Trades · decision engine
Price the job on a takeoff sheet
Set the trade and the measurements; every line prices itself. Edit any figure and the total moves with it — and the sheet you build is the document your customer receives.
- rules cited
- no AI arithmetic
- nothing stored
- free, no signup
Rules verified Ruleset trades-decks-2026-08Placeholder pricing basis — internal reference model, pending licensed cost data (RSMeans-style) and contractor review — no published source URL yet
This new deck build estimates at $8,756 to $11,480.
At 15.0% profit you clear $1,269 on this job — $84.60 for each point you add.
Unverified pricing
Every unit cost, labour hour and multiplier here is placeholder reference data. This is an estimate, never a binding quote — actual costs vary with site conditions.
Estimate
Decks & carpentry — New deck build
Mid-grade · Midwest · Standard — normal carry
Estimated range — not a quote
$8,756–$11,480
- Unverified pricing
This sheet is an estimate only. It is not a binding quote, and every price on it is placeholder reference data rather than market cost data.
Check every line against your own suppliers and put your own numbers in before you send it. The moment you hand a customer a quote, it stops being an estimate — it is a number you have to honor.
- Concrete footings & posts$1,501One footing per 20 sq ft of deck, minimum 4Assumes diggable soil, no rock or roots
- Framing: ledger, joists, beams$2,009.28Joists 16" on centerAttached ledger; freestanding adds cost
- Decking boards$1,732.4210% cut waste on boards
- Railing & balusters$1,941.8036" rail height; code may require 42" over 30" above grade
- Stairs: stringers & treads$406.60Per-step pricing includes stringer share and handrail hardware
- Fasteners & hardware$99.84
- Materials
- $4,164.01
- Labor
- $3,526.93
- Subtotal
- $7,690.94
- Overhead 10%
- $769.09
- Profit 15%
- $1,269
- Total
- $9,729.03
At 15.0% profit you clear $1,269 on this job — $84.60 for each point you add.
The workings
prices verified 8 Aug 2026
How this estimate is built
Each job decomposes into standard assemblies — a deck becomes footings, framing, decking, railing and stairs — and each assembly carries a quantity formula, a waste factor, a material cost per grade tier and a labor-hours-per-unit figure. Quantities are region-adjusted before anything is priced. Materials plus labor make the subtotal; overhead and profit are your numbers, shown with the taught defaults contractors most often use. All money math is integer cents and no AI touches a figure. The full formula is on the pricing methodology page, and every ruleset is listed with its citations on sources.
Why the estimate is a range
A point estimate on a job you have not walked is a guess wearing a suit. Bracketsight quotes a low–high band around the computed total and shows the assumption behind every line, so when a footing hits rock or a wall needs a second coat, the conversation starts from something you wrote down rather than something you promised. v1 prices are placeholder reference data pending a licensed cost source and review by two working contractors — every sheet says so, and it will keep saying so until that review lands. Check the numbers against your own suppliers.
Then paper it
The invoice mirrors the sheet line for line and matches the total to the cent, credits any deposit already taken, and prints as a document rather than a web page. The contract pulls the same price and scope, then adds the clauses your state requires for a job that size — each one carrying its statute. Start with California, Texas, Florida, New York or Pennsylvania. It is a template, not legal advice — have an attorney review it before you sign.
Trades priced today: decks & carpentry, interior painting, bathroom remodel. Rules verified 8 Aug 2026. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Where to go next
Guides
No guide has been published for this tool yet. The guides index lists what has.
Terms used here
This is an independent estimating and paperwork tool. It is not a quote, not a contract until you and your customer sign one, and not legal advice — a state’s required clauses change, and a contract that matters is worth an hour of a construction attorney’s time. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Pre-launch build, and the prices are the part to be careful with. Every unit cost, labour hour, labour rate, waste factor, access multiplier and regional multiplier in all 3 rulesets is placeholder reference data, modelled rather than licensed, and none has been sanity-checked by a working contractor. Each file also sets its own staleness window of 120 days from , which has already elapsed. Use the structure — the takeoff, the assemblies, the ranges, the clause list — and put your own numbers over the top. The state contract requirements are a different matter: those are cited to statute, and where a statutory notice has not been transcribed word for word the generator refuses to produce the document rather than paraphrase it. What is settled and what is not is on sources and pricing methodology.