Deck staining in Austin runs $3 to $7 per square foot, and which end your deck lands on has less to do with how big it is than with what is attached to it. A small deck wrapped in railings with two flights of stairs can cost more than an open deck twice its size. So rather than quote a figure for a deck we have not seen, here are three decks described by size and condition, where each one sits in the range, and exactly what pushed it there.
Three decks, three bands in the range
These are types, not jobs. Find the one closest to what is off your back door.
1. A small ground-level deck in good shape: the low end
A couple of hundred square feet off the kitchen, one step down to the grass, no railings or a short run along one edge. Cedar or treated pine, a few years old, the last coat worn thin and faded evenly with nothing lifting. The work is all floor: a low-pressure rinse, a brightener where the boards have started to gray, 48 hours to dry, then one coat sprayed and back-brushed into the grain.
That is the bottom of the range. Nothing has to come off first, there is no ladder work, and the only hand brushing is the edge of the boards and the step. It is also the cheapest this deck will ever be, because every year it waits adds prep to the next coat rather than product.
2. A mid-size deck with a peeling old finish: the upper half
The most common deck we are asked about. Three or four hundred square feet, and somebody put a film-forming stain or a deck paint on it several years ago. Now the half that takes the afternoon sun is flaking in sheets and the shaded half is still holding on tight. A railing runs along the open side.
This one sits in the upper half of the range, and the sanding is most of the reason. The flaking half has to come back to bare wood or the new coat will lift with the old one. The sound half has to be scuffed so the finish does not sit glossy next to matte. That is hours of work priced by the hour it takes, not by the square foot, and it does not show up anywhere in the floor measurement. Where the old product is thick and still well stuck across the whole deck, we will say in the quote that it is past what we do rather than stain over a surface that is going to fail again.
3. A large elevated deck with railings and stairs: the top, or past it
A second-story deck on a sloped lot, railings on three sides with spindles every four inches, a full flight of stairs down to the yard, and fascia boards eight or ten feet off the ground. Even with sound boards and a simple faded coat, this one is at the top of the range. The floor might be the fastest part of the day.
Decks like this are common on the limestone lots out west, so if yours is in Lakeway or Bee Cave there is usually a pool under part of it, which means masking the coping, the deck surround and the water before any stain goes on. Add a peeling coating to the railings and this deck goes past the top of the range, and the quote will tell you that before you commit to anything.
Railings, spindles and stairs: surface area that is not square footage
Per square foot is a fair way to price a deck floor because a floor is flat and easy to measure from a photo. The trouble is that most of a deck's real surface is not the floor.
Take a railing. Every spindle has four faces, a top, and the gap on either side that a sprayer cannot reach cleanly. Thirty feet of railing can be a hundred and fifty small faces, all brushed by hand, and it adds not one square foot to the measurement. Stairs are the same arithmetic: treads, risers, the stringers on both sides, and the cut-in where each tread meets the riser. Two flights can take as long as the whole floor.
Elevated decks add a third category. The fascia band around the outside and whatever underside you can see from the yard are ladder work, and anything under the deck has to be covered before we are above it. A ground-level deck of the same footprint has none of that.
So when you are comparing two numbers from two companies, check that both of them counted the railings and the stairs. The deck cost page lists every factor we price from, in the order they move the number.
What a deck staining job includes
- A low-pressure clean, and a wood brightener where the boards have grayed or mildewed, to bring the tan back before any color goes on.
- A minimum 48 hours of dry time after the wash, and after any rain. We reschedule rather than stain damp wood.
- Sanding where a failing finish, raised grain or splinters need it, so the stain has open wood to soak into.
- Masking of siding, stone, pool coping and plants around and under the deck.
- An airless spray of oil-based stain, back-brushed into the grain. Railings and spindles are brushed by hand.
- Photos in your text thread when we finish.
Semi-transparent is the default where the boards still look like wood: one coat, grain visible. Solid is the choice when the boards are sound but the surface is past showing off, or when replacement boards do not match the originals. Solid costs more in product and usually wants a second coat, so it moves a deck up the range on its own.
What is a carpenter's job, not ours
Stain protects wood. It does not hold wood together, and the fastest way to waste a coat is to put it on a board that is coming out next year. Before you ask anyone for a price, press a screwdriver into the worst board near the house and into the bottom stair tread. If it sinks in, that board is done. Same if a board is cupped past flat, split end to end, or if the ledger where the deck meets the house shows rot, or if a railing moves when you lean on it.
Those are board and structure jobs, and a carpenter does them. We do not replace boards, joists or ledgers and we will not tighten a railing and call it staining. What we will do is point out in the quote what we can see in your photos, so you can get the carpentry done first. Plenty of decks go that route: boards swapped, then 4 to 8 weeks for the new lumber to dry down enough to take stain, then we coat the whole thing so the new boards and the old ones end up the same color.
How we price yours
Decks hide from satellite imagery under roofs and trees, so for a deck we work from your photos instead. Four of them: the floor from a corner, the railings, the stairs, and a close-up of the worst spot you can find. Add the square footage if you know it, or the rough dimensions if you do not. We text back a firm price, usually within the hour, and it does not change when we show up.
Want the number for your deck? Send those four photos through the quote form and we will text you a firm price today, with the railings and stairs already counted.
Quick answers
How much does it cost to stain a deck in Austin?
Between $3 and $7 per square foot for most decks. A small ground-level deck in good condition sits at the low end, a tall deck with railings, stairs and a peeling old finish sits at the top. We text a firm price from your photos before anyone drives out.
Why does my small deck cost more than my neighbor's big one?
Railings, spindles and stairs. They are hours of hand brushing that add no square footage, so a compact deck wrapped in railing can price above a large open one.
Does the price include stripping the old stain?
Where the old finish is failing, yes. Peeling areas are sanded back to bare wood as part of the prep and it is priced into the quote. A deck under a thick, sound coat of paint is a different job, and we will say so from the photos instead of staining over it.
Do you replace rotten deck boards before staining?
No, that is a carpenter's work. We flag what we can see in your photos so you can have it done first, then stain the whole deck once the new lumber has had 4 to 8 weeks to dry.
Related: Deck staining cost in Austin · Lakeway & Bee Cave