Custom Deck Building in Columbia, MO
A deck is the cheapest square footage you will ever add to a house. It does not need a foundation, a roof or HVAC, and on the sloped lots that fill so much of Boone County it turns a back door that opens onto a drop-off into usable outdoor living space. We design and build new wood and composite decks across Columbia and Mid-Missouri, and because we also pour the concrete and build the retaining walls, we can handle the whole outdoor build rather than handing you off to another trade halfway through.
Most of the deck work we take on falls into one of three situations: a walkout or raised ranch where the back door is well above grade and there is nothing there yet, a tired deck that has reached the end of its life and is better replaced than patched, or a homeowner who wants the deck and a patio underneath it built as one project so the levels actually work together.
Deck Materials: What Actually Makes Sense in Missouri
Pressure-treated pine
Still the most common choice and the most affordable way to get a well-built deck. Treated lumber handles Missouri weather perfectly well provided it is fastened properly and you are willing to clean and re-seal it every couple of years. The trade-off is maintenance: left alone, treated pine greys out, checks and eventually cups. If you are happy to put a weekend into it periodically, it is honest value.
Composite and PVC decking
Costs more up front and gives most of it back in maintenance. Composite boards do not need staining or sealing, they will not splinter, and modern products hold their color far better than the early generation did. On a deck that gets full southern or western sun through a Missouri July, a lighter-colored composite also runs noticeably cooler underfoot than a dark one — worth thinking about before you pick a color from a sample in a showroom.
Cedar and hardwoods
Naturally rot-resistant and genuinely good-looking, with a price to match. Cedar suits a house where the deck is a visible architectural feature rather than just a platform out the back. It still wants sealing to hold its color.
A note on framing
Whatever you put on top, the frame underneath is what determines how long the deck lasts and how safe it is. We use treated framing lumber, proper joist hangers and structural fasteners, and we set posts on footings poured below the frost line so the deck does not heave. The boards are the part you see; the frame is the part that matters.
Our Deck Installation Process
- Site visit and design. We measure, look at your grade and door heights, and talk through size, shape, material and how you actually plan to use the space. A deck sized for a grill and two chairs is a different build than one meant to seat twelve.
- Written quote. Materials, framing, railing, stairs and footings, itemized. A firm price, not a range.
- Permits. Deck work in Columbia and the surrounding jurisdictions generally requires a permit and inspection, particularly for anything elevated. We handle the paperwork.
- Footings. We dig and pour concrete footings below the frost line, sized for the load. This is the step cheap deck builds skip, and it is why their decks move.
- Framing. Posts, beams and joists go up with structural hardware, and the ledger board is flashed and fastened to the house correctly — the single most important connection on the whole structure.
- Decking, railing and stairs. Boards, rails and treads installed with attention to spacing, fastener pattern and the details you actually see.
- Cleanup and walkthrough. We clear the site and walk the finished deck with you.
Decks and Concrete Together
On a walkout lot, the best outdoor space is usually two levels: a deck off the main floor and a patio at grade underneath or beside it. Most homeowners end up building those years apart and with different contractors, which is why the levels so often do not relate to each other and the area under the deck turns into a muddy dead zone.
Building them together solves that. The deck posts and the concrete patio get laid out in one plan, the patio is graded to drain away from the house rather than pooling under the deck, and if the yard needs a retaining wall to make the lower level usable, that goes in at the same time. A stamped concrete surface under a deck is a particularly good combination — it stays clean, sheds water and looks finished.
Who Calls Us for a New Deck
- Walkout and raised-ranch owners with a back door that currently opens onto nothing
- Homeowners replacing a deck that has passed the point of economical repair — see deck repair if you are not sure which side of that line you are on
- Anyone wanting a deck and patio designed as one outdoor space rather than two separate projects
- Sellers adding usable outdoor square footage before listing
- Owners of sloped Boone County lots where a deck is the only practical way to get flat outdoor space
Why a Local Columbia Crew
Mid-Missouri asks a lot of an outdoor structure. Footings have to go below the frost line or the deck lifts. Expansive clay moves as it wets and dries, which is hard on anything with posts in the ground. Summer humidity and hard winters cycle wood through expansion and contraction all year. And the ledger connection to the house has to be flashed properly or you get water behind the siding, which is how a deck problem quietly becomes a house problem.
We build in these conditions every week across Columbia, Ashland, Jefferson City, Holts Summit and the surrounding communities. We are based right here at 1310 E Prathersville Rd, so if you have a question a year from now you are calling the same crew that built it.