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Deck cost calculator

Enter the size and height of your deck. We size the frame from DCA 6, price every board and hanger at the store, set wood and composite side by side and show what a contractor's rate per square foot comes to.

A 16 by 12 ft deck, 192 sq ft, comes to about $2,552 in materials, $13.29 per sq ft, at Home Depot, Hamilton Mill store, prices read 2026-09-30 to 2026-11-05; your store may differ. Hired out, Fixr puts a pressure-treated wood deck at $15 to $25 per sq ft installed, $2,880 to $4,800 for this size.
Wood or composite: the same frame, priced both ways
DeckingMaterialsPer sq ftInstalled, Fixr
5/4x6 pressure-treated wood$2,552$13.29$2,880 to $4,800
Composite boards$3,188$16.60$5,376 to $7,680

Composite adds $636 to the material list here, 25% more, because only the decking and its clips change. Labor alone, at Fixr's $10 to $35 per sq ft, is $1,920 to $6,720.

Where the money goes
GroupCostShare
Framing$41716%
Decking$38115%
Guards and stairs$54821%
Hardware$92536%
Concrete$28111%
Total$2,552100%
Design this deck in 3D, free

Every setting above carries over. The designer draws the frame, checks it against the DCA 6 tables and lists every board, hanger and bag of concrete behind this total.

Planning figures, not a quote. Materials are shelf prices read on the dates in the price list; installed ranges are Fixr's national per square foot rates. The frame follows the AWC DCA 6 guide, and your building department has the final word.

How the deck cost calculator works

It builds the deck first, then prices it. The joists, beam, posts and footings come from the AWC DCA 6 tables, the same engine as the deck designer, and every board, hanger, post base and bag of concrete on that list carries a shelf price we read at the store. The total is that list, not a national average multiplied by your square feet. Beside it sits Fixr's installed range for the same area, so you can see what the labor and the margin add.

Wood or composite on the same frame

The frame under a composite deck is the same pressure-treated lumber, so the calculator prices both decks on one frame and only the decking and its fasteners change. On a 12x16 deck at 36 in, composite adds $636, 25% more than treated wood. Fixr's installed figures put the gap far wider, $13 to $15 per sq ft from the bottom and the top of each range, because they include labor and the margin on a dearer product.

Deck cost by size

DeckSq ftWood deckingCompositeWood, per sq ftInstalled wood, Fixr
10x10100$1,868$2,427$18.68$1,500 to $2,500
12x12144$2,166$2,818$15.04$2,160 to $3,600
12x16192$2,552$3,188$13.29$2,880 to $4,800
12x20240$2,916$3,717$12.15$3,600 to $6,000
14x20280$3,548$4,450$12.67$4,200 to $7,000
16x20320$3,704$4,715$11.57$4,800 to $8,000
12x24288$3,277$4,469$11.38$4,320 to $7,200

Every deck in the table is attached on a ledger, 36 in above the ground, with stairs and a guard, the size written as depth out from the house by width along it. The cost per square foot falls as the deck grows, because the stairs, the guard posts and the ledger hardware do not grow with the area. A deck closer to the ground with no guard drops the guard and stair group in whole or in part.

What moves the price most

Height

Above 30 in a deck needs a guard, and every foot of height adds stair risers, longer posts and more bracing. Try the same deck at 24 in and at 60 in in the calculator to see the swing.

Hardware and the guard

On a 12x16 wood deck, hardware is 36% of the materials and the guard and stairs 21%: post bases, hangers, lateral load devices and the hold-downs that keep a guard post from pulling off the rim. The decking is 15%. That is why a cheaper board saves less than people expect.

Labor

Hired out, labor is the biggest line of all: Fixr lists $10 to $35 per sq ft, $1,920 to $6,720 on a 12x16 deck. The material list here is the floor under any bid: hold a contractor's materials line up against it.

From the cost to a plan

For the full list behind the total, board by board, use the deck material calculator. For why each group costs what it does and how the cost sites build their averages, read the cost to build a deck guide. When the number works, the deck designer draws it in 3D with your settings, and the builder's plan with the dimensioned layout, the framing, the cut list, the shopping list and the build order is $49.

Where the numbers come from

Material prices: Home Depot, Hamilton Mill store, prices read 2026-09-30 to 2026-11-05; your store may differ. Installed and labor ranges: Fixr, How much does it cost to build a deck?, page updated January 11, 2023, read Nov 6, 2026.

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Questions

Anything else? Write to us or see every calculator.

Questions people ask

About $3,704 in materials with pressure-treated decking and $4,715 with composite, for a 16x20 deck 36 in off the ground on a ledger, with stairs and a guard, at Home Depot, Hamilton Mill store, prices read 2026-09-30 to 2026-11-05; your store may differ. Installed, Fixr (page updated January 11, 2023) rates of $15 to $25 per sq ft for wood put 320 sq ft at $4,800 to $8,000.

A 14x20 deck is 280 sq ft. Built 14 ft out from the house and 20 ft along it, 36 in high, the materials come to about $3,548 in treated wood and $4,450 in composite. Hired out, Fixr's per sq ft rates give $4,200 to $7,000 for wood and $7,840 to $11,200 for composite.

Running 24 ft along the house and 12 ft out, 36 in high, a 12x24 deck lists about $3,277 in materials with treated decking and $4,469 with composite. That is $11.38 per sq ft in wood. Installed, Fixr's rates come to $4,320 to $7,200 for wood.

Our 12x16 deck in composite comes to about $3,188 in materials, $16.60 per sq ft, against $2,552 with treated wood decking. Installed, Fixr (page updated January 11, 2023) lists $28 to $40 per sq ft for composite, $5,376 to $7,680 for 192 sq ft. An average from a cost site is not your deck: the height, the stairs and the guard move the total more than the brand of board.

Usually not the boards you walk on. On our 12x16 wood deck at 36 in, hardware is the biggest group at $925, 36% of the materials, then guards and stairs at $548 and framing at $417. Hired out, labor is the biggest single line: Fixr puts it at $10 to $35 per sq ft.

A 12x20 deck is 240 sq ft. Fixr (page updated January 11, 2023) lists installed decks at $15 to $25 per sq ft in pressure-treated wood and $28 to $40 in composite, so $3,600 to $6,000 and $6,720 to $9,600. Labor alone at $10 to $35 per sq ft is $2,400 to $8,400. Building it yourself, the materials are about $2,916 in wood.

Fixr's rates put 400 sq ft at $6,000 to $10,000 in treated wood and $11,200 to $16,000 in composite. We do not price it: 20 ft out from the house is past what one row of joists spans in the DCA 6 tables, so it needs a second beam partway out or an engineer's design. A 16x20 deck with the 20 ft along the house is about $3,704 in wood materials.

No. It prices the materials at one store's shelf prices, before sales tax and delivery, and sets Fixr's installed range per sq ft beside them. A permit fee, lights, tools and site work are not in it. Ask your building department for the fee.