How Much Does Trex Decking Cost? 2026 Pricing Guide

Quick Answer

Trex decking costs $4.50 to $16 per square foot for materials and $30 to $70 per square foot installed, depending on the line. A 12×12 deck runs about $4,300 to $10,000 finished. A 20×20 runs $12,000 to $28,000. Enhance Basics sits at the bottom of the range and Signature at the top. Refuge, Trex’s fire-resistant PVC line, sits near the top at about $15.

We stock every Trex line at two Illinois yards and quote these boards daily. The prices below are what the material actually costs, separated from labor, so you can see where your money goes.

Trex Decking Cost Per Square Foot

Trex sells five lines of composite decking at five price points. Material cost covers deck boards only. Installed cost includes framing, fasteners, and labor.

Installed covers framing, fasteners, and labor. Railing and stairs price separately and both have their own sections below.

Watch the unit. Some pricing guides quote these same figures per linear foot. They are per square foot. A 16 ft Trex board sells for roughly $32 to $50, which works out near $2 to $3 per linear foot, not $5 to $16. Quote the wrong unit and your budget lands about half of what the deck actually costs.

Read that warranty column next to the price column. Enhance costs about a third of Signature and carries half the coverage. Signature protects your deck for 50 years, which works out cheaper per year than Enhance does even though it costs three times more today.

Refuge sits outside this comparison because it is cellular PVC rather than capped composite. It gets its own section below.

Trex Decking Price Per Board

Most people shop by the board, not by the square foot, so here is the conversion.

A Trex board measures 5-1/2 inches wide. With the required 3/16 inch gap between boards, each linear foot covers 0.47 square feet. That gives you 5.7 square feet for a 12 foot board, 7.6 for a 16 foot board, and 9.5 for a 20 foot board.

Refuge is the one line with a fixed published price rather than a range, and it does not come in 12 ft. Both colors cost the same.

For a sense check, Enhance Naturals in Rocky Harbor retails around $41 for a 16 ft board and $31 for a 12 ft. Enhance Basics in Clam Shell runs closer to $32 for the same 16 footer. Color moves the price inside a line, sometimes by a third.

Divide your square footage by 0.47 to get linear feet. A 400 square foot deck needs roughly 851 linear feet of board, which is 43 boards at 20 feet or 53 boards at 16 feet.

Buy the longest board your deck will take. Fewer butt joints means less waste, fewer cut ends, and a cleaner surface.

Trex Decking Cost by Deck Size

The two numbers people actually want. Materials covers deck boards only. Installed covers everything: framing, footings, fasteners, railing, and labor.

Low end assumes Enhance and a simple rectangle. High end assumes Signature, stairs, railing, and a more complicated layout.

Notice the spread. On a 20×20, the boards account for less than a quarter of the finished price. Everything else is framing and labor, which is why two quotes for the same deck can differ by ten thousand dollars.

Trex Decking Installation Cost

Labor runs $10 to $20 per square foot nationally for composite deck installation, according to 2026 contractor pricing data. High cost markets in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest, and coastal California push past that.

Three things drive it:

• New build or resurface. Laying new boards on a sound existing frame costs far less than building from footings up.
• Height and access. A ground level deck goes in faster than one 10 feet up with a tight side yard.
• Complexity. Picture framing, diagonal patterns, curves, and multiple levels all add hours.

Composite costs more to install than wood. Hidden fastener systems take longer than face screwing, and the boards need tighter joist spacing in some layouts. Budget for that when you compare a Trex quote against a cedar one.

Ask any contractor to itemize materials and labor separately. A bid that quotes one lump sum hides which line you are actually getting.

Trex Stairs Cost

Stairs cost more per square foot than the deck they attach to. Expect $160 to $560 per step, depending on width and whether you use stair treads or standard boards.

A stair tread is a shorter board sold in stair lengths, and it needs closer stringer spacing than the deck surface does. Trex specifies a 12 inch maximum stringer spacing for Signature and Transcend, and 9 inches for Select and Enhance. Those are Trex’s published figures, and your local inspector can require tighter.

