By Radu Oprea, Owner, Wolf Spirit Deck
Illinois Contractor License #TGC119852
Last updated: May 2026
A homeowner in the 60565 zip code called us last spring for a fourth opinion on her deck project. She had three quotes already. The spread was so wide she thought one of them had to be a typo.
The numbers, for the same 16 by 20 deck off the back of a two-story colonial:
- Quote A: $19,400
- Quote B: $34,800
- Our quote (Wolf Spirit Deck): $27,600
She gave us permission to share the bid sheets, anonymized, in a blog post. We blacked out names and contact info. Everything else is exactly what each contractor put on paper.
If you are weighing quotes from deck contractors in Naperville right now, this post is for you. The price gap on a three-bid pile usually has nothing to do with one company being greedy and another being a steal. It almost always comes down to what is actually included, what is quietly missing, and what you will pay for later when the cheap option fails.
The backyard, the homeowner, and the spec
The yard itself was simple. Flat lot, walk-out lower level, no slope to speak of, no overhead utilities to work around. The existing deck was a 12 by 16 cedar deck from 2009. It was tired. Two stair stringers were cracked, the railing was loose in three places, and the boards had checked and splintered enough that the homeowner stopped letting the dog out without shoes.
She wanted three things on her wishlist:
- Larger footprint, 16 by 20
- Composite boards instead of cedar
- Built in step lights on the stairs
She had a budget in her head of about $25,000 to $30,000. She told all three contractors that range up front.
The three contractors were all real, all in business, all listed in Google Maps results when you search “deck contractors near me” from a Naperville address. None of them are bad companies on paper. But the quotes told three different stories about how each one approached the same job.
What each quote actually said
Here is the breakdown, line item by line item.
Footings and substructure
Quote A wrote “concrete footings, code compliant” with no further detail. No count, no depth, no diameter.
Quote B specified eight 12 inch diameter footings poured to 48 inches below grade, with Bigfoot bell forms at the base for frost protection. The substructure was steel framing from Fortress.
Our quote specified seven footings (the design called for seven, not eight, because of how the joist span worked out) at 12 inch diameter, 48 inches deep, and standard pressure treated framing with 16 inch on center joist spacing.
The Naperville frost line is 42 inches. Anything shallower than that and you are setting the project up to heave during the first hard winter. Quote A did not commit to a depth on paper. That is not a technicality. That is a contractor leaving themselves room to shortcut after the contract is signed.
Ledger board attachment
The ledger board is the part of the deck that bolts to your house. It is also the single most common point of failure on a deck. Almost every deck collapse you read about in the news traces back to a bad ledger connection.
Quote A: “ledger board attached per code, with flashing.” No fastener type, no flashing material specified.
Quote B: ½ inch by 6 inch structural lag bolts, 16 inches on center, with copper flashing and Z flashing combo, plus rim joist blocking from inside the basement.
Our quote: ½ inch by 6 inch structural lag bolts staggered every 16 inches, copper flashing under the siding, butyl tape behind the ledger, blocking added inside the rim joist.
The ledger board section of your quote should be specific enough that you could hand it to a different contractor and they could install it the same way. If it just says “per code,” you have no protection against a corner being cut.
Decking material and warranty
This is where the price spread really opened up.
Quote A specified “composite decking, color of homeowner choice.” No brand. No product line. No warranty term written into the quote.
Quote B specified TimberTech AZEK Vintage Collection in Coastline. AZEK is the high end PVC line, and Vintage is the priciest series within it. The warranty term was 50 year limited fade and stain.
Our quote specified TimberTech Composite Reserve Collection in Storm Gray, with the standard 30 year fade and stain warranty plus the 25 year structural warranty. The price reflected the mid tier composite, not the premium PVC.
When you see a quote that just says “composite,” that is a flag. Composite ranges from about $3 a board foot at the entry level to $14 a board foot at the AZEK Vintage tier. Without the brand and product line written down, you have no idea what is going to show up on the truck.
For more on how the major composite lines actually hold up after a few Illinois winters, see our 5 year side by side review of Cedar, Trex, and TimberTech decks across Naperville zip codes.
Fastener system
Quote A: “deck screws.”
Quote B: TigerClaw hidden fastener system, stainless steel, with face screwed perimeter boards in matching color plugs.
Our quote: TimberTech Cortex hidden fastener system on the field, color matched plugs on the perimeter, stainless steel fasteners throughout.
A “deck screw” can be anything from a $0.04 phosphate coated carbon steel screw to a $0.45 stainless steel structural screw. On a 320 square foot deck you are using around 1,400 fasteners. The math works out to a difference of roughly $570 in fastener cost alone, and the cheap option will rust through and stain your composite within three to five years.
Railings
Quote A: “wood railing, painted white, 36 inch height.”
Quote B: Fortress Pure View glass panel railing, top mount.
Our quote: TimberTech Impression Rail Express in matte black aluminum with composite top rail.
Painted wood railing on a composite deck is a tell. It means the contractor is trying to hit a price point, and they are happy to leave you with a railing system that needs scraping and repainting every two to three years on a deck that otherwise is maintenance free for 25.
Stair lighting
The homeowner specifically asked for built in step lights on the stairs. Here is how each quote handled that.
Quote A: $400 add-on for “deck lights.” No quantity, no spec.
Quote B: Six TimberTech AZEK in tread riser lights plus four post cap lights, with a Wi-Fi enabled transformer and a low voltage controller, all wired by a licensed electrician.
Our quote: Six recessed riser lights in matching aluminum housings, plus a 100 watt low voltage transformer with photocell, wired by our in house electrician (we hold a separate Illinois electrical contractor relationship through a sub we have used since 2018).
