Deck cost dataset
This is the complete dataset behind the deck calculator, at national rates. It is built around a correction to how decks are usually priced: a deck is a structure, not a surface, so the height above the ground belongs in the estimate beside the footprint. The two tables below show what each does, and a third does the ten-year arithmetic that decides the wood versus composite question. Last reviewed 2026-08-23.
The same deck, at five heights
National figures, 20 by 20 in pressure-treated pine, with the stairs each height actually needs. Nothing else changes.
| Height | Risers | Guard needed | Trade hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ft | 2 | usually not | 99 | $14,167 |
| 3 ft | 5 | yes | 108 | $15,390 |
| 5 ft | 9 | yes | 119 | $16,895 |
| 8 ft | 14 | yes | 132 | $18,870 |
| 12 ft | 21 | yes | 152 | $21,597 |
Same footprint, same boards, $7,430 apart. Longer posts, more stairs and — above roughly 30 inches in most jurisdictions — a guard that is required rather than chosen. Any quote comparison that does not state the height is comparing two different jobs.
Cost by size
National figures, three feet above grade, pressure-treated pine with a wood railing and five steps.
| Size | Area | Footings | Cost | Per sq ft | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 12 ft | 120 sq ft | 3 | $7,394 | $62 | A landing with a table on it |
| 12 × 12 ft | 144 sq ft | 3 | $7,985 | $55 | The smallest deck people actually build |
| 14 × 20 ft | 280 sq ft | 6 | $12,273 | $44 | Table, chairs and a grill |
| 16 × 20 ft | 320 sq ft | 6 | $13,184 | $41 | Room to walk round the furniture |
| 20 × 20 ft | 400 sq ft | 8 | $15,390 | $38 | The size most quotes are for |
| 24 × 16 ft | 384 sq ft | 8 | $14,847 | $39 | A long deck across the back of a house |
The rate falls from $62 to $39 a square foot across that range. Growing a deck is much cheaper per foot than building one, because the ledger, the crew visit and a good part of the framing setup are already paid for — which is the most useful thing on this page while a size is still being decided.
Wood or composite, over ten years
National figures on the default 20 by 20. Resealing is priced higher than the first coat because the deck has to be washed and lightly sanded first, and that is our estimate.
| Board | To build | Sealing cycles | At ten years | What you are choosing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure-treated pine | $15,390 | every 2 yrs | $18,932 | The default, and much the cheapest board there is. It moves, it splits at the fastener heads and it needs sealing every couple of years, and it will still be there in twenty if somebody does that. |
| Western red cedar or redwood | $17,030 | every 2 yrs | $20,572 | Naturally rot-resistant, stable, and the nicest of the timbers to walk on barefoot. Left unsealed it silvers to grey, which some people want and others discover. |
| Wood-plastic composite | $18,139 | never | $18,139 | Wood flour in plastic, usually with a capped surface. Never sealed, never stained, and it gets hot in direct sun in a way timber does not. Hidden fasteners take longer to fit, which is where the extra hours go. |
| Cellular PVC | $19,859 | never | $19,859 | No wood in it at all, so nothing to absorb water or feed mould. The dearest board here and the lightest, and it expands and contracts more with temperature than anything else on this list. |
| Tropical hardwood (ipe and similar) | $20,546 | every 2 yrs | $24,088 | Extraordinarily dense and durable, and extraordinarily slow to fit: every hole is pre-drilled because a screw will not simply go in. It weathers to grey without oil, like cedar, and it lasts far longer. |
The cheapest deck to build is not the cheapest deck to own. Pressure-treated pine starts $2,749 below composite and ends $794 above it after a decade of sealing. That is the whole commercial case for composite, made with numbers rather than with adjectives — and it says nothing about which one you would rather stand on barefoot.
Railing
| System | Total | Adds | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| No railing | $12,054 | — | ⚠️ Only an option on a deck low enough that your jurisdiction does not require a guard — commonly around 30 inches above grade, but it varies and it is worth one phone call. Above that threshold a railing is not a style choice. |
| Wood railing | $15,390 | +$3,336 | Posts, rails and balusters in timber. Cheapest, and it is the part of a wood deck that needs sealing most, because it takes the weather from every side. |
| Composite railing system | $17,524 | +$5,470 | Manufactured components that bolt together, so it goes up faster than timber even though it costs more. Matches composite decking and never needs finishing. |
| Metal or cable railing | $23,512 | +$11,457 | Aluminium posts with horizontal cable or glass. It is what you buy when the view matters, it is the dearest by a wide margin, and the cables need tensioning again after the first season. |
Priced along three sides — 60 linear feet on the default deck — because the fourth is the house. A guard has to resist a real load applied at the top, which is why its posts are bolted through the framing rather than screwed to the face of it.
