DeckBuild only does decks.
Every input, every configuration, and every calculation is built from the ground up for decks and decks alone. Nothing is bent to fit from a general construction platform.
Built by a deck builder, for deck builders.
Deck design, structural framing, material takeoffs, and signed proposals in one place. Our mission is simple: make designing and planning a deck as fast as drawing its outline.
>$1MSaved for DeckBuild customers every month in otherwise wasted material costs
7,500+Decks designed and estimated on DeckBuild
500+Contractor companies running on DeckBuild
All 50 statesStructural code coverage across all 50 states
Phil Black
Founder, DeckBuild
- Michigan Licensed BuilderReal construction experience behind the software
- ~250 decks/yearDecks built by DeckBuild founder's decking company each year
- ThousandsOf decks personally drawn and planned by hand before DeckBuild existed
- Author, Deck Building ScienceSharing what building thousands of decks actually teaches you
Why I Built DeckBuild.
I wasn't a software developer who went looking for an industry. I was (still am) a deck builder who went looking for better software. When I couldn't find it, I built it.
I have drawn thousands of decks by hand. Graph paper with a calculator after the kids went to bed, span tables open on my phone in somebody's driveway, last minute phone calls to lumberyards asking for pricing as I tried for hours to find the most cost-efficient way to build each and every deck. Spreadsheets to create estimates, and more spreadsheets to create material lists, each with literally thousands of formulas. Multiple tools, multiple chances to make a mistake, often not known to me until I ran job costing after each job. Ouch.
I tried everything I could find. General contractor platforms that treated a deck like another line item, CAD programs that could draw beautifully but knew nothing about how a deck gets framed or nothing able to be customized to how we built specifically, design tools that produced great renderings but stopped short of an order-ready takeoff. Nothing connected the entire workflow the way I needed it to.
So I built the ideal tool we needed. The idea of DeckBuild started in 2018, but it took years to get it right. In 2024, I brought in an outside development team to build it, but it just didn't come together the way it needed to. I got directly involved in the rebuild, hiring an internal development team who understood decks the way I did. We used DeckBuild in my own decking company on real jobs long before launching publicly in early 2026, and it's exactly what I set out to build back in 2018.
Concepts, workflows, deterministic math, screen layouts, customer testing, feature build outs. All of it, so that today DeckBuild does everything in one easy-to-use tool: draw a deck, automatically structurally frame it against the applicable code rules, generate a full material list, price the job, and hand the customer a proposal they can sign, all from the same drawing.
Who's Behind DeckBuild.
My name is Phil Black. I'm a Michigan licensed builder, and I own a residential deck company doing roughly $10 million a year in composite deck construction. That company is still flourishing, managed now by my awesome team of incredibly talented people.
Before I ever picked up a nail gun, my background was in business management and systems engineering. I spent years building the processes and playbooks that turned a contracting business into an eight-figure one.
I also own a construction material distribution business, which is a big reason DeckBuild's cost model reflects what materials actually cost a contractor at the pro desk instead of a guess pulled off a retail website.
I'm also the author of Deck Building Science, where I put decades of jobsite lessons into writing.
I'm the founder of DeckBuild, and I am directly involved in planning and overseeing every aspect of it. I don't do it alone though. DeckBuild draws on a small team, including developers and a dedicated support team. I also personally support every customer. We can talk DeckBuild, business, marketing, sales, admin, operations, cash flow, any of it.
Outside DeckBuild and the construction businesses, I'm a husband and dad of two, and Michigan is home.
What makes DeckBuild different.
DeckBuild knows the code you're actually on.
DeckBuild's structural engine knows the 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024 IRC, plus AWC DCA 6, and you choose which edition applies to your jurisdiction.
The framing is calculated, not guessed.
Joist spans, beam sizing, and footings are computed from published code tables and industry-standard structural values. It's deterministic math with a documented basis, NOT an AI producing a confident-sounding but wrong number. DeckBuild is a design and estimating tool and does not replace a licensed design professional where your jurisdiction requires one.
