September 29, 2026
A deck material list is a shopping list with a plan behind it. Every line is something the plan needs: a board, a bag, a box of screws. This page walks through the list Deck Planner makes, section by section, using a real one: a 16 x 12 ft deck attached to the house, 36 in off the ground, in treated Southern Pine, with stairs and a railing.
Each line has three parts: how many, what, and a short why underneath. For example:
13 2x8 x 12 ft
Southern Pine, treated. Joists, rim joist, blocking, ledger, beam plies (2 per beam).
Read "2x8 x 12 ft" as the board's size, then the length you buy it in. Stores sell framing lumber in 2 ft steps (8, 10, 12, 14, 16 ft and so on), so the list names the stock length to pick up, not the length you will cut. The cut list is where each board gets cut, and the two are built from the same pieces, so they always agree.
The structure: joists, the rim around the edge, blocking, the ledger board against the house, the beam plies, and the posts. In the example, 13 joists at 16 in apart come out as thirteen 2x8 x 12 ft boards, and the four posts under the beam are cut from a single 6x6 x 8 ft, because at 36 in high each post is short.
One footing under each post, with its size and depth, the form tubes, and the concrete. The concrete is given in 80 lb bags with the volume behind it and the 60 lb and 50 lb bag counts, since stores stock different sizes. In the example: 4 footings 21 in round and 12 in deep, 9.7 cu ft of concrete, which is 17 bags at 80 lb. The depth shown is a minimum. If your area's frost line is deeper, your footings go deeper, and you need more concrete.
This is the section people under-buy, and it is what holds the deck to the house and to the ground. It lists joist hangers (with the minimum rating and size), the nails that go in them, the lag screws that fasten the ledger to the house and how far apart they go, ledger flashing, joist-to-beam ties, post bases and caps, and the hold-downs for the railing posts. Each line says what it is for. Two notes worth reading on the list itself: the flashing should not be aluminum against treated lumber, and hardware should be hot-dip galvanized or stainless.
The boards you walk on, the fascia that covers the rim, and the deck screws. Deck Planner picks a board length from the deck's width so there are as few joints as possible. On the 16 ft wide example every row is one 16 ft board: 26 boards with no joints, and 676 screws, which is two per board at each of the 338 places a board crosses a joist.
Posts, rails, the cap and the balusters, plus the baluster screws. A railing (a guard) shows up when the deck is more than 30 in above the ground. The example is at 36 in, so it has one on the three open sides: 10 posts and 80 balusters at 3 1/2 in clear.
Stringers, treads, stair posts and footings, and a handrail. The line under the stair choice in the app gives the step math: the example has 5 risers of 7 3/16 in and 4 treads of 10 in on three cut 2x12 stringers.
Each line in the app has a store button that searches for that item at Home Depot or Lowe's, so you can check price and stock. The quantities come from your plan, not from the store. With the one-time unlock in the iPhone app you can type your own prices next to each line for a total. Prices and stock are always the store's, and they change.
We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this site and app. You pay the same price.
Deck Planner helps you plan and estimate. It is not engineering advice and it does not replace your building department, a licensed engineer or a contractor. Span and footing checks come from the American Wood Council's DCA 6 deck guide (2015 IRC) for typical conditions, and your town may use different values. Most decks need a permit. Check with your local permit office before you buy materials or build.
Make your own material list, free, in your browser.