With the money I saved on one quote, I upgraded all my tools and do my own work now. Thanks to some great content producers on UA-cam, I get the job done right and to code. Love my weekend projects (including a deck just like yours).
I wanted to build a new 740sqft deck on my house. Bids came in at $75K+. Total materials were $18K... It took me three months, but I finished it (with permits and inspections) and saved a lot.
Hahaha It’s Always Sunny meme usage KILLLED me. Perfect choice. Excellent advice and info so far… I’m considering doing my townhouse deck myself and you admitting you were intimidated gives me courage! 5:21 Oh and the deck is beautiful!
same thing at my house man. Ripped off an old deck and replaced EVERYTHING. Did it all myself and it came to around $12k or so...still finalizing some items on my budget list to verify but: - concrete piles and foundational work ~$1000 - lumber framing and fasteners: ~$3000 - decking (Envision 'black walnut') and hidden fastener clips: ~$3000 - trex railing all black: ~$3000 - misc tools, joist tape, t20/t25/t15 bits: unknown $$ deck is ~530sqft, 28x19
Well done and congratulations. The deck looks great. You highlight the challenges that so many of us face when trying to accomplish home improvements. Looks like you found your way through and achieved a great result. I think with what you have learned, you could probably build the stairs yourself. Timber frame with more of you composite decking as the top surface of the steps. The hard part is probably continuing the black railing down the stairs.
Thanks. yes, so I ended up doing the stairs in a similar manner to the deck. I had the same contractor do the structure (posts, stringers, concrete base on bottom). Then I did the decking. And you are right that the rail is challenging. I ended up having him install that too. It would have taken me weeks. I do have a video up with some details about the stairs.
There's a rule of thumb in the construction business that says your labor should never be cheaper than the materials. The reason why it's because the contractor may have to eat some materials and even replace materials. It wouldn't take much if you just dubbed the cost of materials and used second half as your earning (not profit, just hourly earnings) for that to dwindle down when the materials cost so much. Also, decks are labor intensive. Contractors don't get jobs done by inviting their friends over to work for free. All of those people are feeding families. Imagine if someone looked at your job and said, I can do it cheaper for myself because this guy is actually charging money for his time, tools if you use them, and labor. It's great that you did this yourself. It's great that you are educating people on the cost and how to. You are saving the contractors time and money. They made nothing for their time and labor coming out to YOUR HOUSE to GIVE you a quote. That's a loss that you employees of a company never have. Your boss isn't going to get you to come to work and devote your time and labor to assessing a task and figuring up cost and materials, and not pay you. But you did that to the contractors and then talked trash about them (nameless but still putting them down for daring to want money).
Agreed. Hopefully I didn't talk trash about them, that was not my intention. It's supply and demand. They can charge a lot due to the demand in my area and there is a shortage in supply of quality laborers. I had no desire to waste anyone's time. If you watched the whole video, I did have one of the contractors do part of the work where he and his crew of 2 made over $5,000 for a day and a half of labor (I paid materials). Many homeowners like me are going to be forced to do thing themselves and with friends as many projects are just getting priced out of reality.
I haven’t noticed any scratches from the dog. There are a few spots where it has scratched from various things like tools. Have to be careful with pushing chairs back with your weight on them. overall pretty impressed with the durability.
You ca buy the timbertech decking with or without the side grooves. So when you are ordering, you have to know how many boards you want without the side groove.
The redo adds value, appeal and safety to your home. I am so happy I built my 20x25 deck using Eon (PVC) by myself in 2003 $3,500. PVC will last forever. The substructure won't, but 21 years care free and counting in a Chicago suburb. Astronomical prices today for less expensive composite wow.
Nice video. I'm installing Timbertech Radiance railing on my PVC deck. My 16 step staircase is at 32deg. The Timbertech alum round balusters come precut at 36 deg. Do you just recut the angle with miter saw?
What is your joist spacing although it appears to be 16"o.c. I was under the impression that 12 inch o.c. would be ideal for the composite decking to prevent sagging?
Yes, 16, which the install manual for the Timbertech EDGE Prime + allows. 12 would certainly be better. I don't see any sag though. This stuff is pretty hardy.
