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Scott,
Ditto what Bill said. Here in central PA, I start at 12 bucks a foot, labor and materials for a ptyp deck. This would inlude design of a simple custom deck, one story of the ground, good site access, with a straight run of stairs. I do a fair amount of extra detailing with the sander and router, which seems a waist on treated decks but it sells the job. An example follows. I seldom sell high end decks in my area but it sounds as if you are in the ball park from my knowledge of mahogany prices.
I’d rather be too high and stay home than give it away,
Tom
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Scott,
Ditto what Bill said. Here in central PA, I start at 12 bucks a foot, labor and materials for a ptyp deck. This would inlude design of a simple custom deck, one story of the ground, good site access, with a straight run of stairs. I do a fair amount of extra detailing with the sander and router, which seems a waist on treated decks but it sells the job. An example follows. I seldom sell high end decks in my area but it sounds as if you are in the ball park from my knowledge of mahogany prices.
I'd rather be too high and stay home than give it away,
Tom
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Tommy, I like the funky baluster treatment on the small panels. Your idea?
Boy, i've tried this question here before and was told "impossible to say." A lot seems to depend on salesmanship. I did a small deck that really was a ton of work because, compared to the small square footage, there was a lot of railing and custom fitting and detailing work. I'd love to do a nice large repetitive decking job. At least here, "size doesn't matter" except for materials.
Prices vary a lot for materials regionally. But for the combination of your extra structural work and the upgrade decking material, $20 sounds pretty low. I talked to a homeowner who paid about $20/sf for an unremarkable pt deck about 10 ft off of grade (but without the bracing I would've thought necessary -- I think they may have buried the posts...). What is your est. materials cost?
*Hey Andrew, I adapted that funky thing from something I saw. Original thoughts are few and far between. I nail those balusters up like that then trim them in place with my worm. Doesn't take much longer than regular balusters.My method and what I do is to give everyone an original design in the ten or twenty decks that I do every year. I cheat by builing in modules ( usually one small and one large) and varying the railing plan. I also lay the deckboards in unique patterns, usually some variation on a diagonal or herringbone. This serves two purposes. I never splice over a joist which creates problems and it builds in diagonal bracing, eliminating the side to side shimmy that I think you alluded to in another post. For decoration, I chamfer all the posts for a few feet in the center, round over or ogee all rails and deckboard ends, and orbital sand off all stamps and anything that would leave a splinter.I did that deck two or three years ago by myself ( I had some labor problems at the time) in about 28 hours. My material cost was about $1600 amd I contracted the job for around $3500. I seldom turn decks away because they are fun and I make money at them. I just wish I could sell my customers on using more durable wood.Tom
*Scott, I think you're low, I figure around $25/sq. ft. for a standard deck with 1 run of stairs, no taller than 1 story, using Trex or similiar for deck surface,and a standard rail, I'm in suburban Boston and this price is a low number, costs go up if it gets complicated or to high off the ground etc... Good Luck! Geoff
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i agree that your price is to low. it sounds as if this is a big, complicated project. you are also using high end material. i hope you have thought it through. there is a lot of planning that takes a lot of time on a deck that size, not to mention digging all those holes. did you factor extra time if you hit rocks while digging. i wouldn't give your proposal to you thought it through, remember, you want to be fair to the customer, but you also need to make a profit. nothing is worse than getting half way through a job and finding out that you didn't make enough money. nothing is worse than working for free.
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Tommy B:
Used your link, IE5 said "Done" but the screen was blank. Sure would like to see your example.
*Scott,I'm with Geoff on this one. In the Metro N.Y. area that would be a low number. Whats your cost for the mahogany? And does that price include sealing it?Richard Max
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Fred,
Any time I look at jpg attachments on this site I get a jscript error, which is hidden by that blank screen. If I close the window, I can see the script error message. Then I click to ignore all further errors, and the jpg image comes up. It's worth a try.
HTH,
Rebeccah
addendum: Well, I just tried again, and this time I can't view the jpg file, either. I wonder what's up? I have IE3.
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Get NS (not perfect but more stable). Be glad to have a choice. :)
View Image
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I am working on a bid for a fairly large (700 sq ft) deck for a customer of mine The frame is 2x10 pressure treated, the decking is 1x4 mahogany, with a mahogany railing, three sets of stairs, extra girders and sonotubes for a future jacuzzi.I keep coming up with a price right around $20.00 per square ft. I don't want to scare away the customer, but I'd like to walk away with my shirt still on my back. Any thoughts would be appreciated. thanx
*$20 sounds cheap if the thing is over 8 ft. off the ground. Double check your figures and cross your fingers. Sometimes if I'm troubled by a bid then I'll back off and re-think the whole thing