If the deck being replaced predates 2004
EPA, Chromated arsenicals (CCA) states that “in December 2003, chromated arsenicals manufacturers voluntarily discontinued manufacturing chromated arsenicals-treated wood products for homeowner uses”, and that before 2004 that timber “was used in residential structures such as decks and playsets”. An older deck is therefore likely built from wood treated with an arsenic compound. It does not make demolition dangerous, and it does mean the timber should not be burned and should not be dry-sanded, and that it goes to landfill rather than to a wood recycler — which is why the disposal line here is dearer per volume than ordinary construction waste. EPA also notes that a penetrating coating applied regularly may reduce leaching from wood already in place. Retrieved 2026-08-23.
Line items
On the default deck, 41% of the total is the 8 footings and the framing above them — the parts nobody looks at again and the only ones that decide whether the deck is safe.
| Line item | Unit | Material | Equipment / hr | Trade | Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take out the existing deck (conditional)4 h + 0.035 h per sq ft where an existing deck comes out | hour | — | — | Construction Laborers | sourced |
| Skip and disposal (conditional)1 where an existing deck comes out | job | $240 – $640 | — | — | estimated±45% |
| Permit and inspection (conditional)1 where a permit is pulled | permit | $180 – $720 | — | — | estimated±60% |
| Footings: tube, concrete and post baseposts at ~8 ft centres, minimum four | footing | $48 – $130 | — | — | estimated±46% |
| Dig, set and pour the footings2 hours per footing | hour | — | — | Construction Laborers | sourced |
| Ledger, beams, joists, hangers and postsarea, increased 4.5% per foot of height for longer posts and bracing | sq ft | $3.80 – $8.60 | — | — | estimated±39% |
| Carpenter: frame the deck6 h + 0.065 h per sq ft, increased 5% per foot of height | hour | — | — | Carpenters | sourced |
| Pressure-treated pine decking boards (conditional)deck area where the board is pressure-treated | sq ft | $2.70 – $5.80 | — | — | estimated±36% |
| Western red cedar or redwood decking boards (conditional)deck area where the board is cedar | sq ft | $5.20 – $12 | — | — | estimated±38% |
| Wood-plastic composite decking boards (conditional)deck area where the board is composite | sq ft | $6.40 – $17 | — | — | estimated±44% |
| Cellular PVC decking boards (conditional)deck area where the board is pvc | sq ft | $9.50 – $22 | — | — | estimated±40% |
| Tropical hardwood (ipe and similar) decking boards (conditional)deck area where the board is hardwood | sq ft | $9.00 – $20 | — | — | estimated±38% |
| Lay and fasten the deckingarea × hours per sq ft for the chosen board | hour | — | — | Carpenters | sourced |
| Wood railing, supplied (conditional)railing length where the railing is wood | linear ft | $24 – $52 | — | — | estimated±37% |
| Composite railing system, supplied (conditional)railing length where the railing is composite | linear ft | $48 – $105 | — | — | estimated±37% |
| Metal or cable railing, supplied (conditional)railing length where the railing is metal-cable | linear ft | $95 – $240 | — | — | estimated±43% |
| Fit the railing (conditional)railing length × hours per linear foot | hour | — | — | Carpenters | sourced |
| Stair stringers, treads and rail (conditional)one per riser | riser | $90 – $240 | — | — | estimated±45% |
| Build the stairs (conditional)2 h per riser + 3 h where there are stairs | hour | — | — | Carpenters | sourced |
| Seal or stain the timber (conditional)deck area × 1.35 for the railing, where the timber is sealed | sq ft | $0.55 – $1.50 | — | — | estimated±46% |
| Site protection and clean-up3 h + 1 h per 4 footings | hour | — | — | Construction Laborers | sourced |
The reasoning behind each figure
Written out so a deck builder can point at the exact assumption that is wrong.
- Take out the existing deck
- Four hours plus 0.035 hours per square foot: boards up, framing down, posts and footings out.
- ⚠️ If the deck predates 2004 its lumber is likely treated with chromated arsenicals. EPA states that manufacturers discontinued that treatment for homeowner uses in December 2003. It does not make demolition dangerous, but it does mean the timber should not be burned and should not be dry-sanded, and it goes to a landfill rather than a wood recycler.
