Deck Project Summary
Fill in your deck once and get one combined bill of materials for boards, joists, fasteners, footing concrete, and (optionally) railing — instead of running separate calculators and copying numbers between them. Add your own material prices and it also builds a materials-only cost estimate.
1. Deck & boards
2. Joists
Joists are assumed to run perpendicular to the deck boards, distributed along the same dimension the boards run.
3. Fasteners
Board rows (26) and joist count (13) are carried over automatically from sections 1 and 2 above — no re-entry needed.
4. Footings
Below grade. Confirm against your local frost-depth requirement -- this tool does not know your jurisdiction.
80lb ~0.6, 60lb ~0.45, 50lb ~0.375 cu ft. Use the value on your product.
5. Material prices (optional)
These are rough placeholder defaults, not live or retailer-sourced pricing — edit every field to match your own quote or receipt before relying on the total.
Labor and other costs (permits, delivery, disposal, etc.) are excluded from the estimate unless you enter a lump-sum figure below — leave either field blank to leave it out entirely.
6. Railing (optional)
Leave this empty to exclude railing entirely — guessing a run length from deck perimeter would silently misorder material, so add each straight run yourself, the same way the standalone Deck Railing Calculator works.
Applied to boards, joists, fasteners, and concrete below. Change it and every section updates together.
Combined bill of materials
| Category | Item | Quantity | Unit | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decking | Deck boards to purchase | 29 | boards | includes waste |
| Decking | Board rows | 26 | rows | |
| Framing | Joists | 13 | joists | |
| Fasteners | Deck screws (incl. waste) | 744 | screws | |
| Fasteners | Screw boxes | 3 | boxes | |
| Footings | Concrete bags (incl. waste) | 26 | bags |
Railing is not included above
A safe railing estimate depends on which sides need railing and where stairs or doors interrupt it, which this summary does not collect automatically. Add each straight run in section 6, Railing above to fold it into this table, or use the Deck Railing Calculator separately.
This is a combined material-quantity estimate only
It does not evaluate structural safety, span tables, footing/frost design, or local code compliance. See our methodology for formulas and assumptions, and confirm requirements with your local building department before ordering.
Cost estimate (materials only)
| Category | Item | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decking | Deck boards | 29 boards | $25 | $725 |
| Framing | Joists | 13 joists | $18 | $234 |
| Fasteners | Screw boxes | 3 boxes | $35 | $105 |
| Footings | Concrete bags | 26 bags | $6 | $156 |
| Materials subtotal | $1,220 | |||
Placeholder prices, not a live quote
Every unit price above is a rough, editable default — not fetched from any retailer and not updated automatically. Overwrite each one with your own quote or receipt before relying on this total. It also excludes labor, permit fees, delivery, and tax unless you enter them in section 5 above. Railing and stairs are not priced here either — railing quantities appear in the bill of materials above if you added runs, but without a dollar figure, so treat this subtotal as a starting point for board/joist/fastener/footing material cost only.
How this is different from the standalone calculators
- Enter your deck dimensions and board settings once, in section 1.
- Set joist spacing in section 2 — the run and span are derived from the same deck dimensions your boards use, the same way "Use my deck project" does on the standalone Joist Calculator.
- Choose your fastener system in section 3. Board rows and joist count feed in automatically; you never re-type them.
- Add footing count, shape, and depth in section 4.
- Optionally edit the placeholder material prices in section 5 — each one is a rough default you should replace with your own quote or receipt.
- Optionally add each straight railing run in section 6 — leave it empty to exclude railing entirely; nothing is guessed from deck perimeter.
- Review one combined bill of materials below, export it as a CSV, print it, or save the deck & joist inputs to your project. If your prices are filled in, a materials-only cost estimate appears underneath with its own CSV export.
Every number here is checkable
Limitations
Railing is opt-in: it is only included once you add at least one straight run in section 6, and even then only reflects the runs you typed in yourself — posts, balusters, and rail stock are never inferred from deck perimeter, since that would silently misorder material on decks with stairs, gaps, or sides that do not need railing. Share links carry every input on this page — deck dimensions, joist spacing, fastener system, footing, material-price, and railing choices — so anyone who opens a shared link sees the same combined bill of materials you did.
The cost estimate uses placeholder unit prices you edit yourself — it is not a live or retailer-sourced quote. It always excludes railing, stairs, permits, delivery, and tax; labor and other costs are excluded too unless you opt in with a lump-sum figure in section 5, in which case they appear as their own line items and are folded into the subtotal. Treat it as a rough starting point, not a bid.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Project Summary combine?
It runs the board, joist, fastener, and footing-concrete calculators together from one set of inputs and shows the results as a single bill of materials. Board rows and joist count are carried into the fastener estimate automatically; you no longer copy numbers between separate calculator pages.
Can I include railing in the combined bill of materials?
Yes, optionally. Section 6 lets you add each straight railing run yourself, one length at a time — the same way the standalone Deck Railing Calculator works. Leave it empty and railing is left out entirely. This summary never guesses a run length from deck perimeter, because a safe railing estimate depends on which sides need railing and where stairs or doors interrupt it, which the deck dimensions alone do not tell you.
Can I export this as a spreadsheet?
Yes. "Export CSV" downloads every line of the bill of materials (category, item, quantity, unit, notes) as a CSV file you can open in any spreadsheet program. The cost estimate below it has its own separate "Export cost CSV" button.
Can I export a PDF?
"Export PDF" builds a one-click PDF with the project overview, the full bill of materials, and the cost estimate (if you have priced anything) laid out for printing or sharing — you do not need to go through the browser’s print dialog. The separate "Print" button still opens the browser’s print dialog if you prefer to choose your own paper size or print immediately.
Where do the material prices in the cost estimate come from?
They are rough, editable placeholder defaults, not live or retailer-sourced pricing. This site does not scrape retailer prices or subscribe to a pricing API, so every unit price starts at a plain national-average guess that you should overwrite with your own quote or receipt. The cost estimate excludes labor, permits, delivery, tax, railing, and stairs — even if you added railing runs in section 6, its quantities appear only in the bill of materials, not in the dollar subtotal.
Can I add labor or other costs to the estimate?
Optionally, in section 5. Both fields are blank by default and stay excluded from the subtotal until you type in a lump-sum figure — the same opt-in principle as railing. Permit fees, delivery, disposal, and tax are still excluded unless you fold them into that same figure yourself.
Does saving or sharing send my data anywhere?
No. Every input on this page saves to your browser’s local storage and, if you use "Share link", to a URL query string you control — including footing, fastener, and material-price choices, not just deck dimensions and joist spacing.
Is this a structural or code-compliance tool?
No. Like every calculator on this site, the Project Summary estimates material quantity only. It does not size structural members, evaluate spans, or confirm footing depth against your local frost line and building code.
Methodology & review
This page estimates material quantities only, by combining the same transparent formulas used on each standalone calculator. It does not evaluate structural safety or local code compliance. See our methodology for assumptions and rounding rules. Last reviewed: August 14, 2026.