I'm designing a deck for my house (old one is a complete tear down), and this was helpful. If you had built the structure yourself it would have been $13k, so it really does pay to DIY. But it's definitely a tradeoff between time and money. I have more time than money, so I'll be figuring that all out. Fortunately my deck height will only be 26", so I feel a lot better about building the structure myself. Oh, and that coconut husk decking looks nice.
Where are you seeing that? I know the ones I bought are. You can compare samples if you got to a bigger store. The lower lines of trex have the cap that stops along the side and doesn't cover the bottom.
Love the coconut husk color!! I'm thinking about it myself. My question is does it get hot in the sun? Does it retain the heat even after in the shade? We are in the hot TX sun.
I kept hearing warnings about composite being hot in the sun. It's true, but our wood deck was also too hot to stand on in the summer heat. So, I don't think the heat issue is a big deal.
Thanks for the video. My wife and I picked that color also. We are building a 19 x 12 and connected on the side 7 x 16 . To a 21’ pool. The labor is costing me 6800 I dug the 17 posts holes. 42” deep. 66 bags of cement by hand.💪 total cost with timber tech aluminum rails 16,000
@@208pain yeah in theory the south has better prices. What prices are you seeing? My area has a ton of demand for building and so the prices are going up and up.
Awesome job! Have you seen and scratched from your dog on the decking? We want to go with composite but we are concerned our dog’s nail will scratch it up.
I believe I said this in the video but I had a contractor do the actual framing and then I did the decking and the railing install. He did 16 inch per the instructions on the timbertech install guidelines.
@poodledad yeah in a couple years please update us.would love to see always have seen timber tech sag between joists at that spacing if it does easy fix nail 2x4 to each side of joist
We're getting almost an identical deck, and we got quotes from $34,000.00 to $56,000.00. We also got bids just pre pandemic just before shut down, and the quotes were literally $19,000.00 to $26,000.00. What a huge increase 4 years later. We decided on the Timbertech Legacy line Pecan. I hope it's pretty like yours, here we have to get engineered and permitted it sucks.
@@poodledad great. I like 1/8 and will use Cortex screws instead of the clips for this reason. Fusion lock Clips are spaced 3/16 so that must be how yours is spaced. saved 5k to 7k doing myself. Do you hear any squeaking when you walk in it with the clips?
Labor was so hard to find, it took six months to complete mine from start to finish. My deck is like yours, 15 feet off the ground. But, my deck is two levels, 1100 square feet. My high estimate was $80K, I got it done for $66K but I know the contractor made little to no profit. And the reason I know this is, I wisely controlled all the money. The general ordered the materials, and I went and paid for them. Thankfully, all suppliers were within two miles of the house. I went with Dekorators composite and Trex handrails. Deck also has angular cuts in the corners so it's not a basic rectangle. That means the handrail post to rail connections had to swivel. This added $1200 to the price of the railings. This was a replacement, a complete tear down and rebuild. The only thing I kept was the spiral metal staircase which I am sure saved me $10k at least. One issue I dealt with was the multitude of subcontractors and my general rarely showed up. This meant, I had to basically act as the general and therefore had to learn how to build a deck from watching UA-cam vids. What a lifesaver.
@@loganfluegel925 You start a relationship trusting the other party. When it goes sideways, you are left wondering where to go next. It was my feeling that finding a replacement contractor was going to cost way more than sticking with my current contractor, so that's what I did. He was honest, but spread way too thin.
The Dekorators brand is my upcoming choice in the voyager line, recommended by a builder of this product due to the makeup of the material and lesser contraction/expansion(?). We're in Seattle climate, I think it will be fantastic upgrade from our current cedar which was awesome too. Your layout you noted regarding angular corners, would love to see this!!
Glad you enjoyed it! We are very happy with it. I have the stairs done now and there's another video on my channel about that with costs for the stairs.
