Deckline Decks The deck builder who shows you the price by the m².
Deckline has built decks across the Central Coast since 2011. In that time we learned the thing homeowners actually want is not the lowest number, it is an honest price they can see and a deck that stays flat and solid. So we built the business around making both plain: the price on the screen, and the substructure on the quote.
Most decks go wrong before a single board is laid. Pads sat straight on the dirt instead of concreted footings. Joists spread out to save on timber, so the deck bounces. A "hardwood" deck with no board or grade named. A balustrade left vague and an approval nobody mentioned. A price quoted off a photo by someone who never measured the space or checked the height. By the time you can see the problem, the deck bouncing a couple of seasons in, the boards cupping, the timber greying off because nobody talked about the upkeep, the builder is long gone and the warranty was never in writing.
Deckline started in 2011 after fifteen years on the tools watching exactly that. The founding idea was simple: write the quote so the price, the board and the substructure are impossible to hide, and put an honest by-the-m² range on the screen so a homeowner knows roughly what a 30 m² merbau deck costs before booking anyone. The area in m², the board and grade, the footing depth and joist spacing, the ledger flashing, the balustrade to the NCC, the stairs, the approval. Each one a line. Put next to a lump-sum quote, ours does not look dearer. It looks complete.
I would rather lose the job to an honest by-the-m² price than win it by spreading the joists to save a few boards. The deck is the frame underneath; the boards on top are just the finish. The ones I win on a quote that names the footing depth are the ones still flat in ten years.
Today we build hardwood and treated pine, composite, ground-level and elevated decks, balustrades in timber, metal and glass, and decks with a pergola or roof, plus the repairs and rebuilds in between, across the Central Coast, with no travel surcharge within 30km of Erina.
Three things we will not compromise on.
The itemised page vs the text-message price.
We put the price on the screen
Decking is the area in m², by board, by height, so we show you an honest by-the-m² range before you book anyone. Then we measure and pin the exact figure on site. We would rather lose a job to a fair number you can see than win it by hiding behind "every deck is different, book a design consult".
The substructure is built properly, every time
The footings, bearers and posts are the part that fails first, and the part a cheap deck skimps. We dig and concrete the footings to depth for the height and the ground, and space the joists to suit the board, closer together for composite. It is why our warranty covers them, and why our decks are still flat and solid in ten years.
We name the board, never "or equivalent"
Genuine merbau and spotted gum by grade, and genuine composite by Trex, Modwood and Ekodeck, the board named on the quote with the manufacturer warranty. Not an unbranded look-alike that fades and gets hot underfoot. You know exactly what you are getting before you sign, not after it is down.
The balustrade and approval, done straight
Once a deck is over a metre up it needs a balustrade to the NCC, and a larger deck may need council approval. We name the balustrade spec and tell you which approval path the deck falls under on the quote, so the part that trips other builders up is sorted before we start.
Who we are the right deck builder for, and who we are not.
We would rather lose a job to a fairer fit than win one we will both regret. Here is who Deckline suits.
If you want the cheapest number on the street and you do not mind pads on the dirt and joists spread out to save timber, we are probably not your builder. If you want a deck priced honestly by the m², the substructure built to suit the board and the height, the board named, the balustrade built to the NCC, and the whole thing in writing with a 10-year footings, bearers and posts warranty, that is the whole business.
Insured, ticketed, and happy to prove it.
Insurance
Public liability to $20M
Certificate of currency available before we start.
Licensed
NSW Fair Trading
Residential building work over $5000 needs a NSW Fair Trading contractor licence, and we hold it. Balustrades and elevated decks built to the NCC.
Guarantee
10-yr substructure warranty
In writing, with exclusions named.
Method
NSW Fair Trading Licensed
Building licence 000000C
Method
Genuine Composite (Trex / Modwood)
Named boards, manufacturer warranty
Decking is residential building work: in NSW any job over $5000 needs a NSW Fair Trading contractor licence, and balustrades and elevated decks must be built to the NCC. Deckline Decks holds the licence and carries public liability insurance to $20M, so you are covered if anything goes wrong on site. Deckline Decks is a composite reference site, so the licence number, ABN and contact details above are illustrative placeholders, not a real operator. On a live build these are the real, verifiable credentials of the business. Always ask to see the licence and the insurance before anyone digs a footing.
A small crew, not a call centre.
Nathan Pereira
Founder & lead decking carpenter
Fifteen years on the tools across the Central Coast, the last decade watching cheap decks sag and rot within a couple of summers because the joists were spread out and the footings were pads on the dirt. Started Deckline in 2011 to build the substructure properly, name the board on the quote, and put the whole thing in writing, every job.
“I would rather lose the job to an honest by-the-m² price than win it by spreading the joists to save a few boards. The deck is the frame underneath; the boards on top are just the finish. The ones I win on a quote that names the footing depth are the ones still flat in ten years.”
Cooper Vance
Leading hand & balustrades
Runs the substructure and the balustrade work, every footing dug to depth and every rail built to the NCC. The reason an elevated deck passes inspection the first time instead of getting pulled up on a gap.
Renee Caldwell
Quotes & scheduling
Runs the free site measures, builds the itemised by-the-m² quotes and books the builds. The reason you get a written quote within a business day and a call back when you say you want one.
What happens from first call to walk-through.
Site measure and set-out
We measure the space, check the ground, the falls and the height, talk through board and balustrade, mark the set-out, then put a written by-the-m² quote in your hands.
Footings and posts
We dig and concrete the footings to depth, sized for the height and the ground, and set the posts plumb. The footings cure before any load goes on them. This is the substructure that holds the deck up.
Bearers and joists
The bearers and joists go on at the correct spacing for the board, closer together for composite, so the deck stays flat and never bounces. The frame is the deck; the boards are the finish.
Ledger and flashing
Where the deck meets the house we fix and flash the ledger board properly, so the join carries the load and keeps water out of your wall instead of bolting straight on.
Boards down
The boards go down at the right gap for drainage, screwed or hidden-fixed to the joists, raked and trimmed clean. Merbau, treated pine or the named composite, exactly as quoted.
Balustrade, stairs, oil and handover
We build the balustrade to the NCC and the stairs to suit the height, oil or finish the timber, clear the site, walk you around, and hand over the warranty and any compliance paperwork in writing.
Want a deck quote you can actually read? Start by pricing it.
Tell us what you need. We’ll book a walkthrough and send a quote with the work itemised, not just a number.