How much does it cost to build a deck?
Home improvements are a big investment and decks are no different. This guide is intended to show the options and intricacies of building a high-quality wood deck; and give a honest and realistic expectation of what your project will cost.
Just like people, every house and project is unique so there will always be specific variables to every project. As you explore adding a new deck to your home it’s important to understand just what goes into a well-built deck in order to understand the cost associated with it.
If you’re curious about exactly what options and accessories you can have when building a deck check out our guide here.
Or if you’re interested in what it costs to build a composite deck check out our cost guide here
Cost to build a wood deck
It’s important to remember that the cost of building deck isn’t as easy as picking a deck size and having a price. There are dozens of selections and circumstances that will influence the cost of your deck project. Along with your materials selections; factors such as deck height from ground, site accessibility, and existing house design are just some examples of price influencers. You also must consider your specific contractor; as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. However, below are some general prices you might expect to pay for different size decks based off general sizes and entry to top-tier material selections. To understand the ins and outs of what it takes to build a high quality deck continue reading the rest of this article!
Small 12x12 - $6,000 to $12,000
Medium 16x16 - $9,000 to $18,000
Large 16x24 - $15,000 to $25,000
Custom sizes or designs - $25,000 to $50,000+
Wood Options
There are generally two popular wood choices when building wood decks today; pressure treated lumber and cedar. Other options available, but less popular, include redwood or exotic hardwoods. Most wood options offer extreme durability and beauty, wood decks can often have a 20+ year lifespan when constructed and maintained properly.
Pressure Treated Lumber
Pressure treated lumber is the most popular choice for wood deck construction, and for good reason. Its combination of extreme durability and low cost are unbeatable by any other building materials. Pressure treated lumber is rot and insect resistant thanks to a process that involves impregnating the wood with preservatives that provide protection against decay-causing organisms and wood-boring insects. In fact pressure treated lumber is so durable its what almost all deck frames are constructed of. It can also be painted or stained to match anyone’s preferences. Pressure treated lumber is also available pre-stained from the factory, often named Cedartone. This a dark stained pressure treated lumber that helps reduce the labor cost associated with the painting or staining of a already built deck.
Cedar
Cedar is also extremely popular for wood decks as it has a long list of desirable benefits. One of the few readily available lumbers that is naturally rot and insect resistant, that means no chemicals needed to ensure a long-lasting deck. Cedar is often regarded as one of the most visually appealing lumber used today and can be left to age, sealed to maintain its natural color or stained to enhance its natural appearance.
Redwood
Redwood offers very similar benefits to cedar; being naturally rot and insect resistant with a eye catching color and grain structure. Redwood is still in the softwood family but is often considered tougher and stringer than cedar. Popularity of redwood decks and use in general has declined significantly over the years. Increased cost and lowered availability due to protected forest systems and restriction in logging operations of Sequia trees has made redwood as exotic in some regions and any exotic hardwood.
Exotic Hardwoods
Exotic hardwoods are highly sought-after due to their exceptional durability, unique aesthetics, and often times rot and insect resistant. These hardwoods often come from tropical regions and offer distinct characteristics that make them well-suited for deck building applications. Common exotic hardwoods found in deck building include Ipe, Tigerwood and Mahogany. While they offer many benefits and are highly desirable, exotic hardwoods also come with a exceptionally high price tag.
Railing Options
Wood decks have just as many railing options as a composite deck might, if not more. In addition to matching your railing wood type to your decking wood type you can also install railing options such as metal, glass, cable, vinyl or composite railing onto your wood deck.
Materials
Railing systems built for wood decks can be made of a multitude of material types. Some common railing materials are wood, steel, aluminum, cable, glass, composite, and vinyl. Sometimes these materials are standalone and sometimes they are paired together, each one has their owns et of pros and cons.