- Skip and disposalestimated, ±45%
- Treated lumber goes to landfill rather than to a wood recycler or a biomass plant, which is why this is dearer per volume than ordinary construction timber.
- Permit and inspectionestimated, ±60%
- Nearly every jurisdiction requires a permit for a deck above a certain height or area, and the inspection usually happens twice: once with the footing holes open, once at the end.
- The footing inspection is the one that matters and it is the one people skip by pouring before the inspector arrives. An unpermitted deck is also one of the things that surfaces during a sale.
- Footings: tube, concrete and post baseestimated, ±46%
- A formed tube, the concrete to fill it and a galvanised post base per footing, at posts roughly eight feet apart in both directions.
- Depth is set by the local frost line, which varies from a foot in the south to four or more in the north. That single local number is why the same deck costs materially more to found in Minnesota than in Georgia, and it is not something a national figure can capture.
- Dig, set and pour the footings
- Two hours a footing: digging to depth, setting the tube plumb and level with the others, pouring and setting the anchor while the concrete is wet.
- They all have to finish at the same height to within very little, because everything above them is built off that plane. It is slow work and it is the part nobody sees.
- Ledger, beams, joists, hangers and postsestimated, ±39%
- Pressure-treated framing at 16-inch joist centres with a beam, plus the ledger against the house, joist hangers, structural screws and the flashing over the ledger. Post length follows the height above grade.
- ⚠️ The ledger and its flashing are the two items that matter most on this whole page and they cost almost nothing. A ledger fastened with the wrong screws, or one without flashing above it, is how decks come away from houses. Ask what fasteners are being used and whether the flashing goes behind the cladding.
- Framing timber is treated with a wood preservative that EPA regulates as a pesticide. Modern residential treatments are copper-based rather than the chromated arsenicals used before 2004.
- Carpenter: frame the deck
- Six hours plus 0.065 hours per square foot, and more with height: setting the ledger dead level, hanging the beam, cutting and hanging every joist, and bracing the posts. On a 400 square foot deck that is about thirty hours.
- This is the largest labour item on the page and the one you never look at again. It is also the only part that decides whether the deck is safe, which is worth remembering when comparing a quote that is light on framing and generous on boards.
- Pressure-treated pine decking boardsestimated, ±36%
- The default, and much the cheapest board there is. It moves, it splits at the fastener heads and it needs sealing every couple of years, and it will still be there in twenty if somebody does that.
- Boards plus the fasteners they need — hidden clips on composite and PVC, screws on timber. Priced with a small allowance for cutting waste already inside the band.
- ⚠️ This board needs sealing about every 2 years for its whole life. That is real money and real Saturdays, and the calculator adds it up over a decade so the comparison with composite is a fair one.
- Western red cedar or redwood decking boardsestimated, ±38%
- Naturally rot-resistant, stable, and the nicest of the timbers to walk on barefoot. Left unsealed it silvers to grey, which some people want and others discover.
- Boards plus the fasteners they need — hidden clips on composite and PVC, screws on timber. Priced with a small allowance for cutting waste already inside the band.
- ⚠️ This board needs sealing about every 2 years for its whole life. That is real money and real Saturdays, and the calculator adds it up over a decade so the comparison with composite is a fair one.
- Wood-plastic composite decking boardsestimated, ±44%
- Wood flour in plastic, usually with a capped surface. Never sealed, never stained, and it gets hot in direct sun in a way timber does not. Hidden fasteners take longer to fit, which is where the extra hours go.
- Boards plus the fasteners they need — hidden clips on composite and PVC, screws on timber. Priced with a small allowance for cutting waste already inside the band.
- Never sealed, never stained. That is the entire commercial argument for it, and over a decade it is a serious one.
- Cellular PVC decking boardsestimated, ±40%
- No wood in it at all, so nothing to absorb water or feed mould. The dearest board here and the lightest, and it expands and contracts more with temperature than anything else on this list.
- Boards plus the fasteners they need — hidden clips on composite and PVC, screws on timber. Priced with a small allowance for cutting waste already inside the band.
- Never sealed, never stained. That is the entire commercial argument for it, and over a decade it is a serious one.
- Tropical hardwood (ipe and similar) decking boardsestimated, ±38%
- Extraordinarily dense and durable, and extraordinarily slow to fit: every hole is pre-drilled because a screw will not simply go in. It weathers to grey without oil, like cedar, and it lasts far longer.
- Boards plus the fasteners they need — hidden clips on composite and PVC, screws on timber. Priced with a small allowance for cutting waste already inside the band.
