How much does a deck cost in Omaha, NE in 2026?

By the Hunt Home Remodeling team · Updated October 2026

Most new decks in the Omaha area land between about $15 and $70 per square foot installed, and the decking material decides most of that spread. We're Hunt Home Remodeling, a family-owned deck builder in Bennington and Omaha, and we've built and repaired decks in Eastern Nebraska for 27+ years. Below are current outside price ranges, worked budgets for common sizes, and the add-ons that move a quote.

What does a deck cost per square foot in Omaha?

Expect about $15 to $25 per square foot installed for pressure-treated wood, $35 to $65 for composite such as Trex, and $60 to $70 or more for cellular PVC. Those are national ranges. Omaha labor usually sits near the middle of them, and your deck's height, shape and add-ons push you toward one end.

The composite and PVC numbers come from Ergeon's composite deck cost guide, updated May 2026. The wood number comes from Fixr's deck building cost page, last updated January 2023, so treat it as a floor.

Composite deck cost per square foot in Nebraska

Composite is what most Omaha homeowners ask us about, because it skips the staining a wood deck needs after a Nebraska summer. The jump between Trex tiers comes from the cap layer, color options and the manufacturer's fade warranty. Ergeon puts the board alone at $3 to $9 per linear foot, so most of the installed price is framing, labor and trim. If you want to compare composite lines side by side, our composite deck builder page for Omaha walks through what we install.

Where PVC fits

Cellular PVC has no wood fiber, so it holds up best around pools, hot tubs and shady, damp yards. We cover the tradeoffs on our PVC decks in Omaha page, and pool owners can see how we build around water on our pool decks in Omaha page.

How much does a 10x12, 12x16, 16x20 or 20x20 deck cost?

Multiply the square footage by the per-square-foot range for your material. A 12x16 deck is 192 square feet, so it runs about $2,900 to $4,800 in pressure-treated wood and $6,700 to $8,600 in entry composite. These totals cover the deck surface only. Railings, stairs and tear-out come on top.

Every number below is square footage times the low and high ends of the ranges in the first table, with nothing added for height, stairs or railings.

How much does a 10x12 deck cost?

A 10x12 deck fits a grill and a table for four. Expect roughly $1,800 to $3,000 in wood and $4,200 to $7,800 across the composite tiers. Small decks cost more per square foot, because the permit, stairs and setup time don't shrink with the deck. One Hunt customer, Cheryl K., wrote that her "10 by 12 foot deck installed by Hunt" left her family "could not be more thrilled with the outcome."

How much does a 12x16 deck cost in Omaha?

The 12x16 is the size we price most often. Take a mid-tier composite 12x16 that sits about three feet off the ground, with roughly 40 feet of metal railing, four steps and an old wood deck to tear out first. Using the outside ranges in this guide, the deck surface runs $8,640 to $10,560, the railing $1,800 to $3,400, the steps $500 to $1,000 and the tear-out $960 to $2,880. That adds up to about $11,900 to $17,840 before the permit.

How much does a 16x20 deck cost?

A 16x20 deck gives you 320 square feet, enough for separate dining and seating areas. The math puts it at $4,800 to $8,000 in wood and $11,200 to $20,800 in composite. The national Cost vs Value report uses a 16x20 composite deck as its sample, and its $25,096 average works out to about $78 per square foot with railing, a bench and planters included.

How much does a 20x20 deck cost?

A 20x20 deck covers 400 square feet and usually needs an extra beam line and more footings than a smaller deck. Plan on $6,000 to $10,000 in wood and $14,000 to $26,000 in composite, with PVC above $24,000. At this size, a second level or a picture-frame border starts to show up in the price.

What adds to the cost to build a deck in Omaha?

Height, stairs and railing length move an Omaha deck quote more than anything after the decking material. Footings dug 42 inches deep, tearing out an old deck, permits, under-deck drainage, lighting and how easily a crew can reach your backyard all add cost too.

Height and second-story decks

A deck off a walkout basement or second-floor patio door needs taller posts, heavier beams, bracing and more labor on ladders and scaffolding. Fixr's 2023 data lists two-story decks at $30 to $60 per square foot installed, against $15 to $25 for a ground-level pressure-treated deck. Our deck installation service covers everything from ground-level platforms to second-story builds.

