Custom Deck Building in Greensboro, NC

Design Starts With Your Lot, Not a Catalog

A good deck design answers three questions before it draws a single board. Where does the sun land in July — because a west-facing deck with no shade plan gets used twice a summer in the Piedmont. How does the yard drain — because Greensboro lots slope, and a deck that traps runoff against the house creates the rot it was supposed to rise above. And what is the house itself — a 1920s Fisher Park foursquare with real framing to tie into, or a 2005 Adams Farm two-story where the ledger meets engineered rim board. Different answers, different decks.

From there we size the platform to how you'll actually use it. Seating for six needs roughly 150 square feet before anyone's chair hits a rail; a grill station wants its own landing zone away from the traffic path; stairs placed wrong turn the whole deck into a hallway. We sketch it, you push back, and the design is settled before the quote is written — so the quote means something.

How the Build Runs, Step by Step

1. Permit first. We file with the City of Greensboro or Guilford County, depending on your address, before any work starts. The permit is on the job, not in a promise.
2. Layout and footings. Corners squared, post locations dug below frost depth, holes belled where the load calls for it. In red clay we do not pour into standing water — if the hole is wet, the pour waits. The inspector signs off on every footing before concrete.
3. Frame. The ledger is flashed above and behind, then through-fastened to structure with structural screws or bolts — the connection that roughly 90% of deck collapses trace back to gets the most careful hour of the job. Joists are hung on rated hardware with the fasteners the hanger manufacturer specifies, not whatever's in the pouch.
4. Decking, stairs, and rails. Boards gapped for drainage, end cuts sealed, stringers cut to code rise and run, guardrails built to take a real 200-pound lean — then framing and final inspections close out the permit.

Nothing in that list is exotic. What's uncommon is doing all of it on every job, and being able to show the inspection record that proves it.

Replacing an Aging Deck vs. Building New

Half of our custom-deck work in Greensboro starts with a deck that already exists — usually a 1980s or '90s structure in an established neighborhood that's reached the end of honest service. Replacement jobs carry two extra line items a new build doesn't: tear-off and haul-away ($800–$2,500 on our published price sheet), and whatever the old deck was hiding — rotted rim joists, undersized footings, a ledger nailed through siding. We open up, show you what we find with photos, and price the fix before proceeding. If you're not sure your old deck is actually done, a $150–$350 inspection settles it honestly — sometimes the answer is a repair, not a rebuild, and we'll say so.

Materials: Treated Pine Country, With Options

The Piedmont builds mostly in pressure-treated southern yellow pine, and for good reason — it's strong, local, and at $30–$45 per square foot installed, it's the value play. We build treated decks with the details that let pine age well here: sealed end grain, fasteners rated for modern treatment chemistry, and a maintenance schedule you'll actually get in writing. When the plan calls for less upkeep, composite decking rides on the same treated frame at a 30–50% premium — the honest math on when that premium pays is on its own page. Either way, the railing, the stairs, and the frame get spec'd item by item in the quote, so you can compare our bid against anyone's, line for line.

What a Custom Deck Costs Here

Working ranges for permitted, inspected work in the Greensboro area: a 12x12 treated deck typically runs $4,500–$6,500; a 16x16, $7,500–$11,500; a 20x20, $12,000–$18,000. Elevation, stairs, and railing choice move a project inside its range — a walk-out basement lot with a second-story deck sits at the top, a grade-level platform at the bottom. The full price sheet is published on our homepage. A free on-site visit turns the range into one written number that doesn't grow unless the scope does.

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