Sounds exactly like my deck project three years ago, and it ran $8K.
What you didn't tell us was whether you got multiple bids. Betcha they all come in between $8K (trunk slammers who'll do a $cheitt job never to be reachable again) and $15K (I'm too busy with other projects but if you wanna pay stupid money...). Incidentally, that's where my five estimates ranged (one didn't even bother coming out; he asked for square footage and address and used google earth to capture satellite image for his estimating). Most of the contractors also quoted 3-4 days, but with a crew of 2-3 people. They guy who got the job was a loner, took a week (7 days, not 5), and did it better than any of the other guys could/would have. Croatian with outstanding carpentry & design skills, added a number of architectural elements which my wife loves.
Everyone who has a chop saw and a tape measure thinks they could do it themselves & are getting ripped off. Go for it!
Last edited by kappa8; 08/07/22.