Permit handling
Quote A: “homeowner pulls permit.”
Quote B: contractor pulls permit, $450 included.
Our quote: contractor pulls permit, included in line item, no separate charge.
When a contractor asks you to pull the permit, that is a serious flag. It usually means one of two things. Either the contractor is not licensed in a way that lets them pull the permit themselves, or they want the legal liability for the build to fall on you instead of them. Neither answer is good for the homeowner.
For the full walkthrough of how the Naperville permit process actually works in 2026, including the documents the village wants and how long the review takes, read our Naperville deck permit process guide.
Demolition and haul away of the old deck
Quote A: “demolition included.”
Quote B: $1,200 separate line for demo, dumpster rental, and haul away.
Our quote: $850 included in the project total for demolition and haul away of the existing 12 by 16 cedar deck.
Demolition is a real cost. A 12 by 16 cedar deck is roughly 1,500 pounds of waste wood, a couple hundred pounds of fasteners and old footings if they need to come out, and a $400 to $600 dumpster rental. If a contractor says it is included with no separate line, ask them how much they are budgeting for it. If they cannot answer, they are going to surprise you with a change order halfway through.
Cleanup and final grading
Quote A: not mentioned.
Quote B: “site cleanup, daily and final.”
Our quote: daily cleanup, final cleanup, final grading and seeding of any disturbed turf within a 6 foot perimeter of the deck footprint.
The “we will leave the site as we found it” promise is hollow when it is not in the contract. Every Naperville HOA we work in has rules about lawn restoration after construction. If your contractor is not handling it, you are.
Insurance
Quote A: certificate of insurance available “on request.” No carrier named, no coverage limits.
Quote B: COI attached to the quote, $2 million general liability, $1 million workers comp, named the homeowner as additional insured.
Our quote: COI attached, $2 million general liability, $1 million workers comp, homeowner named as additional insured for the duration of the project.
If your deck contractor in Naperville cannot put the COI in your hands during the quote process, you are taking a risk you do not need to take. Carrier name, coverage limits, and the additional insured endorsement should all be on the document.
Warranty on labor
Quote A: 1 year labor warranty.
Quote B: 5 year labor warranty.
Our quote: 10 year labor warranty in writing, transferable to the next owner if the homeowner sells the house.
A 1 year labor warranty on a deck that is engineered for 25 to 30 years of service is a contradiction. The contractor is telling you they do not stand behind their work past the first season.
What the price gap actually means
Quote B was the most expensive at $34,800. The homeowner ruled it out fast because the budget she had set was $25,000 to $30,000. But for what was on paper, Quote B was the best value of the three. Steel framing, AZEK Vintage decking, glass panel railing, fully wired step lights, a 5 year labor warranty. If she had $35,000 to spend, that quote was not overpriced. It was correctly priced for what it included.
Quote A at $19,400 looked like the bargain. It was not. The quote was thin enough that almost every line item was an open invitation to a change order. By the time she added in real footing depths, real fasteners, real ledger flashing, real demo, and real permit handling, she would have been into the high twenties anyway, with a contractor who had already shown her on the quote sheet that he was happy to be vague.
Our number, $27,600, hit her budget and matched her actual spec. Mid tier composite, full ledger flashing, hidden fasteners, aluminum railing, real step lights, full permit handling, 10 year labor warranty.
She picked us. Not because we were the cheapest. We were not. She picked us because the quote sheet read like a contract she could hand to her lawyer and have him agree it covered her.
The 11 line items every Naperville deck quote should have
If you are getting quotes from deck contractors near you, here is the apples to apples checklist. Hand it to every contractor and ask them to put a number against each line. Anyone who refuses or hedges is telling you something useful.
- Footing count, diameter, and depth (in inches below grade)
- Substructure material and joist spacing (pressure treated 2×10 at 16 inch OC, or steel)
- Ledger board fastener type and spacing, plus flashing material
- Decking brand and exact product line (not just “composite”)
- Fastener system (hidden, face screwed, brand)
- Railing brand, material, and post style
- Lighting count, brand, transformer rating, electrician handling
- Permit pulling responsibility and cost
- Demolition, dumpster, and haul away cost
- Cleanup and turf restoration scope
- Insurance certificate attached, with limits and additional insured language
Want a deeper dive on the substructure side specifically? We wrote up the case for steel deck framing and when it is worth the upgrade in our steel deck framing breakdown.
A note on warranties
The 50 year warranty on a TimberTech AZEK board is a real document, and it is worth reading before you assume anything. The warranty covers fade and stain on the board itself. It does not cover labor to remove and reinstall a failed board, unless your contractor is a TimberTech registered installer who carries the TimberTech replacement labor warranty (external link, opens on TimberTech’s site). We are registered. Most contractors who quote TimberTech are not. Worth asking.
What to do with this post
If you have one quote in hand, get two more. The variation will tell you more than the cheapest number ever could.
If you have three quotes already and they are all over the place, walk through them with the 11 line item checklist above. The expensive one is often the honest one. The cheap one is often the one that turns into the expensive one later.
If you want a quote that reads like the one this homeowner picked, the line items above are how we write every estimate. Call (312) 765-3998 or use the form on our Naperville deck builder page and we will come out, walk the yard, and write you a quote you can compare line for line against anyone else’s.
About the author
Radu Oprea is the owner of Wolf Spirit Deck and a licensed Illinois general contractor (License #TGC119852). He has been building decks in Naperville and the surrounding western suburbs for over a decade. Wolf Spirit Deck is a TimberTech registered contractor and a Deckorators authorized installer.
