What does a deck cost in Missoula? A real breakdown

These are our own installed price ranges for the Missoula area, updated as material costs move. Every project is quoted after a walkthrough — use this to sanity-check budgets, not as a bid.

Typical installed cost by package

What actually moves the price

• Height off the ground. Anything over about four feet needs bigger posts, more bracing and often engineering. Elevated decks cost noticeably more per square foot than ground-level ones.
• Stairs. Each stair run is framing, treads, risers and railing in a small footprint. Two runs instead of one is a real line item.
• Railing choice. Often 15–25% of the total. Cable and glass are premium; wood is cheapest.
• Decking material. PT, cedar, composite and PVC span a wide range per square foot before labor.
• Tear-out. Removing and hauling an old deck adds cost — ask whether a bid includes it.
• Site access. If we cannot get a truck or mini-excavator to the footings, digging by hand costs labor hours.
• Extras. Pergolas, benches, planters, lighting, under-deck drainage and dry-space ceilings each add up.

Permits and inspections

Inside Missoula city limits, a residential deck is exempt from a building permit only if it clears all four tests: completely free-standing, 30 inches or less above grade with no roof or arbor over it, 200 square feet or smaller, and not serving the home's primary required egress door. Attach it to the house, raise it, roof it, make it bigger, or hang your main door off it, and you need a permit. Outside city limits, Missoula County exempted decks under 30 inches from building permits in June 2024, but a zoning compliance permit still applies to decks at a published fee of $112 as of July 2025. County building permit fees themselves are valuation-based — roughly $226 on $11,000 of work, about $465 on $26,000. Expect a footing inspection before concrete and a framing inspection before decking goes down. We handle the paperwork and scheduling as part of the job.

How to compare three deck bids fairly

1. Ask every bidder for footing size and depth in writing. Frost depth matters here.
2. Compare joist spacing and beam sizing, not just the total.
3. Confirm hardware: hot-dip galvanized or stainless, and joist hangers where the plan calls for them.
4. Check whether tear-out, disposal, permit and railing are all included.
5. Ask who is actually swinging the hammer, and ask for their Montana contractor registration number so you can look it up at mtcontractor.mt.gov.
6. Take the itemized bid over the cheap one-liner. The gap in a one-line bid is where change orders live.

Ways to save without building junk

• Keep the shape simple — rectangles are cheaper per usable square foot than angles and multiple levels.
• Spend on framing and hardware, save on decking. You can re-deck in fifteen years; you cannot re-frame cheaply.
• Build in the shoulder season. Early spring and late fall schedules are easier to fill.
• Phase it. Build the deck now, add the pergola or lighting next year.