Trex, TimberTech, Fiberon, Deckorators, Wolf, MoistureShield, Veranda — pick a brand × line × color and get a real installed total broken down to the board, the clip, and the linear foot. Plus a 25-year cost-of-ownership chart vs pressure-treated wood.
= hot in sun · = stays cool
Plan-view length × width.
IRC R312 requires a 36″ guardrail above 30″.
IRC R312 mandates a 36″ guardrail on open edges above 30″. 40 lf priced at composite-system rates.
Cortex / CamoClip / Trex Universal Hidden — clean screw-free surface, ~25% slower install.
Trex Enhance Naturals / Basics ships with a transferable limited warranty covering structural integrity for 25 years and fade/stain for 25 years. Register at the manufacturer's site within 30 days for full coverage.
Composite installs use hidden-fastener clip systems and take 25-30% longer than face-screwing pressure-treated wood. That premium is in the labor line.
National-median pricing (2026-Q1, Home Depot/Lowe's/specialty). Decking line uses Trex Enhance Naturals / Basics retail $/lf. Hidden-fastener premium already in labor.
Photoreal 3D · plan view · framing breakdown. Color reflects the Enhance Naturals / Basics line.
Cumulative cost incl. install + maintenance + a typical PT board replacement at year 18.
The Deck Material Calculator gives you a permit-ready bill of materials — every joist, hanger, fastener, and footing — validated against IRC 2021 span tables.
Estimates use 2026-Q1 national-median pricing (Home Depot, Lowe's, specialty distributors). Expect ±15% variance vs your local market. Always get 3 contractor bids before signing. This calculator is not a substitute for a licensed inspector or structural engineer.
How to use
Trex, TimberTech, Fiberon, Deckorators, Wolf, MoistureShield, Veranda — 13 product lines across 7 brands. Each line shows installed $/sqft, structural warranty, and fade & stain warranty up front. The brand picker lets you flip between brands without re-entering anything.
Color affects three things: aesthetics (the 3D viewer repaints to match), heat (dark colors hit 160°F+ in direct sun), and warranty (some lines have shorter fade warranties on dark variegated boards). Each color shows its heat rating — cool, mid, or hot.
Length × width in feet. Pattern matters more for composite than wood — diagonal adds 15% waste, herringbone adds 20% plus a 30% labor uplift. The calculator quantizes board count using the longest available stock length (12, 16, or 20 ft).
Hidden-fastener clip systems (Cortex, CamoClip, Trex Universal Hidden) need grooved boards but leave a screw-free surface. Face-screw plug systems use color-matched plugs over countersunk screws — slightly cheaper but visible on close inspection.
Stairs, perimeter railing (auto-required above 30″ per IRC R312), demolition of an existing deck, building permit, integrated lighting. Each is a separate line item in the materials breakdown.
Total installed range, $/sqft, materials breakdown, hidden fastener count, brand-by-brand comparison strip, and the 25-year TCO chart vs pressure-treated. Save link, export PDF, embed on your site.
Material guide
Three honest paths. Composite wins the 25-year math for most homeowners, wood wins on upfront cost, and PVC is unbeatable around water. Each card below answers in one glance — recalculate the bill of materials by clicking a brand in the picker above.
How we calculate
The Composite Deck Cost Calculator is the brand-aware estimator for the homeowner who's already decided on composite or PVC and is now trying to figure out which line — Trex Transcend or Enhance, TimberTech AZEK Vintage or EDGE Prime+, Fiberon Paramount or Good Life, Deckorators Voyage — actually fits the budget. Pick a brand × line × color, set your deck dimensions, pattern, fastener system, and US state, and DeckMath returns a real installed total broken down to the board, the clip, and the linear foot of railing — plus a 25-year total-cost-of-ownership chart that shows when (or whether) composite pays back its premium over pressure-treated wood. Pricing is 2026-Q1 retail (Home Depot, Lowe's, specialty distributors) with state-specific labor multipliers from the RSMeans residential index.
Per-LF retail pricing reflects 2026-Q1 manufacturer retail (Home Depot, Lowe's, specialty distributors). Labor multipliers from RSMeans 2026-Q1 residential indices. Manufacturer install specs: Trex / TimberTech / Fiberon / Deckorators published install manuals.
Rows = ceil(width × 12 ÷ (5.5 + 0.125)) — composite face is 5.5″ with 1/8″ install gap. Waste % is pattern-driven: parallel 7%, picture-frame 12%, diagonal 15%, herringbone 20%.
Composites stock in 12, 16, and 20 ft. We pick the longest stock to minimize waste. Real installs use a mix; the calculator uses 20 ft as the upper bound and rounds up.
Two clips per joist crossing per board, 16″ o.c. joists. Cortex/CamoClip and Trex Universal all spec 2 per joist. A 16×12 deck takes ~520 clips on parallel layout.
Composite installs are 25% slower than face-screwed PT (compositeLaborMult). Diagonal adds 12%, herringbone 30%. Complexity multiplier covers shape × height × freestanding. Region uses RSMeans 2026-Q1 index.
Composite costs project_high upfront + ~$0.05/sqft/yr cleaning. PT costs ~$30/sqft installed + $0.55/sqft/yr stain & seal + a board-replacement around year 18. The break-even year is where the cumulative composite line first dips below cumulative PT.
Industry-standard reserve for unforeseen scope (rotted house framing, hidden utilities, mid-project upgrades). Add to the high estimate, not the low.
Save your plan
Your inputs are preserved in the URL — email it to yourself or copy the link so you can compare with contractor bids later. No account needed.
Frequently asked
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