Updated · Built and checked by the PlinzoTools team, formulas tested against published sources
Estimate deck material and labor cost from board, joist, and footing quantities using your own prices.
This tool turns deck material quantities -- boards, joists, and footings, sized with the Decking Calculator or your own measurements -- into a cost estimate, using prices you supply rather than an assumed market rate that would quickly go stale.
Enter your board, joist, and footing counts along with each item's price, plus an optional flat labor cost if you're hiring the build out. The result separates material cost from labor cost and sums a total.
Material Cost = (Boards × Board Price) + (Joists × Joist Price) + (Footings × Footing Price)
Total = Material Cost + Labor Cost
This doesn't include hardware (joist hangers, screws/fasteners), railing, or stairs unless you fold them into the quantities and prices yourself -- it's a materials-cost calculator for the specific line items you enter, not a full turnkey project quote.
The quickest way to get a realistic number is to build your inputs from the Decking Calculator output and a written supplier quote. Take a hypothetical 12 by 16 foot deck. Suppose the Decking Calculator gives 60 boards and 10 joists, and your footing plan calls for 8 footings. You call a lumber yard and are quoted invented prices of $14 per board, $18 per joist, and $30 per footing (concrete, tube, and post base combined). Material cost is 60 x 14 + 10 x 18 + 8 x 30 = 840 + 180 + 240 = $1,260. If a contractor quoted $2,000 for labor, the total is $3,260. These figures are examples only; your prices will differ.
Material Cost = (Boards × Board Price) + (Joists × Joist Price) + (Footings × Footing Price)
Total = Material Cost + Labor
Because the tool only totals the line items you enter, anything you leave out is silently missing from the result. Before relying on the total, consider whether you have accounted for:
The labor field is a single number, so you can use it in two ways. If you are hiring out, enter the contractor's labor quote. If you are building it yourself, enter zero, or use the field to capture other costs such as tool rental and permit fees. Whichever you choose, keep a note of what that field includes so the total is meaningful later when you compare quotes.
To compare decking materials, run the estimate twice with the same joists and footings but different board counts and prices. Composite boards may cost more per board than pressure-treated lumber but the calculation makes the difference explicit. Remember that a quote from a contractor usually bundles materials, labor, and overhead, so an apples-to-apples comparison means matching what each bid includes.
Many people add a buffer to the final total for price changes or surprises when the ground is dug up. The calculator does not do this for you, so you can add a percentage yourself after seeing the total. What percentage is sensible depends on how much of the project is uncertain.
Not automatically -- add their material costs to the labor/other-costs field, or as additional line items, if you want them reflected in the total.
Lumber and decking material prices vary significantly by region, product, and current market conditions -- entering your own supplier's quote gives a far more accurate estimate than any single assumed national average could.
Use whichever you prefer as long as you are consistent. Entering prices with sales tax included gives a total closer to what you will actually pay.
Add it to the labor or other-costs field, since the calculator has no dedicated permit line. Check your local building department for the actual fee.
Yes. Enter the quantities for each design in turn and compare the totals, keeping the unit prices the same.
No. It is an estimate based on the numbers you supply. A written quote from a supplier or contractor is the only reliable price.