A typical three step run adds $500 to $1,700 to a deck. Five steps adds $800 to $2,800. Add riser lighting and the number climbs again.

Trex Railing Cost

Railing surprises people more than any other line item. Composite railing runs $40 to $70 per linear foot installed. Aluminum and cable systems push that to $120.

The reason it stings: a rail kit does not include posts, sleeves, caps, or skirts. Buy the kit and you have bought rails and balusters. Post kits are separate again, and they do not include the structural 4×4 inside the sleeve.

Measure your railing runs post center to post center, not clear opening. Trex rails are made to on-center dimensions, so a 6 foot rail spans 6 feet between post centers. Measuring the gap instead of the centers is the commonest ordering mistake in the category.

A 20×20 deck with railing on three sides needs about 60 linear feet, so budget $2,400 to $7,200 for railing alone.

Trex Decking Cost by Collection

Trex Enhance Cost

Trex Enhance is the entry point and the cheapest way into capped composite. The boards use a scalloped bottom, which removes material and weight without hurting the surface you walk on. It comes in Basics and Naturals, and it carries a 25 year warranty.

Basics runs $4.50 to $6 per square foot and Naturals $5 to $7. Installed, expect $28 to $45. Color matters more here than in any other line: at national retail the cheapest Enhance color costs about two thirds of the dearest one.

Enhance suits simple rectangular decks, tight budgets, and jobs where the deck is one part of a bigger project. One restriction worth knowing before you order: Trex permits only its own Enhance deck plugs with the scalloped profile, so factor the right fastener in.

Trex Select Cost

Trex Select is the value line and the volume seller. The boards measure 0.82 inches thick against 0.94 for the rest of the range, which makes them lighter and quicker to handle. Select carries a 35 year warranty.

Material cost runs $8 to $10 per square foot. Installed, expect $35 to $52.

Select works well for DIY builds because the thinner board is easier to cut and carry. Watch the stair rule though: Select needs 9 inch stringer spacing, tighter than the premium lines.

Trex Transcend Cost

Trex Transcend is the classic premium line, with the deepest wood grain in the range and the widest color palette. It carries the same 50 year warranty as Lineage and 95.4% recycled content, without the heat mitigating shell.

Material cost runs $10 to $12 per square foot. Installed, expect $40 to $60, which makes it the cheapest way into Trex’s 50 year warranty.

Transcend earns its price on decks where the surface is the feature. Choose it when the deck sits in full view of the house and you want the grain to read as real wood from across the yard.

Trex Transcend Lineage Cost

Trex Transcend Lineage is Trex’s heat mitigating line. The boards use the same premium shell as Transcend but run measurably cooler in direct sun, and they carry the same 50 year warranty.

Material cost runs $12 to $14 per square foot. Installed, expect $45 to $65. The premium over standard Transcend buys one thing: a deck you can walk on barefoot in August.

Pick Lineage for a south facing deck, a pool surround, or anywhere people go without shoes. On a shaded deck you are paying for a feature you will not use, and standard Transcend gives you the same durability and the same 50 year warranty for less.

Trex Signature Cost

Trex Signature sits at the top. The boards deliver an engineered hardwood look with the best scratch resistance Trex makes, backed by a 50 year residential warranty and 25 years commercial.

Material cost runs $14 to $16 per square foot. Installed, expect $50 to $70.

One correction worth making, because most sites get it wrong: Signature is 92.6% recycled by weight, not 95.4%. The higher figure belongs to Transcend, Lineage, Select, and Enhance.

Trex Refuge Cost

Trex Refuge is the newest line and the only one that is not capped composite. It is cellular PVC, and it exists for one reason: fire.

Refuge carries a Class A Flame Spread Rating and meets IWUIC ignition-resistance requirements, which makes it the line to specify in wildfire-prone areas and in wildland urban interface zones where code demands it. It carries a 50 year limited residential warranty and Trex makes it in the USA.

Material cost runs about $15 per square foot, which lands it alongside Signature. At national retail a 16 ft board runs $115 and a 20 ft board $144, and both colors cost the same. Installed, expect $50 to $75.

