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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.

Composite deck hub image — finished composite deck on a flat Seattle back yard, TimberTech-style brown boards with a deep wood-grain emboss running parallel to the house, color-matched fascia at the rim, capped composite railing on three sides, low-voltage step lights at the stairs, and the picture-frame border detail visible around the perimeter.

Variants

Photo of a composite deck install in progress — Handis carpenter setting a Trex Transcend board into the Hideaway hidden-fastener clip at the previous board, a second carpenter snapping a chalk line for the next row, end-cut boards stacked on dollies under the framing.
Pricing

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.

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Why Homeowners Book Handis for Composite Decks
Trust

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.

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.

Service cost estimate illustration
Reviews

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.

Diane and Robert K., 460 sq ft Trex Transcend

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.

Helen and Marcus F., 380 sq ft TimberTech Vintage

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.

Vincent and Lara T., 320 sq ft Fiberon Concordia

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.

Marcus and Sara P., 540 sq ft Deckorators Vault Hillside

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.

Padma and Aiden K., 700 sq ft TimberTech Reserve PVC
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about composite deck installation — brand comparison, warranty terms, hidden fasteners, color and grain selection, and what fits your project.

How much does a composite deck cost?
A standard composite build (300 to 400 square feet) starts at $28,000 for Deckorators Trailhead or Fiberon Good Life, $30,000 for Trex Enhance or Select, and $32,000 for TimberTech Vintage or Edge. A mid-tier build (400 to 500 square feet) with premium capped lines (Trex Transcend, TimberTech Legacy, Fiberon Promenade) starts at $42,000. Adding an aluminum or stainless cable railing upgrade brings a standard build to about $48,000. A premium build (500 to 700 square feet) with top-tier lines, mitered fascia, cap rail, and low-voltage lighting starts at $55,000. The top-end build (700+ square feet, premium line, complex configuration with glass railing, multi-color picture-frame border) lands at $65,000. A full TimberTech Reserve PVC build on a larger footprint runs $68,000. You get a written estimate with the brand spec, the warranty terms, engineering, and permits named line by line.
Trex, TimberTech, Fiberon, or Deckorators — which brand should I pick?
All four make good boards and the warranty terms are competitive — at arm's length most homeowners cannot tell them apart. Trex is the market leader and the safest pick (Transcend has the longest residential track record). TimberTech (owned by AZEK) has the deepest wood-grain emboss in the category and a full-PVC option in the Reserve line for the longest manufacturer warranty. Fiberon is the value pick with strong color-and-grain options at lower price points (Concordia and Promenade compete with Trex Transcend at $5,000 to $8,000 less per build). Deckorators makes a mineral-based composite (Voyage, Vault) that is the lightest decking material in the category — a real advantage on hillside builds where every pound the structure has to carry compounds at the footings. We will walk you through samples on the estimate visit and recommend the direction that fits your project.
What is the hidden-fastener system?
Hidden fasteners are clips that hold the composite board to the joist from underneath instead of from the top — Trex Hideaway, TimberTech Concealoc, Fiberon Phantom, Deckorators DEXerdek. Each brand has a different clip and a different gap-spacing requirement. Using the brand-specific system is required for warranty coverage — using a generic clip voids the manufacturer warranty. We install the brand's specified system on every build, with the clip set in the groove of each board edge and the screw driven into the joist below. The deck surface ends up screw-free, which both looks cleaner and eliminates the wear-and-pull failure mode that top-screwed composite decks develop after 10+ years.
What does the manufacturer warranty actually cover?
Manufacturer limited warranties cover the boards themselves against fading, staining, splitting, and structural failure of the board material under normal residential use — typically 25 to 50 years depending on the line. The warranty does NOT cover install errors (wrong fastener system, wrong joist spacing, wrong board cut), aesthetic complaints that fall inside the manufacturer's stated tolerance for color variation, or damage from impact, abrasion, or improper cleaning chemicals. Most warranties are transferable once to a subsequent owner. Handis registers the warranty on your behalf within the manufacturer's window (typically 60 to 90 days from purchase) after final inspection, and you get the registration confirmation, the certificate, and the original paperwork.
