How much does decking cost in Teesside? (2026)
Decking in Teesside costs £80 to £120 per square metre in pressure-treated softwood, £120 to £180 in composite, and £150 to £220 raised or multi-level in 2026. Balustrade adds £60 to £120 per linear metre. A typical 20m² back-garden deck lands between £1,700 and £3,500 depending on material.
What is actually in a square metre
On a £150 per square metre composite job, roughly £55 to £80 is boards and fixings, £25 to £35 is the treated subframe with tape and footing materials, £10 to £15 is groundwork and waste, and the remainder is labour. That split explains why the cheapest quote in a set of three is nearly always cheap in the same place: the frame. Dropping from concrete pads to slabs on soil, from 400mm to 600mm joist centres, and from taped joists to untaped saves £20 to £30 per square metre and takes ten years off the deck.
Three worked Teesside examples
- Thornaby semi, 20m² flat composite deck off the patio doors. Level ground, wheelbarrow access down a side path, two-riser step, no balustrade. £2,600 to £3,500, two to three days.
- Marton 1930s garden, 28m² softwood deck with a small raised section. Modest fall across the plot, one 600mm raised level, 6m of balustrade, one flight of three risers. £3,200 to £4,400.
- Guisborough plot falling away from the house, 32m² across two composite levels. Deep footings, bracing, 14m of balustrade, two flights of steps, some spoil removed. £6,500 to £9,000.
The cost drivers nobody mentions on the phone
- Access: a garden reachable only through the house or via a 700mm alley adds labour to every tonne of aggregate and every board.
- Ground: Teesside boulder clay holds water and digs heavy. Old concrete bases, tree roots and made ground all add hours before a single joist is cut.
- Board layout: diagonals and picture-frame borders need joists at 300mm centres and generate more cuts and waste, commonly 10 to 20 per cent on the total.
- Height: every 300mm of lift adds posts, bracing, footings and eventually balustrade, which is why raised work is a different rate, not a surcharge.
- Waste: spoil from digging out and old decking taken away are real skip and tip costs, and should appear as their own line.
Repair versus replace
Spending £600 on boards and oil to refresh a sound deck is excellent value. Spending £1,800 patching a frame that sits on soil is not, because you have bought a few years on a structure that will fail the same way again. The rule of thumb: if more than a third of the frame is soft, or the deck flexes when several people stand on it, put the money into a new subframe. Detail on both routes is on the repair and refurbishment page.
2026 pricing context
Softwood prices came off their 2022 peak and have been broadly stable through 2025 into 2026. Composite has become more competitive as more ranges reach the UK, with the widest gap now between budget uncapped boards and capped co-extruded ones rather than between brands. Labour is the component still rising, which is why access and groundwork increasingly decide the total. Prices also drift with the season: quotes taken in January for an April build are frequently keener than the same job asked for in June, when every fitter on Teesside is booked out.
Next: composite versus timber over 25 years, or designing decks for sloped gardens.
| Job | Typical price | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Softwood decking, installed | £80–£120 per m² | Board grade, layout, access |
| Hardwood decking, installed | £150–£220 per m² | Board cost, pre-drilling labour |
| Composite decking, installed | £120–£180 per m² | Capped vs uncapped, 400mm centres |
| Raised or multi-level deck | £150–£220 per m² | Post height, bracing, footings |
| Balustrade and handrail | £60–£120 per linear m | Infill type; glass £150–£300 |
| Steps, per flight | £250–£700 | Width, riser count, base |
| Repair and refurbishment | £300–£2,000 | Boards only vs frame rebuild |
| Pergola or deck structure | £2,000–£8,000 | Span, roof type, wind fixings |