Composite Deck
The Ballard back yard ready for a new build and the homeowner who does not want to spend another decade staining cedar. The Bellevue split-level whose 1996 PT deck has reached the end and the homeowner wants the modern low-maintenance replacement. The Sammamish lot where the right answer is composite for the 30-year horizon and the right brand depends on the look. Composite is the Seattle new-build standard in 2026 — capped polymer over a wood-composite core (Trex, TimberTech, Fiberon) or solid polymer (some Deckorators lines and TimberTech Reserve), installed with hidden fasteners on PT framing, color-matched fascia and cap rail, and 25 to 50-year manufacturer warranties depending on the line. We install all four major brand lines and we will tell you on the booking call which one fits your color preference, your budget, your warranty appetite, and the look you are after. From $28,000 for a Fiberon or Deckorators build on a standard 300 to 400-square-foot footprint to $68,000 for a premium TimberTech Reserve build with cap-rail, mitered fascia, and high-end railing on a larger footprint. Each of the four variants below has its own page with the brand-specific install detail.
Variants
What Does a Composite Deck Install Include?
A composite deck install is a full new-construction build with composite decking instead of natural wood — covering site staking and footing layout, concrete piers and post bases (or helical piers on engineered hillside builds), pressure-treated framing (joists, beams, posts, ledger), through-bolted Z-flashed ledger on attached builds, composite decking install with hidden fasteners, color-matched composite fascia at the rim, composite cap rail and railing (or the upgrade material the homeowner specifies), low-voltage stair lighting, and final cleanup. Handis covers composite builds from $28,000 across the four major brand lines below. Each brand has its own page with the line-specific install detail, color-and-grain catalog, hidden-fastener system, and manufacturer warranty terms.
Trex Deck
The market-leading composite brand — Transcend (the premium capped line, 50-year limited warranty), Enhance (mid-tier, 25-year warranty), and Select (entry-level, 25-year warranty). Capped polymer over a wood-composite core. Hidden-fastener install with the Trex Hideaway clip system. Color range covers the warm and cool tones most Seattle homeowners ask for. From $30,000 for a standard Enhance build to $65,000 for a premium Transcend build with cap rail and mitered fascia.
Trex Deck — Transcend, Enhance, Select
TimberTech Deck
The premium brand line, owned by AZEK — Vintage and Legacy (capped polymer over composite core, 30-year warranty), Reserve (full PVC, 50-year warranty), Edge (mid-tier capped composite, 25-year warranty). Deepest emboss on the wood-grain texture in the composite category — reads closest to real wood at arm's length. From $32,000 for a Vintage or Edge build to $68,000 for a premium Reserve PVC build with the cap-rail and mitered detailing.
TimberTech Deck — Vintage, Legacy, Reserve, Edge
Fiberon Deck
Value-leader capped composite line — Concordia and Promenade (premium capped composite, 25 to 30-year warranty), Sanctuary (mid-tier, 25-year warranty), Good Life (entry-level, 20-year warranty). Strong color-and-grain palette with the same hidden-fastener compatibility as the other capped systems. Most homeowners who do the brand-by-brand comparison land on Fiberon when the budget needs the value pick. From $28,000 for a Good Life or Sanctuary build to $60,000 for a premium Concordia build.
Fiberon Deck — Concordia, Promenade, Sanctuary, Good Life
Deckorators Deck
The brand pushing the most aggressive material science — Voyage and Vault (mineral-based composite, lighter weight, higher slip resistance, 50-year structural warranty), Trailhead (entry-level, 25-year warranty). The mineral-based composite is the lightest decking material in the category — easier on hillside builds where every pound the structure has to carry compounds at the footings. From $28,000 for a Trailhead build to $60,000 for a premium Vault build with cap rail and railing.
Deckorators Deck — Voyage, Vault, Trailhead
Composite Deck Pricing
Final pricing depends on brand line (Trex Transcend vs Enhance vs Select, TimberTech Reserve vs Vintage, Fiberon Concordia vs Good Life, Deckorators Vault vs Trailhead), board color and grain selection, deck square footage, railing material (composite cap rail vs aluminum vs cable vs glass upgrade), and whether the site needs stamped engineering. Each brand page below has detailed pricing for that line. Engineering, Seattle DCI permit fees, and any licensed-electrical or licensed-gas portions are pass-through line items named in the project total. Request a free in-home estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us the square footage, the brand direction you are leaning (or that you want a recommendation), and the railing material — we will quote the project with engineering and permits included.
Why Homeowners Book Handis for Composite Decks
Composite is a build category that rewards the install detail more than the material spec. All four major brand lines we install (Trex, TimberTech, Fiberon, Deckorators) make a good board — they have all been on the market for decades, the manufacturer warranties are real, and at arm's length most homeowners cannot tell them apart. What separates a beautiful 20-year composite deck from a tired-looking 7-year composite deck is the install — the fastener spec (every brand has a different hidden-fastener clip and gap-spacing requirement), the joist spacing (12-inch on-center vs 16-inch matters more on composite than on wood because of the longer span the board has to hold flat), the picture-frame border detail at the perimeter, the mitered fascia at the corners, the cap-rail finish, and the color-matched fascia and rim trim. Handis builds for the install detail. We use the brand's specified fastener clip, the brand's recommended joist spacing, and the brand's matching fascia and rim — and we coordinate the brand's warranty registration after final inspection.