You will not find Refuge in a big box store. The lines that shift volume get shelf space, and a fire-rated PVC board with two colors does not. Specialist yards stock it.

Three constraints before you spec it:

• Two colors only. Martis Valley, a light sun-washed beige, and Point Reyes. That is the whole palette.
• Square edge only, 16 and 20 ft. No grooved profile, so you face screw rather than using hidden fasteners, and there is no 12 ft board. On a small deck that means more waste.
• PVC warms in full sun. Both colors sit on the lighter side, which helps, but placement still matters.

One point in Refuge’s favor on a mixed deck: at 0.94 inches it matches Signature, Transcend, and Enhance, so you can run it alongside those. Select boards are thinner and should not be mixed with any of them, because the height difference makes a trip edge.

We stock both Refuge colors, and you can see the boards in person at our Chicagoland showroom.

Where to Buy Trex Decking

Trex sells through three channels, and they do not price the same way.

Big box stores stock a narrow slice, usually Enhance and one or two Select colors, in whatever lengths came on the truck. Convenient for a small job. Frustrating when you need 20 foot boards or a specific color, because special orders take weeks.

Contractors buy through suppliers and mark the material up inside their bid. You rarely see the board price, which is why two quotes look thousands apart for the same deck.

Decking suppliers carry the full range in every length and color and price the material openly. That is what we do. You see the board price before you commit, you can order online, and you can compare lines on real numbers rather than a lump sum.

If you are chasing the cheapest Trex decking, compare on the same line and the same length. An Enhance quote against a Transcend quote is not a price comparison, it is two different decks.

Premium Decking Supply stocks every Trex line with live pricing online, and we ship nationwide from Plainfield and Spring Grove, Illinois. Call (815) 439-3325 and we will price your board list.

What Affects Trex Decking Cost

• Substructure. Pressure treated framing, footings, and hardware often cost as much as the decking.
• Demolition. Tearing out an old deck adds $5 to $15 per square foot.
• Permits. Most attached decks need one, and fees vary widely by municipality.
• Fasteners. Budget $1 to $2 per square foot. Hidden fastener systems sit at the top of that and take longer to install than face screws.
• Lighting. Riser and post cap lights add material and wiring time.
• Deck height. Anything above the first floor needs more framing and more labor.

Trex vs Wood vs Other Composite Decking

Pressure treated pine costs $3 to $6 per square foot for materials, so it beats every Trex line on day one. It also needs sealing or staining every year or two, and it warps, splinters, and cracks on the way to a 15 to 20 year life.

Trex costs more upfront and asks for nothing afterward. No sealing, no staining, no sanding. Over 25 to 50 years the maintenance you skip covers the difference.

Against other composite decking brands, Trex sits in the middle of the premium tier. TimberTech’s PVC lines cost more and weigh less. Fiberon and Deckorators compete directly with Trex on price. Choosing between them comes down to color, texture, and which warranty you trust, not to a big price gap.

Estimate Your Trex Decking Cost

The ranges here get you to a budget. For your actual deck, with your dimensions and your line, use our Trex Decking Calculator. Enter the size, pick the collection, and it returns board count and cost.

Or call (815) 439-3325 and we will work it out with you.

Where These Prices Come From

Most cost guides never say. Here is our working.

Material ranges start with what we sell and get checked against national retail. As of August 2026, Enhance Naturals runs $4.83 to $6.82 per square foot at Home Depot depending on color, and Enhance Basics sits below that. Those figures bracket the ranges above.

Installation, stair, and railing figures come from 2026 contractor pricing, including TrexPRO Platinum builders working in the Chicago suburbs, where labor runs $10 to $15 per square foot.

Refuge took more digging. The big box stores do not carry it and Trex publishes nothing, so the figure above comes from national specialist retail, where a 16 ft board sells for $115 and a 20 ft for $144. Both work out to $7.19 per linear foot.

Every number here is a range because deck pricing is a range. Color changes the board price inside a line. Region changes the labor. Anyone quoting you a single figure for a deck they have not measured is guessing.