I’m doing a small deck out front and adding a wheelchair ramp. The materials for composite deck, yes 3x the cost of reg deck board - a very low floating deck - 8x20 i’m estimating 2300-2500 in NE Tn. Not even including the wc ramp & now deck tape?! Argh this has to last longer than the old wonky ramp we had and will look nicer for the front of the house but really those handymen and contractors are ripping us all off on labor. My dad, brothers, and uncle built homes and major bridges as i played and watched growing up. I had to learn!. I grew up building stuff and this idea of making up costs is so annoying - no itemized materials or hours of labor just a random cost from nowhere. Do I look like I have money? Well they aren’t getting it! I HAVE to do this myself. UA-cam and “figuring out” 🎉
We did consider a pole and also I looked at a big slide. Surprisingly, slides are quite expensive. And alas with the dog we did opt to do stairs. I've got a few videos up now that cover the stairs portion: ua-cam.com/video/G3xs09X-2Mg/v-deo.html
Definitely believe they are worth their wage, but that doesn't mean we can afford it. And their wages will keep going up with the lack of skilled tradesmen available. The higher the labor rate, the more people like me will be forced to learn and DIY. Being a contractor is tough work for sure.
I'm a little surprised he jumped at the chance of installing material you purchased from a box store. In general some of the income that tradesmen make is from purchasing raw materials at wholesale prices, then charging customers full price. Effectively he gets side income that the big box store would be getting, and from your perspective the price for material is the same. Installing customer supplied parts comes with the complexity that the material may not be the same as he is used to, warranty is questionable, and there are always small parts he may want that the customer didn't buy. Good video!
So I think it functions as a small side job for him in the midst of bigger jobs. He has bigger jobs that he is spending his main time on and when they get paused due to weather or material or the home owner not being available he can do one of these smaller jobs. Only took two days for him to complete the structure. He also came back later and installed the stair railing which took one and half days. I made another video about the railing.
Thought about that. But, given the length of the deck it would have required a double picture frame to avoid any seams in the middle. That requires quite a few more joists. Would have looked nice but complicated the install.
Let me get this straight you called back the guy that gave you a $47,000 estimate you got them to build the structure for 5000 which is great but you wouldn’t give them another 6000 which means your total labor would have been 11k you’re crazy not to have paid him to finish it. but the deck looks great. Great job.
I guess I'm $6,000 crazy 😀. Laying down composite decking is quite easy. I did end up paying him to install the stair rail which was rather challenging.
I did a lot of searching for a slide. Turns out they are quite pricey if you want that high of a drop! Would be awesome though. Also considered a fireman pole.
Maybe, but it's all about demand. If you live in an area with a huge building/renovation demand and a small supply of contractors then they can name their own price.
Laborers are not getting paid that... You are not making the right math in your mind, contractors take to povket pocket up to 30% of the whole cost of a job like that one... 30%is labor and 40% is materials.
Ok, so if the materials cost $15k and the estimate is over $45k, how am I not doing my math right?I realize the laborers need to get paid and I'm all for it. But there is definitely a price point when most of us simply can't hire these jobs out. I had higher estimates on this deck than I did redoing an entire kitchen! but that's supply and demand. Low supply of laborers and a high demand in our area as I live in a growing area.
Any deck that's 2 story or more than 8 ft off the ground should have 2x12 ledger and 2x12 joist with hangers and 6x6 post should be every 4 ft,and you may want to check on timber tech warranty becouse they don't honor it,in addition if you did use wood decking and used a semi transparent stain,j7st add an exterior polyurethane and it's sealed forever.In addition only home builders should build decks and those prices you got were way over priced normally whatever materials cost your labor cost should be the same not doubled or tripled covid or not.over all the framing is the most important.
Yeah the prices are pretty wild, but my area is growing and therefore the demand for contractors is through the roof. Makes sense they are just going to inflate their prices with demand. Especially since a lot of them just don't want to do decks.
Yes, you might have saved money out of pocket, but you didn't save on time and it isn't DIY...it's DIYWF (do it yourself with friends). A lot of people don't have the tools, time, friends, or skills to help build a deck. And that's is what one is paying for when someone else builds it- their time, tools, and skills and knowledge. Kind of like getting a doctor...you may get 2nd or 3rd opinions, but if you want knowledge and skill to fix an ailment, you may not choose the cheapest or DIYWF
Sure, but $25k goes a long way on time and some friends. One of the reasons I think we all need strong communities. My friends at church are always up for helping or letting others borrow tools.