One drawing feeds everything.
The 3D your customer sees, the framing plan your crew builds from, the material takeoff you order against, and the proposal that gets signed all come from the same model. Change a board, move a footing, add a stair, and everything downstream updates.
See it on a real deck of your own.
14 days free, full access, no credit card. Draw one of your own jobs and compare the takeoff against what you ordered.
DeckBuild in 5 Minutes.
Watch as DeckBuild automatically turns a deck sketch into the most cost-efficient, code-compliant, permit-ready plans along with a fully itemized material takeoff, completed plot plan, 3D rendering, AI rendering, and a customer estimate and proposal.
Built to Earn Its Place in Your Business
Software doesn't create value because it has features.
Software creates value when it saves labor, prevents mistakes, protects margin, helps you sell, and lets your team handle more jobs with less work.
Time
- Hours off every drawing. What used to take an evening of manual layout and math now happens in a fraction of the time, without sacrificing accuracy. How long does it take you to do a drawing? Make a material list? Create an estimate? DeckBuild does all of this in less than a minute.
- The material list builds itself. No more sitting down with a finished drawing and a legal pad to count every board, screw, and joist hanger by hand. The takeoff comes straight from the design.
- Hours off every estimate overall. Design, takeoff, and proposal in one pass instead of three separate tools and spreadsheets.
- New salespeople producing sooner. A new hire can put out an accurate, professional quote in a much shorter order.
Materials
- Orders that match the build. The takeoff comes from the actual drawing, which means fewer short orders, and fewer emergency runs to the lumberyard mid-build.
- Real material cost savings. DeckBuild customers see an average of $542 saved in material costs per deck. Draw two decks and DeckBuild has nearly paid for itself for a full year.
- Consistent margin across your team. Your labor and material costs are set once at the company level, so every salesperson quotes the same way instead of quoting on guessing or instinct.
Customer Experience
- A faster yes. Homeowners decide on what they can see. Showing them their deck in 3D at the kitchen table closes the gap between the meeting and the signature.
- Proposals customers easily understand. A polished, professional proposal, that can be signed right at the kitchen table, from your computer or theirs.
- Fewer “that's not what I pictured” conversations. The customer sees the same design that feeds the proposal, framing plan, and material takeoff, so there's less gap between what was discussed, what was sold, and what gets built.
Operations
- Fewer permit headaches. DeckBuild applies the structural rules and code edition you select while you design, helping catch issues before they become plan-review revisions.
- Instant repricing. Swap a decking line, change a railing, add a bench. The price updates without rebuilding the estimate from scratch.
- Less knowledge trapped in the owner's head. Your framing preferences, pricing logic, material assumptions, and processes become repeatable across the company instead of depending on one experienced person.
- More capacity without more overhead.When each designer or salesperson can process more decks, growth doesn't require adding estimating and drafting labor at the same rate.
- Proposals that hold up. E-signature, countersignature, locked revisions, and a full activity history. Scope disputes end with a document instead of an argument.
Straight Talk
We listen, and we move quickly.
Many of DeckBuild's best features exist because a contractor called or emailed and explained how they actually work. When something makes the product better for deck builders, we listen, and we move quickly, and at no cost to you. We offer custom build outs for free.
You should also know your data is yours. Your customers, your pricing, your margins, your material catalog, your drawings, all of it is confidential and is never shared or sold. I run a deck company too, and I take that line seriously. To protect you, it's spelled out in writing in our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Built to Be Trusted
Contractor companies trust DeckBuild with their business.
- DeckBuild LLC, a registered Michigan limited liability company
- Founder-operated, U.S.-based company
- Your data stays yours: customer, pricing, and drawing confidentiality, never sold or shared
- Structural code coverage across all 50 states
- Over 7,500 decks drawn on DeckBuild
- Over 500 contractor companies