“How do I price a deck?” Not by the square foot alone. Two decks of 192 square feet can be very different jobs: one sits a step off the patio with no railing, the other stands five feet up with posts, a guard around three sides and a flight of stairs. Price them the same and you lose money on the tall one or the job on the low one.
A deck price comes from five measurements you can take with a tape and a sketch: the surface in square feet, the height off grade, the feet of railing, the stair risers, and the old deck that has to come off. This article prices each one as its own line, then runs one deck through the whole chain twice, in pressure-treated lumber and in composite, as an example with illustrative numbers.
The surface: boards and framing are two lines
The material is the homeowner’s choice, and the price should show it. HomeAdvisor’s deck cost guide, updated June 17, 2026, puts pressure-treated wood at $2 to $5 per square foot and premium composites at $12 to $22 per square foot, materials only, and labor at $15 to $35 per square foot.
Price the boards and the framing as separate lines, because the material choice can change the framing too. Under the 2021 International Residential Code, joists under 1¼-inch wood decking laid square to the joists over three or more joists may be spaced up to 16 inches apart, but only 12 inches when the boards run diagonally (Table R507.7). Composite boards must carry a label with their allowable load and maximum allowable span (section R507.2.2.1), and that label sets your joist spacing. On a 16-foot run, a board labeled for 12 inches takes 17 joists where one labeled for 16 takes 13. Keep framing as its own line and a change of board changes only what it really changes.
Height: the 30-inch line and everything under it
Height moves the price too. HomeAdvisor’s guide gives $10 to $20 per square foot for ground-level decks, which it says need minimal framing and no stairs or railings, and $40 to $50 per square foot for second-story decks.
The code draws a line at 30 inches. The IRC requires guards on open sides of walking surfaces more than 30 inches above the floor or grade below at any point within 36 inches of the edge (R312.1.1). A deck at 28 inches may need no railing at all; the same deck at 32 inches needs one along every open side. Ask the height before you price the railing.
Height also means taller posts, and footings that may have to reach the local frost line, so price footings each, by depth, and posts by height. The American Wood Council’s deck guide, DCA 6, calls for 6x6 posts as its minimum. The footing, frost and post rules behind those lines are in Deck Code Basics.
Railing: by the linear foot
Measure the open sides, subtract the house wall and the stair opening, and price by the foot. HomeAdvisor’s guide puts deck railings at $35 to $210 per linear foot and says the price depends heavily on the type of railing chosen, so price each railing type you offer at its own per-foot rate.
Railing labor is more than setting balusters. Every guard post has to carry its code load through to the deck joists, so the blocking and hardware at each post belong in the per-foot price; Deck Code Basics lists the guard rules.
Stairs: count risers, not steps
The code caps a riser at 7¾ inches and sets a tread at no less than 10 inches (R311.7.5.1 and R311.7.5.2), so the number of risers is the height divided by 7¾, rounded up. A deck 60 inches up needs 8 risers and 7 treads. A flight with four or more risers needs a handrail 34 to 38 inches high (R311.7.8 and R311.7.8.1), open stair sides more than 30 inches up need guards too (R312.1.1), and the code requires a floor or landing at the top and bottom of each stairway (R311.7.6), so price the pad at the bottom too. HomeAdvisor’s guide gives $25 to $50 per stair.
Tear-off, and what is behind the old ledger
HomeAdvisor’s guide puts demolishing and removing an old deck at $5 to $15 per square foot, and a deck permit at $230 to $500. Quote the tear-off as its own line.
The risk in a rebuild is the house side. Until the old ledger comes off, nobody knows whether the band joist behind it is sound. The IRC says that where a positive connection to the house cannot be verified during inspection, the deck must be self-supporting (R507.8), and DCA 6 says that if the band joist cannot be verified as able to carry the deck, a non-ledger deck or a full plan submission is required. Write a per-foot price for rim joist repair and a price for the freestanding option into the estimate, so the surprise has a number before the saw comes out. Change Orders covers getting that agreed in writing.
A worked example, priced two ways
Say a deck builder is replacing a rotted 10 by 16 deck with a new 12 by 16 deck (192 square feet) on the back of a house, 60 inches above grade, with railing on the three open sides less a 4-foot stair opening (36 feet), 8 risers to grade, and a pad at the bottom. The composite board chosen is labeled for 12-inch joist spacing. The unit costs below are illustrative, not market prices. Use your own.
| Line | Pressure-treated | Composite |
|---|---|---|
| Tear-off and haul, 160 sq ft at $5 | $800 | $800 |
| Footings and posts, 4 at $200 | $800 | $800 |
| Framing, 192 sq ft at $11 (16-inch spacing) or $13 (12-inch) | $2,112 | $2,496 |
| Decking installed, 192 sq ft at $6 or $13 | $1,152 | $2,496 |
| Guard railing, 36 ft at $35 or $60 | $1,260 | $2,160 |
| Stairs, 8 risers and the landing pad | $750 | $1,000 |
| Stair guards and handrail, 16 ft at $35 or $60 | $560 | $960 |
| Permit | $350 | $350 |
| Job cost | $7,784 | $11,062 |
| Price at a 30% gross margin (cost ÷ 0.70) | $11,120 | $15,803 |
Composite adds $4,683 to the price of this deck, and the boards are less than half of the cost difference: the rest is the tighter framing, the railing system and the stair parts. That is the reason to price it line by line. Note the last row too: the price is cost divided by 0.70, not cost plus 30%; Markup vs. Margin explains why. The labor inside each rate is only as good as your labor math. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median wage for carpenters of $29.12 an hour in May 2025, before payroll taxes and insurance, and Your Real Hourly Cost builds a rate from there.
Check it against published numbers
The 2025 Cost vs. Value Report, published by the Journal of Light Construction, prices a 16 by 20 deck with a built-in bench and planter, three steps to grade and a full railing. Its national average job cost is $18,263 in pressure-treated wood and $25,096 in composite, about $57 and $78 per square foot. The example works out to about $58 and $82 per square foot. Being five feet up, it carries more stairs and railing per square foot than a three-step deck, so landing a little higher makes sense. If your number lands far outside a published one, recheck the measurements before you recheck the market.
The same report gives a figure homeowners ask about: it estimates the resale value of the wood deck at $17,323 (95% of its cost) and of the composite deck at $22,199 (89%).
Quote both columns, and a range before the visit
Since the material choice is the homeowner’s, show it as a choice: the same deck in pressure-treated and in composite, side by side. Good, Better, Best covers laying out options on an estimate.
Every line above can be asked before anyone drives out: about how big, how many steps down to the yard, which material, which railing, and whether an old deck comes off. Those answers give a range; the site visit sets the final number, with the rim joist repair at its agreed price. If you want that range on your own website, NapkinPrice™ asks the homeowner those questions, runs your rates, shows a range, and sends you the lead with every answer attached. The decks page shows how it is set up for deck builders.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and vary by state; check with the agency named above or a professional for your situation.