European Decking Cost Index 2026

The headline number: a professionally built 15 sqm garden deck costs €2,549 in Copenhagen vs €1,261 in Bucharest at mid-range — a 2.02x spread. But here's what makes decking different from every other trade in our EU cost index series: the material choice (softwood vs composite) creates a bigger price gap than the country you're in. A composite deck in Romania costs more than a softwood deck in Denmark. Labour is ~54% of the mid-range total, and the seasonal nature of decking work means availability and pricing fluctuate more than for indoor trades.

Why this matters

Decking is one of the most popular outdoor renovation projects in Europe — and one of the few where the material decision genuinely dominates the budget. Unlike roofing (where tiles are cheap and labour is everything) or flooring (where laminate prices are tight), decking materials range from €15/m² for basic pressure-treated softwood to €80+/m² for premium composite boards. That material swing dwarfs the labour variation between countries.

That said, professional installation is still where the money goes. A deck builder in Denmark costs an employer €47.10/hour; in Romania, €10.30/hour. For a standard 15 sqm ground-level deck with a subframe, that translates to roughly €1,380 in Danish labour versus €680 in Romanian labour.

The EU average sits at €1,950 for a mid-range deck — roughly €130 per square metre installed. Germany comes in at €2,234, about 15% above the EU average, which tracks closely with the broader pattern across all renovation trades.

The full ranking

Standard 15 sqm ground-level garden deck with treated softwood subframe. Sorted from most expensive to cheapest. The full dataset is free to download as CSV.

* 2024 labour cost values for Austria and Finland are flagged provisional by Eurostat.

What's actually driving the difference

Labour is approximately 54% of the mid-range total. Decking installation is moderately labour-intensive: the subframe requires levelling and securing to the ground, every board needs precise spacing for drainage, and the edges need clean finishing. A professional typically completes a 15 sqm ground-level deck in 2–3 days with a helper.

Material choice creates a wider spread than geography. Pressure-treated softwood decking boards cost €15–25/m²; hardwood (ipe, cumaru) runs €50–90/m²; composite boards sit at €40–80/m². Choosing composite over softwood adds €375–825 in materials alone — which can exceed the entire labour cost difference between Denmark and Romania. This is unusual among renovation trades.

Seasonality affects pricing more than for indoor trades. Decking is an outdoor, fair-weather project. In Scandinavia, the installation window is May–September, creating peak demand and premium pricing. In southern Europe, decking can be installed year-round. Our figures use annual averages, but summer quotes in Nordic countries can run 10–20% higher.

Ground conditions matter. Our baseline assumes level ground with no drainage issues. Sloped gardens, soft soil requiring concrete pad foundations, or elevated decks with posts and balustrades can double the labour hours. The further north you go, the more likely you'll encounter challenging ground (frost heave, clay soils), adding to the cost premium already driven by higher wages.

How we calculated this

Costs are derived from RenoQuant's national-average baseline for a 15 sqm ground-level deck (sourced from our decking cost calculator) combined with Eurostat's published hourly labour cost in construction.

The country multiplier is applied only to the labour share. Materials (decking boards, subframe joists, fixings, weed membrane, end caps) are held constant across the EU single market. Budget tier uses untreated softwood, mid-range uses pressure-treated softwood, luxury uses composite boards.

VAT excluded. Full methodology at EU renovation cost methodology.

Source: Eurostat, Labour cost levels by NACE Rev. 2 activity, dataset code lc_lci_lev, NACE Rev. 2 section F, total labour cost (D1_D4_MD5) in EUR, 2024 estimates. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

See also

• Decking Cost Calculator — interactive calculator with the underlying RenoQuant baseline used in this study.
• Decking Calculator — material quantity calculator for boards, joists, and fixings.
• Composite vs Wood Decking — full comparison of material options, lifespans, and maintenance costs.
• Decking Maintenance Guide — how to protect your investment year-round.
• European Fencing Cost Index 2026 — same methodology, the other major outdoor project.

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RenoQuant Research is the data and analysis arm of RenoQuant, a free renovation calculator suite covering 18 trades across Europe. If you're a journalist or researcher, the CSV is free under CC BY 4.0 — please credit "Eurostat + RenoQuant" if you use it.