Brand-specific hidden-fastener system on every install
Trex Hideaway, TimberTech Concealoc, Fiberon Phantom, Deckorators DEXerdek — each brand has a different hidden-fastener clip and a different gap-spacing requirement. We install the brand's specified system on every build. Using a generic clip on a Trex board (or vice versa) voids the manufacturer warranty and is the sort of shortcut that turns a 50-year warranty into a 10-year hope.
12-inch on-center joist spacing on most composite builds
Most composite manufacturers spec 16-inch on-center joist spacing as the maximum, but 12-inch on-center is recommended for the angled or diagonal deck-board pattern and for the longest-flat-life on the wood-grain side. We build 12-inch on-center on the premium lines (TimberTech Reserve, Trex Transcend, Fiberon Concordia, Deckorators Vault) and 16-inch on-center on the entry lines where the manufacturer accepts it. The closer spacing adds about 30 percent to the joist count and a couple of working days to the framing time — and it adds a decade to the deck's flat-life on the finish side.
Picture-frame border + color-matched fascia at every rim
Every Handis composite build gets a picture-frame border around the perimeter — a wider board (typically two boards wide) running the perimeter as a frame, with the field boards butt-cut clean against it. Color-matched composite fascia covers the rim joist and the framing edge. The detail is what separates a composite deck that looks intentional from one that looks like a stack of boards screwed to a frame.
Brand warranty registered after final inspection
Every brand requires the install to be registered with the manufacturer within a specified window (typically 60 to 90 days from purchase) for the limited warranty to be active. Handis registers the warranty on your behalf after final inspection — we send you the registration confirmation, the certificate from the manufacturer, and the original purchase paperwork. The warranty stays valid for the original homeowner; most brands also offer a one-time transfer to a subsequent owner.
IRC ledger schedule, through-bolted, Z-flashed (same as wood builds)
Every attached composite-deck ledger is through-bolted with 1/2-inch hot-dipped galvanized or stainless lag bolts at 16-inch on-center staggered top/bottom per IRC R507.9.1.3, Z-flashed under the siding with the flashing leg behind the WRB, and the bottom plate of the wall behind gets inspected and replaced if rotted. The composite board on top does not change the structural standard underneath.
Insured, background-checked, one-year project + two-year structural warranty
Handis carries general liability and workers' compensation; every carpenter has cleared a background screening. One-year Handis warranty on decking, railing, cap rail, fascia, and finishes. Two-year structural framing warranty on joists, beams, posts, and ledger flashing. The brand-specific manufacturer warranty (25 to 50 years depending on the line) covers the boards themselves — fading, staining, splitting, structural failure of the board material — under the manufacturer's terms.
Estimate
Tell us the square footage you have in mind, the brand direction (Trex, TimberTech, Fiberon, Deckorators — or you want a recommendation), the line within the brand (premium capped, mid-tier, entry — or you want the warranty-to-budget tradeoff explained), the color and grain preference (the brand-specific catalog has 8 to 15 options), the railing material (composite cap rail standard, aluminum or cable upgrade), and any add-ons (stairs, built-in bench, low-voltage lighting, hot-tub framing). We send a clear estimate with the brand spec, the warranty terms, engineering, and permits all named line by line.
Customer Reviews
Recent composite deck reviews from real Handis customers across the four brand lines we install.
460-square-foot Trex Transcend deck (Spiced Rum color) on our flat back yard in Ballard. Hideaway hidden-fastener system, composite picture-frame border, color-matched fascia, capped composite railing. Handis built it in 11 working days, pulled the Seattle DCI permit, registered the Trex warranty within a week of final. The deck reads exactly like the showroom sample at twice the size.
TimberTech Vintage in Mahogany on an attached 380-square-foot build in Bellevue. The wood-grain emboss is deep enough that the grain reads as real wood from the patio door. Handis built at 12-inch on-center joists, mitered the fascia at every corner, and the cap rail looks like a piece of furniture. Came in right at $42,000 including the aluminum baluster railing upgrade.
Fiberon Concordia in Symmetry on a 320-square-foot floating deck in our Queen Anne back yard. Sub-30-inch elevation so no permit needed. Handis used the Phantom hidden-fastener system, full picture-frame border, color-matched fascia. The Concordia color held up through one Pacific Northwest winter with zero fade in the high-traffic walkways. $31,000 total.
Deckorators Vault (mineral composite, Costa color) on our Sammamish hillside lot, 540 square feet across two elevations following the slope. Handis got the structural engineer involved early because of the helical piers, used the lighter-weight mineral composite specifically because the engineer recommended it to reduce the loaded weight on the footings. Total install ran $52,000 including engineering and permit.
TimberTech Reserve PVC (Driftwood color) on a 700-square-foot premium build in Mercer Island. Full PVC, 50-year warranty, mitered fascia, cap rail in matching PVC, glass-panel railing on the view side, composite cap on the house side. Handis registered the warranty within a week. The PVC is genuinely no-maintenance — we are coming up on year two and the only thing we have done is occasional rinse.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about composite deck installation — brand comparison, warranty terms, hidden fasteners, color and grain selection, and what fits your project.