Composite Deck Installation in Pasco, WA

It depends on two numbers. Pasco Municipal Code exempts decks under 200 sq ft that also sit under 30 inches above the ground, so a small ground-level platform can go in without a permit. Cross either threshold and you need one from the City of Pasco Building Division, where residential permits run a five to seven business day review. We confirm which side of that line your project falls on before quoting it.

For a Pasco summer, the honest answer is that surface color matters more than material category. Lighter boards run cooler underfoot than dark ones, in composite and in wood alike. Composite avoids the annual splintering and checking that dry heat causes in softwood, while a good hardwood or cedar stays cooler than most dark composites. We match the material to how the deck is oriented and how often it is used barefoot.

Ask three things. Whether they build decks specifically or take them alongside fencing and general contracting, whether they will tell you the permit threshold before quoting, and whether their past work is in your climate rather than on the wet side of the state. A crew that cannot answer the permit question in the first conversation has not looked at your project yet.

Schedule follows the permit review, the footing and framing inspections, whether concrete has to cure before framing starts, and lead times on decking and railing. A railing replacement on sound framing and a new elevated deck that needs fresh footings sit at opposite ends of that range. We give you the sequence in writing so you can see which steps are ours and which belong to the city.

Wood is cheaper up front and needs a finish schedule. Composite costs more at install and skips the stripping and staining. In this climate the gap widens, because dry heat and hard sun push a softwood deck toward recoating more often than the same deck would need on the coast. The right choice depends on whether you would rather spend the money once or spread it across seasons of maintenance.