sounds like you need some new friends, lol…i built my entire deck COMPLETELY alone…top level and bottom level 32x22…and im only home on Fridays & Saturdays…it’s called being DRIVEN 😂😂😂
Hi Poodle Dad! Came across your video by accident. I have the same problem with contractors here in Palm Springs, California. Getting contractors to work or show up is almost impossible. Inflated prices and attitudes are what I've come across. I wanted some basic wooden steps made for me as an entrance to a stationary 5th wheel I have parked in the desert. Steps designed in a pancake style. You know, a box on top of a box on top of a box. No bigger than 6ft. in diameter. This is about $3500.00 to get completed. And I'll pay it! Just do it! Yet, it's too small of a job for contractors to come out and do it. I'm going to go with ready-made metal for the time being. Will it ever get back to normal? Your deck looks beautiful! Enjoy it!
yeah I wonder the same, I don't foresee prices coming down unless a lot more people getting into the home repair business. Around me, there are tons of housing being built, which means remodels and repairs take a backseat.
Did you order directly from TimberTech? If you have the deck dimensions, will TimberTech price it all out for your directly or did you get it all priced via Lowes etc.? I am looking at either Coconut Husk or Weathered Teak w black railing like you did. Looks good. Same thing, I got 40k quotes (For Trex, not even TimberTech!)
Love the deck it is nice color and love your poodle
Thank you so much! He did indeed makes the "poodle" in "poodle dad".
With the money I saved on one quote, I upgraded all my tools and do my own work now. Thanks to some great content producers on UA-cam, I get the job done right and to code. Love my weekend projects (including a deck just like yours).
Awesome. What decking did you use?
@@poodledad I went with TimberTech. Very happy with the product so far.
Beautiful deck! Love the colors and the style. Challenges makes us discover hidden talents :)
Blood sweat and tears. Actually I don't I ever cried. Kinda close during demo when I dropped one of the old joists on my hand. Ha.
I wanted to build a new 740sqft deck on my house. Bids came in at $75K+. Total materials were $18K... It took me three months, but I finished it (with permits and inspections) and saved a lot.
Oh wow, that's crazy. Awesome that you got it done.
Good grief, was this for a ground level deck? I have the same exact sq. Footage deck you noted
love the coconut husk....just did my deck with it as well.... looks even better in person
nice job!
Glad you like it!
Hahaha It’s Always Sunny meme usage KILLLED me. Perfect choice. Excellent advice and info so far… I’m considering doing my townhouse deck myself and you admitting you were intimidated gives me courage! 5:21
Oh and the deck is beautiful!
Thanks. It turned out great. Lots of work but worth it for the savings. If mine wasn't so high, it would not have been very difficult.
Your deck looks great.
Lots of work but turned out great. Thanks!
Your deck is beautiful, great job
Thank you so much!
Excellent! Great video and content.
Much appreciated!
Great looking, good job indeed, I like the color surely👍
thanks!
same thing at my house man. Ripped off an old deck and replaced EVERYTHING. Did it all myself and it came to around $12k or so...still finalizing some items on my budget list to verify but:
- concrete piles and foundational work ~$1000
- lumber framing and fasteners: ~$3000
- decking (Envision 'black walnut') and hidden fastener clips: ~$3000
- trex railing all black: ~$3000
- misc tools, joist tape, t20/t25/t15 bits: unknown $$
deck is ~530sqft, 28x19
That’s awesome. Must look great.
Better than my $47k quote
@@poodledad i had a quote for $35k and 28k in middle tennessee. what is shocking is the cost to furnish the deck once its done.
@@troyturner6498meaning outdoor furniture?
Well done and congratulations. The deck looks great. You highlight the challenges that so many of us face when trying to accomplish home improvements. Looks like you found your way through and achieved a great result. I think with what you have learned, you could probably build the stairs yourself. Timber frame with more of you composite decking as the top surface of the steps. The hard part is probably continuing the black railing down the stairs.
Thanks. yes, so I ended up doing the stairs in a similar manner to the deck. I had the same contractor do the structure (posts, stringers, concrete base on bottom). Then I did the decking. And you are right that the rail is challenging. I ended up having him install that too. It would have taken me weeks. I do have a video up with some details about the stairs.
Love your dog ❤ and your wife made a good color choice on your deck
Thanks. We are happy with how it turned out. And the dogs name is "happy" as well!