Durability
Durability can be impacted by outside factors for any individual deck but there are still some commonalities that can be applied. Generally metal railings with proper and well produced coatings will outlast all other railing types. Metal railings will be weather resistant or weatherproof and be solid enough to withstand even the toughest households. Wood railings are typically matched in wood species to your wood decking, which means your rail will be equal in durability and longevity to the rest of your deck. Glass and cable rail can also offer high durability in static environments, however factors such as extreme weather or rambunctious children can increase the risk if damage or premature failure. Composite or vinyl railings will offer some of the greatest design options but will generally be the least durable of the group. That’s not to say composite or vinyl railing is going to fail out, the technology used to produce them is well vetted, however they will still be the most prone to damage from weather events, hard use or time in the outdoors.
Cost
Generally speaking, railings can be one of the biggest material costs for a deck project, especially special order or custom options. Glass and cable railing tend to carry the heftiest price tags, especially if the project requires custom applications. Aluminum comes next in price, followed closely by steel. Composite and vinyl options are usually similar in price, although manufacturers or styles can still surpass other material types in some cases. Often times the most cost effect railing choice for your wood deck is a matching wood rail, this will also mean design continuity throughout your deck space.
At Apex Construction we love wood or aluminum railings for our wood deck projects and use them as our preferred recommendation, to learn more about our preferred choices and everything else there is know about deck railings check out our guife here.
What it takes to build
Prep
Arguably the most important step of any project, and sometimes the most difficult. Project preparation as soon as a project is given the green light, most of it occurring behind the scenes. This is where the site layout and deck design will be finalized, and material selections will be made. A key part of this phase is calling in a utility location request to ensure all locations of underground utilities to your house are accounted for in the design process. Once we have determined where the deck is going and what we are using to build it detailed plans must be drawn and submitted to the proper entities to obtain our building permit. This process can take anywhere from and few days to a few weeks depending on the complexity of the project.
Demo
Remember when we mentioned how every project is different, well some project might exclude this step entirely if there are no existing obstructions for your new deck. Most of the time though there is plenty to remove before we can start with a clean slate. Lots of projects will require demolition of old existing decks prior to a new one being built; sometimes this can include old concrete footings or pads that are no longer viable to be used due to damage or current code requirements.
Footings
Anything that is solid in life must start with a good foundation, decks are no exception. Footings size and layout will vary greatly depending on your project, but regardless this is where all the time and effort spent during the Prep phase start to pay off. First, we confirm that the drawn plans and utility locations do not interfere with the onsite layout. After the layout is confirmed, the footings must installed, which can look one of two ways: traditional concrete pier footings or manufactured footings systems. Traditional pier footings must be dug, inspected by building inspectors, poured, allowed proper cure time, and then built on. Manufactured footing systems are pre-cast engineered systems and can be inspected at any time during the project, saving valuable time. To learn more about our preferred manufactured footing system, Diamond Piers, check out our article about their pros and cons and installation method HERE
Framing
This is the first step where the extreme visual progress of your new deck can be tracked. Overall layout of the deck as well as the posts, beams, joists and blocking are crucial to making sure framing runs smoothly. Framing is usually a fast process within a deck build, however it takes extreme care to ensure that the final visible product comes out perfect.
Decking and Railing
This is the most exciting step in the building process. This is where all the careful planning throughout the rest of the project timeline all comes together. Decking will be laid, picture frames and inlays will be cut in, railing posts and sections will be spaced for uniformity and in deck lighting will be installed.
Finish
Now your deck is built and all that’s left are touch up details, final cleanup and our walkthrough to make sure everything is exactly how you envisioned it. All that’s left after this is years of enjoyment and memories.
Final thoughts
There is a lot that goes into building a deck and the answer to “How much does it cost to build a deck” isn’t as simple as many might hope. When you combine all of the material options and jobsite factors that are unique to each project having a one size fits all answer doesn’t work. Our best advice to anyone wishing to build a deck is to find a reputable contractor that can explain to you the ins and outs of your project clearly and has a track record of building high quality decks using the best practices and materials available.
If you’re interested in learning more about deck building or are ready to start your project reach out to the team at Apex Homes or read some or our related articles here.
