Last updated October 28, 2026

How to bid deck jobs

How deck builders bid when the customer has not chosen between composite and wood, a worked composite build price, why the railing has to be named, and the staged payments on a week-long deck.

The first question on a deck bid is one the customer usually has not answered: composite or wood. The difference is thousands of dollars, and a deck builder who bids one and waits loses the week it takes the customer to ask about the other. Put both on one bid as two packages with the same frame, name the railing in each, and let the customer pick. The bid that does that closes in days instead of weeks.

What a deck bid has to answer

The size and the height, the frame by lumber grade and joist spacing, the footings, and how it attaches to the house or stands free.
The decking as a package: wood by species and grade, or composite by brand and line, with the fastener system named.
The railing: wood, composite, aluminum, or cable, by brand where it applies, with the post count and the stair rail.
Stairs, landings, skirting, lighting, and a fascia board, each as a line or each excluded.
The permit: whether the height or the attachment requires one, who pulls it, and that the schedule starts after approval.

How to price it

Example numbers for a 20-by-24 composite deck, 4 feet off grade, treated frame, composite decking and fascia, aluminum railing, one set of stairs, in a typical market. Yours will differ.

Frame: footings, concrete, treated lumber, hangers, ledger flashing, hardware, at cost plus markup, $3,400.
Decking and fascia: 480 square feet of composite plus waste, hidden fasteners, $6,200 with markup.
Railing: 70 feet of aluminum with posts and the stair section, $3,100 with markup.
Labor: three carpenters for six days at your day rates, $7,200.
Permit, plans, and inspections: $400 on its own line.
Demo of an old deck, if any: a day and a dump run, $700, on its own line.
Total: about $20,300 with a demo. $18,900 is a common landing without one. The wood package on the same bid, with treated decking and a wood rail, lands several thousand lower, and the customer sees both.

A resurface keeps the frame and prices by the square foot of decking plus the railing, with a line that says the frame is inspected first and repairs are extra. A railing replacement prices by the linear foot by product, with the post count.

Where deck bids go wrong

One package was bid, the customer asked about the other, and a week went by while someone else bid both.
The railing was not named, and the customer pictured aluminum where the price said wood.
The permit was not on the timeline, and the start date slipped three weeks with no explanation on the bid.
A resurface found a rotten frame and the bid had no line for frame repair.

A finished deck bid, line by line

Three sample deck estimates: composite deck build, deck resurface, and railing replacement. The deck proposal template is the blank version with the two-package layout. For the layout itself, see options on one estimate.

Deposit and payment terms

A new deck is paid in three stages: about thirty percent at signing, which orders the composite and the railing, forty when the frame is complete and inspected, and thirty on completion. A resurface or a railing job takes half down and half on completion. Write the framing milestone on the bid, since it is the one the customer can see and the one the inspector signs off on.

Getting more deck jobs

Deck customers decide on photos and on the choice between two prices. The bid with both packages, the railing named, and a photo of a deck you built last month closes faster than the single number. Send it within two days of the visit. Follow up at three days and at a week. Ask for the review when the furniture is on it, and send the finished photo with the request, because deck work sells to the next-door neighbor.

BidWriter Pro writes the bid from your notes with composite and wood as two packages, the railing named, and photos of past work on it, signed and deposited from the customer's phone. $29 a month, 30 days free.

Questions contractors ask

How much should I charge per square foot for a deck?

Frame, decking, and railing each at cost plus markup, crew labor by the day, and the permit and any demo as lines. Many markets land between $40 and $70 a square foot for composite with aluminum rail, and $25 to $40 for treated wood, with the railing moving it most.

Should I bid composite and wood on the same bid?

Yes, as two packages with the same frame and the railing named in each. The customer who sees both decides faster and decides between your two prices.

Do I need a permit for a deck?

Often, when it is attached to the house or above a certain height. Check your city, say on the bid who pulls it, and start the schedule after approval.

Write a decks bid from your notes

Type the job the way you would text it. It comes back as a finished estimate in about five seconds, in your words. No account.

Type a job the way you would text it

Only what you type goes on the estimate. Nothing gets added.

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