There's a rule of thumb in the construction business that says your labor should never be cheaper than the materials. The reason why it's because the contractor may have to eat some materials and even replace materials. It wouldn't take much if you just dubbed the cost of materials and used second half as your earning (not profit, just hourly earnings) for that to dwindle down when the materials cost so much.
Also, decks are labor intensive. Contractors don't get jobs done by inviting their friends over to work for free. All of those people are feeding families. Imagine if someone looked at your job and said, I can do it cheaper for myself because this guy is actually charging money for his time, tools if you use them, and labor.
It's great that you did this yourself. It's great that you are educating people on the cost and how to. You are saving the contractors time and money. They made nothing for their time and labor coming out to YOUR HOUSE to GIVE you a quote. That's a loss that you employees of a company never have. Your boss isn't going to get you to come to work and devote your time and labor to assessing a task and figuring up cost and materials, and not pay you. But you did that to the contractors and then talked trash about them (nameless but still putting them down for daring to want money).
Agreed. Hopefully I didn't talk trash about them, that was not my intention. It's supply and demand. They can charge a lot due to the demand in my area and there is a shortage in supply of quality laborers. I had no desire to waste anyone's time. If you watched the whole video, I did have one of the contractors do part of the work where he and his crew of 2 made over $5,000 for a day and a half of labor (I paid materials). Many homeowners like me are going to be forced to do thing themselves and with friends as many projects are just getting priced out of reality.
How are the timbertech boards holding up against scratches? Specifically from dog nails?
I haven’t noticed any scratches from the dog. There are a few spots where it has scratched from various things like tools. Have to be careful with pushing chairs back with your weight on them. overall pretty impressed with the durability.
What full profile boards did you use for the picture frame look at the two ends where the scallop profile composite boards are exposed?
You ca buy the timbertech decking with or without the side grooves. So when you are ordering, you have to know how many boards you want without the side groove.
Wow so glad I did my entire deck myself. 16x24 30 inches off the ground. Between 8-10k
The redo adds value, appeal and safety to your home. I am so happy I built my 20x25 deck using Eon (PVC) by myself in 2003 $3,500. PVC will last forever. The substructure won't, but 21 years care free and counting in a Chicago suburb. Astronomical prices today for less expensive composite wow.
That's awesome!
Nice video. I'm installing Timbertech Radiance railing on my PVC deck. My 16 step staircase is at 32deg. The Timbertech alum round balusters come precut at 36 deg. Do you just recut the angle with miter saw?
That's a great question. I'm not sure. My railing was adjustable, so unfortunately I'm not sure.
What is your joist spacing although it appears to be 16"o.c. I was under the impression that 12 inch o.c. would be ideal for the composite decking to prevent sagging?
Yes, 16, which the install manual for the Timbertech EDGE Prime + allows. 12 would certainly be better. I don't see any sag though. This stuff is pretty hardy.
Did your inspector visit several times ? Ledger board , framework, joists , sono tubes ?
Well I live in the south…so no
framing is 2x6 or 2x8 and are they 24in span apart? TIA
2x10 and they are 16 inches apart.
Looks great!
Thanks!
Good idea on your part!
Thanks. We are happy with how it turned out.
I'm designing a deck for my house (old one is a complete tear down), and this was helpful. If you had built the structure yourself it would have been $13k, so it really does pay to DIY. But it's definitely a tradeoff between time and money. I have more time than money, so I'll be figuring that all out. Fortunately my deck height will only be 26", so I feel a lot better about building the structure myself. Oh, and that coconut husk decking looks nice.
Awesome. Good luck! I would have done myself if it wasn’t so high. I also finally got the stairs done but that was also a chore due to height.
Timbertech website seems to show Prime+ is not fully capped. Can you clarify your statement that it is? Maybe I'm looking at the wrong product. Thx.
Where are you seeing that? I know the ones I bought are. You can compare samples if you got to a bigger store. The lower lines of trex have the cap that stops along the side and doesn't cover the bottom.
love your poodle and your deck
Thanks. They are both great!
Looks good!
Thanks!
Did you compare your materials to Trex ?
Yes. The lower end lines of trex were not full cap composite.
I chose the Trex Transcend grooved , Island Mist color . My contractor recommended this type of
What size is the deck?
