Deck cost calculator

Why every line is separate

A single cost-per-square-foot figure hides exactly the decisions worth making. Stairs, railing, footings and the permit do not scale with area at all — a small deck with a long flight of stairs and a guard on three sides can cost more than a large one at ground level with neither.

Split out, you can see the trade. Dropping the deck to ground level removes the guard line and shortens the stairs line. Squaring off an awkward bay cuts framing and labour together. Those are worth thousands and they are invisible in a per-foot average.

Where to get the numbers

Decking and framing — take off the quantities with the board calculator and the board-foot tool, then price them at your yard and divide by the deck area to get a per-foot figure.

Footings — concrete, the post base and the digging, per hole. The footing tool sizes them and the beam tool counts them.

Labour — from contractor quotes in your market. Set it to zero to see the material-only figure, which is what you are actually saving by building it yourself.

Permit — the fee schedule is published by your building department, and it is a real line.

Lines this does not include

Demolition and disposal of an old deck, site access difficulties, equipment hire, delivery, and any finish going on now rather than next season. Add them as their own lines if they apply — the bid template has room for them and prints on one page.

Sources

Nothing here is asserted as a current figure. The tool is arithmetic on what you type, and every default is a round placeholder for your yard's quote.