gate is the part of a fence that has to work every day, so it’s the part I take the most time on.
Reset posts, replace rotted sections, straighten a run, rehang a gate. Nobody around here offers this as its own job. I do.
What I don’t do: chain link, vinyl and ornamental iron. I work in wood. If that’s not what your project needs, I’ll say so on the phone instead of quoting it and figuring it out later.
Something a Denver company won’t tell you
If elk and deer move through your property, the fence has a shape
Colorado Parks & Wildlife publishes a specification for fence that wildlife can get past — and in Eagle, Pitkin and Routt County that matters on a lot of properties. Some counties and HOAs write it into what they’ll approve. I’ll tell you what applies to yours before we start.
- 42 in.the highest the top wire or rail should be
- 12 in.minimum between the top two wires
- 16 in.minimum clearance from the bottom wire to the ground
- 16 ftminimum spacing between posts
Smooth wire at the top and bottom instead of barbed, and a rail or a visible marker along the top so they can see it. An animal that catches a leg in a fence takes the fence apart trying to get out — so building it this way isn’t only about the elk.
Source: Colorado Parks & Wildlife, Fencing with Wildlife in Mind.
From a customer
★★★★★
“Esaú completed a deck remodel for us and provided a reliable timeline for the project’s completion. The deck exceeded our expectations; he listened to our request, incorporated the details we wanted, and paid close attention to everything we envisioned. Everyone compliments its beauty, and we are thrilled we chose him for our remodel. Thank you, Esaú!!”
Cherie’s job was a deck, not a fence. I’m putting it here anyway because the part she’s talking about — a reliable timeline — is the same on every job I take, and it’s the thing people are really asking about when they call.
What it costs
There’s no price per foot on this page, and that’s on purpose
A hundred feet of fence across flat ground and a hundred feet running up a slope with rock eighteen inches down are not the same job, and anybody who quotes you both off a website is going to find that out on day two — with your money.
What actually sets the number: how many posts, how deep they have to go, what’s in the ground where they’re going, how far the material has to be carried from where a truck can park, how many gates, and whether there’s an old fence to pull out first.
So I come look, I tell you what it takes, and you get it in writing before anything starts. The visit is free and there’s nothing owed after it.
The whole run, not the easy end. I want to see the wet spots and where the rock starts.
Repair, replace a section, or replace the run. I’ve talked people out of jobs I could have taken.
Built from days and hands and what’s in the ground. Not a number pulled out of the air.
When you hire me, I’m the one who shows up. No chain of subcontractors.
Who you’re calling
Esaú Bejarano Williams
Twins Wood Works is a family business based in Silt, Colorado. Eleven years of carpentry in these mountains — fences, decks, windows, trim and siding — most of it in Eagle and Garfield County.
“I tell people what works for them and what doesn’t, and nothing else. If I can’t do the job right, I’ll say so and tell you to find someone who can.”
When you call this number you get Esaú — not a call center, not a dispatcher, and not a company that sends the job down a chain of subcontractors until whoever shows up is three people removed from the price you agreed to.
Request your free estimateWhere I work
Fence contractor for Eagle, Garfield, Pitkin, Summit & Routt County
Most of my work has been in Edwards, Avon and Eagle. I run the I-70 corridor from Rifle and Glenwood Springs up through Vail, down the Roaring Fork Valley to Carbondale, Basalt, Snowmass and Aspen, and over to Summit County and Steamboat Springs.
Edwards, Avon, Beaver Creek, Vail, Eagle, Gypsum, Minturn, Wolcott
Glenwood Springs, New Castle, Silt, Rifle, Carbondale, Parachute
Aspen, Snowmass Village, Basalt, Woody Creek
Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne, Steamboat Springs
Not sure if you’re in range? Call and ask. I’d rather tell you no on the phone than waste your time.
Common questions
What people ask about fences here
How deep should fence posts be in Colorado?
Deep enough to get below where the ground freezes, and up here that is deeper than most people expect. Eagle County’s building department builds to 48 inches, or whatever a geotechnical report says for that specific property. A post set at two feet is sitting inside the layer of soil that freezes and expands, which is exactly why it gets pushed up and the fence goes crooked. Depth is the single thing that decides whether a fence lasts here.
Do I need a permit for a fence?
It depends on the county or town, on how tall the fence is, and on where it sits relative to your property line. Requirements are not the same in unincorporated Eagle County, in Garfield County, or inside town limits in Vail, Carbondale or Aspen, and an HOA can have its own rules on top of that. I’ll tell you what applies to your property before we start.
Who pays for a fence between neighbors in Colorado?
Colorado has a fence law on the books — C.R.S. 35-46-112 — and for adjoining agricultural tracts the general rule is that each owner builds half of the line fence, and that if one owner already put the fence up, the other owes half its cash value. How that applies to a residential lot, an HOA, or a fence that isn’t on the line is a different question, and I’m a carpenter, not an attorney. If there’s a disagreement with a neighbor, get that settled before I set a post — moving a fence afterward costs more than building it did.
Can the fence be repaired, or does it have to be replaced?
Usually repaired, and I’ll tell you honestly which. If the posts are sound and a few rails or pickets went, that’s a repair. If the posts are rotted at the ground line down the whole run, replacing three of them just moves the problem. What I won’t do is quote you a whole new fence because three posts moved.
How much does it cost to fix a leaning fence post?
It depends on why it’s leaning. A post that heaved but is still solid gets reset deeper — that’s a short job. A post that’s rotted through at the ground line has to come out and go back in, and if the rails and pickets are attached to it, that comes apart too. One post and eight posts are different jobs. I’ll look at it and tell you which one you have, at no charge.
What kind of fence holds up best up here?
Less about the material than about how it was set and how much weather it catches. A solid privacy fence takes snow and wind like a wall does, so it needs posts set properly and braced corners. A rail fence lets the weather through and asks less of the posts. Cedar handles the wet and the sun better than untreated pine; pressure-treated is the value option and holds up fine when it’s kept off the dirt. I’ll tell you what I’d put on your property and why.
Can I install my own fence?
You can. Digging forty-eight inches by hand through this ground is the part people underestimate, and getting a long run straight across uneven terrain is the other. If you want to do it yourself, call me anyway and I’ll tell you what to watch for — I’d rather you got a straight answer than a bad fence.
Do you work through the winter?
Repairs and gate work, yes. New post holes depend on the ground — once it’s frozen hard, digging to depth is a different job and I’d be charging you for the weather. If your fence went down and it can’t wait, call me and I’ll tell you honestly what can be done now and what should wait.
Tell me what the fence is doing
Call or text and I’ll come look at it. No charge, no obligation, and a straight answer about whether it needs a repair or a replacement.
(970) 315-7766