10x36
looks amazing
Thanks!
Love the coconut husk color!! I'm thinking about it myself. My question is does it get hot in the sun? Does it retain the heat even after in the shade? We are in the hot TX sun.
I kept hearing warnings about composite being hot in the sun. It's true, but our wood deck was also too hot to stand on in the summer heat. So, I don't think the heat issue is a big deal.
Thanks for the video. My wife and I picked that color also. We are building a 19 x 12 and connected on the side 7 x 16 . To a 21’ pool. The labor is costing me 6800 I dug the 17 posts holes. 42” deep. 66 bags of cement by hand.💪 total cost with timber tech aluminum rails 16,000
Dang that sounds pretty reasonable. What part of the country?
@@poodledadin Illinois. There are people that charge a lot more.
@@208pain yeah in theory the south has better prices. What prices are you seeing? My area has a ton of demand for building and so the prices are going up and up.
Great colour 👍👍👍
Thank you 👍
It does look really good.
What an awesome job, it appears that your joist are far apart. Tell me what the spacing between the joist was 16" or 24" ?
16 inches which the timbertech manual says is recommended for the EDGE prime plus line.
Awesome job! Have you seen and scratched from your dog on the decking? We want to go with composite but we are concerned our dog’s nail will scratch it up.
I have not seen scratches from the dog. I have seen scratching from other things but so far so good.
How big is your deck?
10x35
looks good for diy im a deck pro from trex did you frame 16in on center or 12? can make a big difference in the long run with timber tech.
I believe I said this in the video but I had a contractor do the actual framing and then I did the decking and the railing install. He did 16 inch per the instructions on the timbertech install guidelines.
@poodledad yeah in a couple years please update us.would love to see always have seen timber tech sag between joists at that spacing if it does easy fix nail 2x4 to each side of joist
We're getting almost an identical deck, and we got quotes from $34,000.00 to $56,000.00. We also got bids just pre pandemic just before shut down, and the quotes were literally $19,000.00 to $26,000.00. What a huge increase 4 years later. We decided on the Timbertech Legacy line Pecan. I hope it's pretty like yours, here we have to get engineered and permitted it sucks.
There are quite a few home renovations that I wish I had done pre-covid!
@@poodledad oh yeahhhh, kicking myself now on procrastinating.
Nice job man. What is the spacing you have there per board? 3/16?
Thanks. So the deckmate spacer tool has a 1/8 and a 3/16 side and per the timbertech install guides I did 1/8.
@@poodledad great. I like 1/8 and will use Cortex screws instead of the clips for this reason. Fusion lock Clips are spaced 3/16 so that must be how yours is spaced. saved 5k to 7k doing myself. Do you hear any squeaking when you walk in it with the clips?
@@ncvman No squeaking. those things are super tight. They really pull down on the decking.
@@poodledad cool. I ended up doing cortex screws. The my also tight, just a lot more work. Screw then plug.
Nice work bro…
Thanks ✌️
Labor was so hard to find, it took six months to complete mine from start to finish. My deck is like yours, 15 feet off the ground. But, my deck is two levels, 1100 square feet. My high estimate was $80K, I got it done for $66K but I know the contractor made little to no profit. And the reason I know this is, I wisely controlled all the money. The general ordered the materials, and I went and paid for them. Thankfully, all suppliers were within two miles of the house. I went with Dekorators composite and Trex handrails. Deck also has angular cuts in the corners so it's not a basic rectangle. That means the handrail post to rail connections had to swivel. This added $1200 to the price of the railings. This was a replacement, a complete tear down and rebuild. The only thing I kept was the spiral metal staircase which I am sure saved me $10k at least. One issue I dealt with was the multitude of subcontractors and my general rarely showed up. This meant, I had to basically act as the general and therefore had to learn how to build a deck from watching UA-cam vids. What a lifesaver.
So why get a general if he didn’t do his job, yet you still payed him and he made money off of his subs, material, profit ? What am I missing lol
@@loganfluegel925 You start a relationship trusting the other party. When it goes sideways, you are left wondering where to go next. It was my feeling that finding a replacement contractor was going to cost way more than sticking with my current contractor, so that's what I did. He was honest, but spread way too thin.
Dang. Glad you got it done!
