At our example rates, wood is the cheaper build and composite is the cheaper decade. Pressure treated wins on bid price. Composite wins for the owner who never wants to sand and stain again. Cedar sits between them: better looking than pressure treated, still wood, still on the maintenance cycle.
A 12x16 deck at the example rates
A 12x16 deck is 192 square feet. At the example rates from our deck calculator:
| Decking | Example rate | 12x16 (192 sq ft) |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure treated | $40 / sq ft | $7,680 |
| Cedar | $50 / sq ft | $9,600 |
| Composite | $60 / sq ft | $11,520 |
Composite carries a $3,840 premium over pressure treated on this deck at the example rates. Those numbers are placeholders for the math; your material costs and labor set the real spread.
What the premium buys
It buys away the staining cycle. A wood deck needs wash, prep, and stain on a repeating schedule, and at our example stain rate of $3.75 per square foot for two coats, each round on this 192 sq ft deck is $720 of work. Skip the cycles and the deck grays, checks, and splinters.
Composite skips all of it. No stain, no sanding, color through the board. Over the years an owner keeps the deck, the premium erodes; whether it fully pays back depends on who does the staining and what they charge.
Two things to say before they sign
First, heat. Composite tends to hold more heat than wood in full sun, and dark colors get genuinely uncomfortable under bare feet. South-facing deck, no shade, pool nearby: have that conversation now, not after.
Second, the frame is wood either way. Composite is a decking and railing skin over a pressure treated frame, so the structure still needs flashing, ventilation, and honest framing labor. A composite deck is not a maintenance-free structure. It is a maintenance-free surface on a wood one.
Quoting the choice
Carry all three materials as separate rates, not one number with a multiplier in your head, the same discipline as how to price a deck build. Stairs price per step, tear-out of the old deck is its own line, and the composite deck calculator runs the composite math at any size.
PriceDesk holds all three rates as your rates, so the pressure-treated-or-composite conversation ends with two itemized quotes texted from the driveway. Free 14-day trial, no card.