Stairs

Most quotes we see from other builders bury the stairs in one line, and stairs are where budgets slip. Fixr lists wooden stairs on pre-cut stringers at $75 to $200 per step, custom-cut wood stringers at $125 to $250 per step and metal stairs at $225 to $450 per step. A second-story deck can need a dozen or more steps plus a landing.

Railings, including aluminum

Code requires a guard on any deck surface more than 30 inches above grade. Fixr's per-linear-foot installed prices are $30 to $50 for wood, $45 to $85 for metal (which includes aluminum), $80 to $165 for composite, $115 to $175 for cable and $140 to $210 for glass. A 12x16 deck against the house has about 40 feet of open edge. Hunt is a Westbury Certified Master Pro and installs Westbury aluminum railing on composite and wood decks.

Footings below the Omaha frost line

Nebraska frost heaves shallow footings, so attached decks here sit on footings 42 inches deep. The City of La Vista's deck permit information sheet spells it out: post holes need 42-inch frost footings when the deck is attached to the house, and freestanding decks need at least 24 inches. Every extra footing is another hole dug, inspected and poured. Confirm the depth for your address with your own city's permit office before you dig.

Tearing out an old deck

Removing an existing deck adds $5 to $15 per square foot according to Fixr, depending on material, hauling and dump fees. Old decks with hot tub pads or attached pergolas sit at the high end.

Permits

Omaha sets permit fees by the cost of labor and materials. When the city rolled out pre-approved deck plans, KMTV 3 News Now reported in April 2021 that a $10,000 deck carried a permit fee of $126.62. The same report said pre-approved plans can be approved within a few days, while original plans go through standard review that can take up to four weeks. Check the current fee schedule with the city. Hunt handles the permit process for every deck we build.

Under-deck drainage

To keep the space under a raised deck dry, Trex RainEscape catches water between the joists and carries it to a gutter. It goes in during framing, before the decking. Jim Hunt is a listed Trex RainEscape installer, so we can price it as part of the same build instead of a later retrofit.

Lighting

Post cap, stair riser and recessed lights make stairs safer at night. Fixr lists installed deck lights at $50 to $300 per light. Lit posts and steps on a 12x16 deck can mean eight to twelve fixtures plus a transformer.

Site access

A crew that can back a trailer to the site and run a power auger works faster than one carrying boards through a side gate and digging by hand. Tight side yards, steep lots and fences all add hours.

How much does deck replacement cost in Omaha?

Deck replacement costs the price of a new deck plus $5 to $15 per square foot to tear out the old one, according to Fixr, which puts a same-size replacement at $20 to $70 per square foot all in. On a 12x16 deck, tear-out alone runs about $960 to $2,880. Reusing sound footings can lower the total.

Before tearing anything out, check whether the frame can be saved. Many older Omaha decks have rotten boards over solid joists, and a resurface costs far less than a rebuild. Our deck repair service includes safety inspections, rotten wood repair, support beam reinforcement and Trex resurfacing. If you live in the city, our deck repair team in Omaha can tell you on site whether repair or replacement makes more sense.

Footings shallower than 42 inches, posts buried in soil or a ledger without lag bolts turn a resurface into a full replacement.

Is a Trex deck worth the extra cost in Nebraska?

A Trex deck costs more up front and less every year after. The 2025 Cost vs Value report puts a composite deck addition at $25,096 nationally, about $6,800 more than a wood deck, and it recoups 88.5 percent at sale versus 94.9 percent for wood. The payback for composite comes from skipped staining and board replacement.

Here are the national numbers from Zonda's 2025 Cost vs Value report. A wood deck addition averaged $18,263 with a resale value of $17,323, recouping 94.9 percent. A composite deck addition averaged $25,096 with a resale value of $22,199, recouping 88.5 percent. The report also has Omaha figures, but we could not open that page, so only national averages are quoted here.