Why is joist spacing important on composite decks?
Composite boards rely on the joist support more than wood boards because the composite material is slightly more flexible across long spans. The brand-specified maximum joist spacing is 16-inch on-center for most lines, but 12-inch on-center is the recommendation for diagonal-pattern installs, for the premium lines where the homeowner wants the longest flat-life on the wood-grain side, and for any installation where the boards run perpendicular to the joists. We build 12-inch on-center on the premium lines (TimberTech Reserve, Trex Transcend, Fiberon Concordia, Deckorators Vault) as standard practice and 16-inch on-center on the entry lines where the manufacturer accepts it and the budget cares. The closer spacing adds about 30 percent more joists and a couple of days to the framing — and a decade to the surface life on the finish side.
What is the picture-frame border detail?
Picture-frame border is a finishing detail where the perimeter of the deck gets a wider board (typically two boards wide) running the perimeter as a frame, with the field boards butt-cut clean against the inside of the frame. The detail does two things — it covers the end-grain cuts of the field boards (which would otherwise show at every perimeter edge), and it gives the deck a finished, intentional look that separates a professionally built deck from a DIY one. Every Handis composite build gets a picture-frame border as standard practice; the upgrade option is a contrasting color border (a darker frame color on a lighter field, for example).
How long does the composite build take?
A standard composite build (300 to 400 square feet) runs 10 to 15 working days. The framing is 4 to 6 days (the same as a wood build); the decking and hidden-fastener install adds 2 to 3 days more than a wood build because the clips take longer per board; the railing and cap-rail detailing adds 1 to 2 days; the fascia and picture-frame border adds 1 day. A larger or multi-level composite build can run 3 to 4 weeks. Permit and inspection time adds 2 to 4 weeks before any framing starts. The working-day schedule and the calendar dates go on the quote at contract signing.
Will the composite color fade over time?
All composite lines have some color shift over time — typically within the first 6 to 12 months as the cap material settles into its long-term color, then minimal change after that. Premium capped lines (Trex Transcend, TimberTech Legacy and Reserve, Fiberon Concordia, Deckorators Vault) have UV-stabilized caps with manufacturer fade warranties under their limited warranty terms — typically guaranteeing no significant fade over the warranty period. Entry-tier lines have shorter fade guarantees (10 to 15 years). We will tell you on the booking call what the fade warranty looks like for the line you are choosing.
Can the composite get hot in the summer?
Dark-colored composite boards (Spiced Rum, Mahogany, Espresso, similar deep tones) can get warmer than light-colored boards in direct sun — a normal effect for the material. The Pacific Northwest summer is mild enough that most homeowners do not notice it, but the south- and west-facing decks in full afternoon sun can read warm to bare feet on the hottest days of July and August. Light-colored composite (Driftwood, Coastal Bluff, Sandy Birch) reads cooler and is the recommendation for full-sun west-facing decks if barefoot use matters. We will walk through color samples in your site light on the estimate visit.
Do I need a permit for the composite deck?
Same permit rules as any deck. Decks over 30 inches above grade and attached decks of any height require a Seattle DCI permit (and the equivalent in other jurisdictions). Multi-level builds, hillside builds, and large pergolas require stamped engineering. Handis pulls the permit under our general-contractor license, coordinates the engineering if required, schedules the framing and final inspections, and provides the permit copy at project close. Permit fees and engineering fees are pass-through line items on the quote.
Is the work guaranteed?
Yes. Handis carries general liability and workers' compensation; every carpenter has cleared a background screening before the first job. One-year Handis warranty on decking, railing, cap rail, fascia, and finishes. Two-year structural warranty on framing — joists, beams, posts, and ledger flashing. The brand-specific manufacturer warranty (25 to 50 years depending on the line) covers the boards themselves against fading, staining, splitting, and structural failure under the manufacturer's terms; we register the warranty on your behalf after final inspection.

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