- ⚠️ This board needs sealing about every 2 years for its whole life. That is real money and real Saturdays, and the calculator adds it up over a decade so the comparison with composite is a fair one.
- Lay and fasten the decking
- Between 0.05 and 0.095 hours per square foot depending on the board — about twenty hours on a 400 square foot deck in pressure-treated pine. Composite and PVC take a third longer than timber because hidden fasteners go in one clip at a time; tropical hardwood takes nearly twice as long, because every hole is pre-drilled before a screw will go in.
- The gap between the boards matters and is decided here. Too tight and debris packs the joints and holds water; too wide and a heel catches.
- Wood railing, suppliedestimated, ±37%
- Posts, rails and balusters in timber. Cheapest, and it is the part of a wood deck that needs sealing most, because it takes the weather from every side.
- Priced along three sides, because the fourth is the house. Posts, rails, infill and the hardware to bolt the posts through the rim joist.
- A guard has to resist a real load applied at the top, which is why the post connection is bolted through the framing rather than screwed to the face of it. It is the second thing after the ledger that separates a deck that is built from one that is assembled.
- Composite railing system, suppliedestimated, ±37%
- Manufactured components that bolt together, so it goes up faster than timber even though it costs more. Matches composite decking and never needs finishing.
- Priced along three sides, because the fourth is the house. Posts, rails, infill and the hardware to bolt the posts through the rim joist.
- A guard has to resist a real load applied at the top, which is why the post connection is bolted through the framing rather than screwed to the face of it. It is the second thing after the ledger that separates a deck that is built from one that is assembled.
- Metal or cable railing, suppliedestimated, ±43%
- Aluminium posts with horizontal cable or glass. It is what you buy when the view matters, it is the dearest by a wide margin, and the cables need tensioning again after the first season.
- Priced along three sides, because the fourth is the house. Posts, rails, infill and the hardware to bolt the posts through the rim joist.
- A guard has to resist a real load applied at the top, which is why the post connection is bolted through the framing rather than screwed to the face of it. It is the second thing after the ledger that separates a deck that is built from one that is assembled.
- Fit the railing
- Between 0.25 and 0.4 hours per linear foot. Manufactured composite systems bolt together fastest; cable railing is slowest, because every cable is threaded, terminated and tensioned individually, and they all need tensioning again after the first season.
- Stair stringers, treads and railestimated, ±45%
- Per riser, including the cut stringers, the treads in the same board as the deck, and the handrail beside them.
- Risers have to be equal to within very little over the whole flight, and the last one down to the ground is the one that catches people out because it lands on a surface that is rarely level.
- Build the stairs
- Two hours a riser plus three for the landing pad and the layout. Stairs are the slowest part of a deck per square foot of anything, because every cut is a compound one and there is no second attempt on a stringer.
- Seal or stain the timberestimated, ±46%
- Materials and application over the boards and the railing. Nothing at all on composite or PVC, which is the point of them.
- ⚠️ Pressure-treated timber has to dry before it will take a finish — often several months after installation — so this is frequently a separate visit rather than part of the build. On cedar it can be done straight away.
- Site protection and clean-up
- Three hours plus an hour per four footings: spoil from the holes moved or removed, offcuts out, and the grass raked back.
- Digging footings produces more spoil than people expect, and it has to go somewhere before the deck goes over the top of it.
Not included in this dataset
- Anything the ground turns out to be
- Footings are priced for ordinary soil at a normal frost depth. Rock, fill, a high water table or a slope that needs stepped footings each change the excavation completely, and none of them shows until the first hole is open.
- Structural design and engineering
- Most jurisdictions accept a prescriptive deck built to a published span table. A deck above a certain height, one carrying a hot tub, or one cantilevered beyond what the tables allow needs an engineer, and that is a separate cost before anybody digs.
- Roofs, pergolas, screens and hot tubs
- Anything above the deck surface changes the structure below it. A hot tub in particular is several thousand pounds concentrated on a few square feet, and a deck framed for people will not carry one.
- Electrical and lighting
- Deck lighting, an outdoor outlet or a feed to a hot tub are electrical work under their own rules, and the cable has to be run before the boards go down. Deciding afterwards means lifting them.
- Landscaping underneath and around
- What happens under a raised deck — gravel, membrane, skirting, or nothing — and the planting around the edge are separate work. Water still reaches the ground through a deck, which is one real difference from a patio.
Use the calculator, compare against a paver patio — $8,806 for the same footprint — or read the full method.