Resale is only half the math. A pressure-treated deck in Omaha takes hot summers, freeze-thaw swings and ice melt on the stairs, and most need cleaning and sealing every couple of years. Composite skips the sealing, so if you stay ten years or more, the saved stain and weekends count as return. Hunt is a Trex Pro Platinum builder, and we build with pressure-treated framing under Trex or other decking.

Why do Omaha deck quotes differ so much?

Two quotes for the same deck can sit thousands of dollars apart because builders include different things. One price may cover only the deck surface, while another includes railing, stairs, footings, permits, tear-out and haul-away. Line up the scope of each quote before you compare the totals.

Use this checklist when you put quotes side by side:

• Confirm both quotes name the same decking line, such as Trex Select, instead of the word "composite."
• Count the footings in each quote and ask how deep they go.
• Check whether the joists are spaced at 12 or 16 inches, since many composite boards need closer spacing on diagonal layouts.
• Find the railing line item and its linear footage.
• Find the stair count and whether a landing is included.
• Ask who pulls the permit and whether tear-out and haul-away are included.

A typical new deck from our crew takes 1 to 2 weeks depending on size, weather and materials. As customer Chase W. put it, Hunt "worked with my budget," and most of our work still comes from referrals. You can read more about how we run jobs on our about us page.

How do you get a real number for your deck?

Start with Hunt's online pricing tool to get a ballpark for your size and material, then book a free on-site estimate. At the visit, we measure the yard, check the height off the door and look at access and old footings, the things no calculator can see from a web form.

Our online deck pricing tool takes your dimensions and material and gives a starting range in a few minutes. Measure out from the house wall, along the wall, and the height up to your patio door. That height sets the stair count and whether you need railing.

From there, the process runs in four steps: free consultation, design and planning, construction and a final walkthrough with you. During design we can build a 3D rendering of your deck so you see the layout, stairs and railing before a single footing gets dug. Browse our deck gallery or see our custom deck builds. We work across Omaha, Bennington, Elkhorn, Millard and nearby towns in Douglas and Sarpy County.

"Jim responded immediately to my email and came out the very next day to give me an estimate." Lori C.

Frequently asked questions

These are the deck cost questions Omaha homeowners ask us most, answered with the same outside price ranges used in this guide. For your own yard, door height and old deck, a free on-site estimate turns these ranges into one firm number.

Is a composite deck cheaper than wood over time?

Composite costs more to build. Zonda's 2025 national averages are $25,096 for a composite deck addition and $18,263 for wood. Composite skips the cleaning and sealing a pressure-treated deck needs every couple of years in Nebraska weather, so over ten or more years the gap shrinks. Wood still recoups a higher share at resale.

How deep do deck footings need to be in the Omaha area?

Attached decks in the Omaha metro sit on concrete footings 42 inches deep to stay below the frost line. The City of La Vista's deck permit sheet lists 42 inches for attached decks and at least 24 inches for freestanding ones. Confirm the requirement for your address with your city's permit office before construction.

Do I need a permit to build a deck in Omaha?

Most attached and raised decks in Omaha need a building permit. The city prices the fee by the cost of labor and materials, and a 2021 KMTV report gave a $10,000 deck a fee of $126.62. Pre-approved city deck plans can be approved within a few days. Hunt Home Remodeling handles the permit process for the decks we build.

How much does aluminum deck railing cost?

Fixr lists metal railing, which includes aluminum, at $45 to $85 per linear foot installed. A 12x16 deck against the house has about 40 feet of open edge, so aluminum railing runs roughly $1,800 to $3,400 for that size. Hunt is a Westbury Certified Master Pro and installs Westbury aluminum railing.

How long does it take to build a deck in Omaha?

A typical new deck from Hunt Home Remodeling takes 1 to 2 weeks on site, depending on size, weather and materials. Most deck repairs take 1 to 3 days. Permit review adds time before construction, from a few days for a pre-approved city plan to as long as four weeks for an original design.

Should I repair or replace my old deck?

If the joists, beams and footings are solid, resurfacing with new boards and railing costs far less than a full replacement. Replace the deck when footings are shallower than 42 inches, posts are buried in the soil or the ledger lacks proper bolts. A deck safety inspection tells you which way to go.