Walk any street in Vista Ridge, Colliers Hill or Flatiron Meadows and the story repeats. Great house. Standard-issue finishes. And a backyard that's still just grass, or a dirt rectangle waiting for somebody to do something with it.
Builders build to a spec sheet. The backyard was always going to be your job.
Start with how you want to use it
Before picking materials, think about what you actually want to do out there. Grill and eat? Let the kids and dog run? Sit in the shade after work? The answer points you toward a deck, a pergola, a fence or some mix of them.
Decks
A deck gives you a floor off the back door. We build new decks and rebuilds in cedar and composite. Cedar has that warm wood look. Composite is the pick if you want close to zero maintenance. Railings can go from hog wire to iron to match the house, and we handle stairs too.
Decks run $60 to $100 per square foot depending on materials, rails, stairs and details. Composite with metal railing lands higher in that range than basic cedar.
Pergolas
Front Range sun is no joke, and a lot of new Erie lots don't have mature trees yet. A pergola gives you shade where you want to live. We build custom pergolas, freestanding or attached, plus covered patios and built-in planters and benches.
Pergolas run $80 per square foot as a starting rate.
Fences
New builds often come with no fence or a basic one. We build cedar privacy fences and modern horizontal fences. If you've got a dog or kids, it's usually the first thing on the list.
Fences run $40 per linear foot as a starting rate. Gates and custom details get itemized in your estimate.
The ground work
A lot of Erie backyard projects also need patios, sod or turf. Concrete flatwork starts at $20 per square foot, and we do paver patios and walkways too. Colorado ground moves with freeze, thaw and clay soil, so concrete done right means proper base prep, the right mix and control joints where they belong.
Landscaping, like sod, artificial turf and grading that keeps water moving away from your foundation, is quoted per project.
Do it as one project
Here's the part that saves headaches. Deck, fence, patio and yard as one project means one schedule and one crew. Landscaping is usually the last trade on a backyard build, and when the same contractor runs it, nobody's schedule slips waiting on somebody else.
Erie particulars
Erie straddles the Boulder/Weld county line, but home projects inside town limits permit through the Town of Erie. We've worked through Erie's process before, all the way to final inspection. We cover the whole town, from Canyon Creek and Erie Commons to Kenosha Estates and the Erie Air Park, plus Westerly, Compass and Erie Highlands as they fill in.
Rebuilding or refinishing an existing deck?
Not every Erie backyard is bare. If you bought a few years in and the deck is already looking rough, we do refinishing and structural repair too, not only new builds. A walkthrough tells you whether it needs a refresh or a rebuild.
About Saw Dog
Saw Dog Construction is a licensed and insured general contractor based in Westminster, CO, working across Erie and the Denver metro since 2015. Every job comes with a free written, itemized estimate and a 2-year workmanship warranty.
Want it ready by summer?
Call or text (720) 290-4077, or send the form on SawDog.net. Tell us what you want the backyard to do, and we'll put together one estimate for the whole thing.