Sounds like you should make a video!
The Dekorators brand is my upcoming choice in the voyager line, recommended by a builder of this product due to the makeup of the material and lesser contraction/expansion(?). We're in Seattle climate, I think it will be fantastic upgrade from our current cedar which was awesome too. Your layout you noted regarding angular corners, would love to see this!!
Good job. It's the same thing in Georgia mine will be about 15,700 +_ with me doing all the work.
Awesome. Hope it goes well.
Nice video, I am getting quotes for 30 and 40k for 12x14 Timbertek pecan. Cable railing is really expensive too
dang, that's brutal. Yeah the railings are expensive for material and install. My fortress railing was quite pricey but looks great and is sturdy.
10x35
Framing materials $2,000
Framing labor $5,000 (3 guys 2 days)
Decking and railing system $7,500
Friend labor for decking $0 ($6,000 contractor estimate)
Misc screws caps etc $3,500
$18,000 total
Incredible outcome and very informative. Updating two decks on a recent purchase and wasn't sure which way I was going. Slam dunk!! Ty
Glad you enjoyed it! We are very happy with it. I have the stairs done now and there's another video on my channel about that with costs for the stairs.
I’m doing a small deck out front and adding a wheelchair ramp. The materials for composite deck, yes 3x the cost of reg deck board - a very low floating deck - 8x20 i’m estimating 2300-2500 in NE Tn. Not even including the wc ramp & now deck tape?! Argh this has to last longer than the old wonky ramp we had and will look nicer for the front of the house but really those handymen and contractors are ripping us all off on labor. My dad, brothers, and uncle built homes and major bridges as i played and watched growing up. I had to learn!. I grew up building stuff and this idea of making up costs is so annoying - no itemized materials or hours of labor just a random cost from nowhere. Do I look like I have money? Well they aren’t getting it! I HAVE to do this myself. UA-cam and “figuring out” 🎉
UA-cam is a huge help!
I hope you ended up with a pole to slide down instead of stairs. Probably wouldnt help to dog but would be pretty cool.
We did consider a pole and also I looked at a big slide. Surprisingly, slides are quite expensive. And alas with the dog we did opt to do stairs. I've got a few videos up now that cover the stairs portion: ua-cam.com/video/G3xs09X-2Mg/v-deo.html
Approximately how much do you get paid an hour to do your job? Why should a carpenter not get a good wage either.
Definitely believe they are worth their wage, but that doesn't mean we can afford it. And their wages will keep going up with the lack of skilled tradesmen available. The higher the labor rate, the more people like me will be forced to learn and DIY. Being a contractor is tough work for sure.
Maryland $45-60 sqft labor and materials
I'm a little surprised he jumped at the chance of installing material you purchased from a box store. In general some of the income that tradesmen make is from purchasing raw materials at wholesale prices, then charging customers full price. Effectively he gets side income that the big box store would be getting, and from your perspective the price for material is the same. Installing customer supplied parts comes with the complexity that the material may not be the same as he is used to, warranty is questionable, and there are always small parts he may want that the customer didn't buy. Good video!
So I think it functions as a small side job for him in the midst of bigger jobs. He has bigger jobs that he is spending his main time on and when they get paused due to weather or material or the home owner not being available he can do one of these smaller jobs. Only took two days for him to complete the structure. He also came back later and installed the stair railing which took one and half days. I made another video about the railing.
@@poodledad Good video set, thanks!
looks great...but you should have picture framed it...
Thought about that. But, given the length of the deck it would have required a double picture frame to avoid any seams in the middle. That requires quite a few more joists. Would have looked nice but complicated the install.
Let me get this straight you called back the guy that gave you a $47,000 estimate you got them to build the structure for 5000 which is great but you wouldn’t give them another 6000 which means your total labor would have been 11k you’re crazy not to have paid him to finish it. but the deck looks great. Great job.
I guess I'm $6,000 crazy 😀. Laying down composite decking is quite easy. I did end up paying him to install the stair rail which was rather challenging.
Installing decking is easy...I wouldn't pay for that.
Then why do contractors charge so much?
@@samu3813 Because many people are afraid to be hands-on and is scared of a good cardio workout.
Put in a slide...
