Cost, installed
Pressure-treated wood: $45–$65 per square foot. Cedar: $60–$80. Composite (Trex, TimberTech): $80–$120. A 300 sq ft deck with aluminum railing and stairs lands around $15,000–$20,000 in pressure-treated, $20,000–$25,000 in cedar, and $25,000–$35,000 in composite. Railing choice moves the price more than the deck boards do — glass railing can add $100+ per linear foot.
Maintenance
Cedar needs cleaning and sealing every two years or it goes grey, checks and splinters. A lot of people love the look of fresh cedar and hate the maintenance by year three. Composite gets hosed off. That's it.
How they feel and look
Cedar smells like cedar and has real grain. Composite has come a long way — the capped boards from Trex and TimberTech have realistic grain and colour variation — but up close it's still obviously composite. In full sun, darker composite gets hot underfoot; TimberTech's PVC (Azek) line stays noticeably cooler.
How long they last
Cedar, maintained: 15–25 years. Neglected: 10. Composite: 25–50 year warranties, and realistically it outlasts the framing underneath it. Which brings us to the thing people forget: the frame matters more than the boards. We build every deck on pressure-treated framing with proper footings and joist tape, regardless of what goes on top.
Resurfacing
If you have an old deck with a sound frame, we can pull the boards and railing and put composite on the existing structure. It's roughly half the cost of a new deck.
Permits
Any deck over 24 inches off the ground or attached to the house needs a permit in most Ontario municipalities. We handle the drawings and the application.
Our honest take
Cottage you visit on weekends: composite, so you're not spending your weekends staining. Year-round home where you'll actually do the upkeep and love the look: cedar is cheaper and beautiful. Tight budget: pressure-treated with a good stain, and upgrade the railing later.