Sticker shock for Deck and Screened Porch estimates!

[Anonymous]

For reference, I built my Free standing deck 16ft by 24ft deck with overtop pergola for $3000 in materials (Wood, nails, renting auger and paying a handyman to help use the two man auger for post holes. Labor is usually about three times the cost of materials. Composite still needs a wood structure. Because the composite is more flexible it needs more wood for support underneath. Biggest pain was painting the pergola. Make sure all Rain water is flowing away from the home and deck posts to avoid rot. If possible don’t put wood deck posts in the ground. Build on top of concrete tubes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious, do people with screened porches + decks really use the deck?

Our house has both, but given mosquitoes, deck does not get used. At all.

We eat (breakfast, lunch, dinner- less crumbs in the kitchen for the win) outside a good amount especially this time of year when the weather is nice and before it gets buggy. Pre Covid we entertained a lot outside too. But even in the summer it isnt bad.
We grill 90% of the time year-round and the deck is off the kitchen so really easy to go in/out/prep/cleanup.

We have a small firepit too so having a beer on the deck even when there's a chill is no problem.

I'm always surprised by our fellow neighbors who have decks, but hardly ever use them.

Even with mosquito treatments, most people will get eaten alive by the bugs around here. A screened in deck/porch is a necessity.

[Anonymous]

I built a beautiful composite topped 20x16 deck, with stainless steel cable railings, cost me about $15000 total, including the 8' sliding door that replaced a window. The railing system itself was about $4500. No steps though, its actually nice and secure being 10-12 feet high.
Built it myself from the foundation footings to the top of the railings: engineered, permitted, and hands-on.
Also added a natural gas and water line. Very civilized up there.
Oh yeah, you'll pay 40-50K for that sort of thing.

Building it myself is why we have no mortgage anymore.

[Anonymous]

We had a 10x20 trex covered back porch installed in 2017 for 15K. Screening in would have cost quite a bit more and additionally we would have had to change the design because of permitting rules mean you have to have a bigger landing outside the screened area at the top of the stairs so we skipped that as we have a limited space. I think we have 6 steps down. We used steadfast construction and were very happy. Get at least 3 estimates for sure!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got a 14 x 18 sunroom with splitless HVAC and a 12 * 10 Trex deck done by Steadfast in 2018 for about $73k.

Were you happy with Steadfast? I am waiting for a quote from them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait until September once the economy really crashes and those overpriced and unreliable contractors are desperate for business

Could be. Could also be that everyone is looking to do home improvement projects because they can’t travel and are spending all their time at home. Who knows?

I think most homeowners will only get essential repairs done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a 10x20 trex covered back porch installed in 2017 for 15K. Screening in would have cost quite a bit more and additionally we would have had to change the design because of permitting rules mean you have to have a bigger landing outside the screened area at the top of the stairs so we skipped that as we have a limited space. I think we have 6 steps down. We used steadfast construction and were very happy. Get at least 3 estimates for sure!

So you have a covered porch that's not screened in? 15K seems low for that size assuming it has a roof. My open deck quote was more than that!

[Anonymous]

We did a screened in porch in Northern Montgomery County last year. Came to about $55,000 for 16x18. More than we had anticipated but it gets tons of use. Put in vinyl windows and heaters with trex flooring but other than that pretty standard.

I was aiming for $40,000 but it gets expensive!

[Anonymous]

We were quoted as part of a new build $18K for a 32x20 Trex deck. Fairly low to the ground.

[Anonymous]

I spent as much on the trex surface as the framing, maybe a little more. But you just need to clean it, thats all. Krud Kutter from Home Depot and good broom, and hose. Pressure washer optional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got a 14 x 18 sunroom with splitless HVAC and a 12 * 10 Trex deck done by Steadfast in 2018 for about $73k.

Thanks. Are you happy with their work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were quoted as part of a new build $18K for a 32x20 Trex deck. Fairly low to the ground.

That's a huge deck, so the price doesn't seem too bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did a screened in porch in Northern Montgomery County last year. Came to about $55,000 for 16x18. More than we had anticipated but it gets tons of use. Put in vinyl windows and heaters with trex flooring but other than that pretty standard.

I was aiming for $40,000 but it gets expensive!

That's comparable to our project. Did the price include heaters and vinyl windows? We won't put in the vinyl windows but was thinking of overhead heaters. How many heaters did you put?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were quoted as part of a new build $18K for a 32x20 Trex deck. Fairly low to the ground.

Who did you work with, if you don't mind referring them. That seems like a pretty good price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did a screened in porch in Northern Montgomery County last year. Came to about $55,000 for 16x18. More than we had anticipated but it gets tons of use. Put in vinyl windows and heaters with trex flooring but other than that pretty standard.

I was aiming for $40,000 but it gets expensive!

That's comparable to our project. Did the price include heaters and vinyl windows? We won't put in the vinyl windows but was thinking of overhead heaters. How many heaters did you put?

Oh and the price also included putting in French doors through a wall. We have two heaters overhead. I would recommend the vinyl windows (maybe over the heaters) as its nice to close it off and they are pretty functional. The price was everything total (heaters required additional electrical work to power them.

I've seen some nice ones with trey ceilings, fireplaces, etc so there's more you can spend