I did a lot of searching for a slide. Turns out they are quite pricey if you want that high of a drop! Would be awesome though. Also considered a fireman pole.
Decks are expensive! Better take best care of mine.
That's the best plan!
LABOR should be CHEAPER than MATERIAL.
Maybe, but it's all about demand. If you live in an area with a huge building/renovation demand and a small supply of contractors then they can name their own price.
Laborers are not getting paid that... You are not making the right math in your mind, contractors take to povket pocket up to 30% of the whole cost of a job like that one... 30%is labor and 40% is materials.
Ok, so if the materials cost $15k and the estimate is over $45k, how am I not doing my math right?I realize the laborers need to get paid and I'm all for it. But there is definitely a price point when most of us simply can't hire these jobs out. I had higher estimates on this deck than I did redoing an entire kitchen! but that's supply and demand. Low supply of laborers and a high demand in our area as I live in a growing area.
Wow what a rip off 18,000 in materials
Pretty big deck though. Railing was pricey. You could save a lot of money with a wood railing.
Any deck that's 2 story or more than 8 ft off the ground should have 2x12 ledger and 2x12 joist with hangers and 6x6 post should be every 4 ft,and you may want to check on timber tech warranty becouse they don't honor it,in addition if you did use wood decking and used a semi transparent stain,j7st add an exterior polyurethane and it's sealed forever.In addition only home builders should build decks and those prices you got were way over priced normally whatever materials cost your labor cost should be the same not doubled or tripled covid or not.over all the framing is the most important.
Yeah the prices are pretty wild, but my area is growing and therefore the demand for contractors is through the roof. Makes sense they are just going to inflate their prices with demand. Especially since a lot of them just don't want to do decks.
Yes, you might have saved money out of pocket, but you didn't save on time and it isn't DIY...it's DIYWF (do it yourself with friends). A lot of people don't have the tools, time, friends, or skills to help build a deck. And that's is what one is paying for when someone else builds it- their time, tools, and skills and knowledge. Kind of like getting a doctor...you may get 2nd or 3rd opinions, but if you want knowledge and skill to fix an ailment, you may not choose the cheapest or DIYWF
Sure, but $25k goes a long way on time and some friends. One of the reasons I think we all need strong communities. My friends at church are always up for helping or letting others borrow tools.
@@poodledad number #1 get back into church🙏🏾
sounds like you need some new friends, lol…i built my entire deck COMPLETELY alone…top level and bottom level 32x22…and im only home on Fridays & Saturdays…it’s called being DRIVEN 😂😂😂
Hi Poodle Dad! Came across your video by accident. I have the same problem with contractors here in Palm Springs, California. Getting contractors to work or show up is almost impossible. Inflated prices and attitudes are what I've come across. I wanted some basic wooden steps made for me as an entrance to a stationary 5th wheel I have parked in the desert. Steps designed in a pancake style. You know, a box on top of a box on top of a box. No bigger than 6ft. in diameter. This is about $3500.00 to get completed. And I'll pay it! Just do it! Yet, it's too small of a job for contractors to come out and do it. I'm going to go with ready-made metal for the time being. Will it ever get back to normal? Your deck looks beautiful! Enjoy it!
yeah I wonder the same, I don't foresee prices coming down unless a lot more people getting into the home repair business. Around me, there are tons of housing being built, which means remodels and repairs take a backseat.
What is the square footage of the deck?
You have no stairs because you want to piece work your deck and it’s obvious. Now you’re stuck. Looks like you’re going to UA-cam stair school.😂
Well stairs are now done and there’s a video to prove it 😀 ua-cam.com/video/Dld2luBK6LE/v-deo.html
Not convinced. I will not accept anything more than a cost of $5000 TOTAL. So, your wood was $4000 and labor $11,000. UMM , NO. BYE NOW.
Wood is a good bit cheaper than composite decking and a metal rail system. But those components should also last longer.
Did you order directly from TimberTech? If you have the deck dimensions, will TimberTech price it all out for your directly or did you get it all priced via Lowes etc.? I am looking at either Coconut Husk or Weathered Teak w black railing like you did. Looks good. Same thing, I got 40k quotes (For Trex, not even TimberTech!)
I ordered from a local building supply company. I think you can also get it at Lowes.
Looks great!