Deck builder software for the long yes.
A deck customer can take a month to choose between pressure-treated and composite. Redline quotes every option, keeps the follow-up on your calendar and has the change orders ready when the build starts.
Three decking quotes, one message
Three drafts for Rosa Alvarez, 280 sq ft, one per decking:
Pressure-treated: $14,130
Composite: $16,090
Capped PVC: $17,770
Each includes demo, framing, footings, stairs, railing and the permit, with a 50% deposit. Save them?
Saved all three as drafts for Rosa. Reminder set for Tuesday, Oct 20: follow up on her decking choice.
Quotes save as drafts. You go over them with the customer or email them from your own Gmail. Good, better and best on a single quote is in the quote composer (Solo and up).
From design visit to final invoice
Priced the way decks are priced
Framing and decking per square foot, railing per linear foot, stairs per step, footings each, demo and permit as flat lines. A deposit percentage on top. See quotes and estimates.
Material choices as options
Good, better and best on one quote lets the customer weigh composite against wood without you rewriting the whole thing for each version. Options are built in the quote composer (Solo and up); by chat, Redline drafts one quote per material.
Long decisions, tracked
The job pipeline shows days in Quoted, and Home lists quotes gone quiet. A date reminder lands in your morning push on the iPhone app so the follow-up actually happens.
Inspections on the calendar
Book the footing inspection and the final as calendar events on the job, and keep the permit number and the drawings in the job notes and photos.
Change orders on the final invoice
Two more footings for soft soil, an upgraded rail cap: tell Redline and it adds them into the invoice total and the description when it drafts the invoice. Invoicing is on Solo and up.
Staining customers come back
Book a deck wash and restain as a repeating visit every 24 or 36 months, so the customer who built with wood is on your calendar when it's due. See recurring jobs.
Sales season and build season
Winter is when decks get sold. People sit inside, look at the rotten boards out the slider and start calling. You're doing site visits in the cold, quoting three material lines, answering questions about HOA rules and waiting while the customer talks it over. A lot of those quotes are worth five figures, and the ones you forget to chase are the ones another builder closes.
Once they say yes, the clock is out of your hands for a while. The composite has a lead time, which is why you want the deposit before you order. The permit office has a queue. The footing inspection has to pass before you frame. Redline keeps each of those as a reminder or a calendar event on the job, so a customer asking when you're starting gets a real answer.
Then the build season runs spring to fall with a 2 to 4 person crew. Things change on site, and the final invoice has to match what you actually built. When the extra footings and the upgraded stairs are already noted on the job, the invoice takes a minute instead of an evening.
Straight answers for deck builders
Redline does
- Quote decks per square foot, per linear foot and per step
- Show material options as good, better and best (quote composer, Solo and up)
- Track quotes through long decision cycles
- Bill deposits and the final with card pay links (Solo and up)
- Assign the crew on a dispatch board (Team and up)
Redline doesn't
- Draw deck plans or 3D designs
- Work out a lumber, joist or fastener list
- Book inspections with the building department
- Let customers approve a quote online
- Track lumber or composite inventory
Questions contractors ask
Can Redline draw the deck or make a material list?
No. It has no drawing or takeoff tools. Attach your drawings to the job as photos, and give Redline the square footage, railing and step counts to price.
Can I quote composite and wood on the same estimate?
Yes. In the quote composer (Solo and up), good, better and best options sit on one quote, each with its own total, with your deposit percentage. By chat, Redline drafts one quote per material instead.
How do I handle a change order in the middle of a build?
Tell Redline what changed and the price, and it adds it to the invoice total and description when it drafts the invoice. Redline doesn't collect a signature on a change order, so get the customer's OK the way you do now and log it as a note.
Is there a free plan?
Yes. Free covers the chat, contacts, pipeline, calendar and quotes for one person. Solo at $29 a month adds invoices, deposits and card payments. See pricing.
Free deck paperwork and tools
- Deck estimate templateFraming, decking, railing, stairs, footings and permit
- Deck invoice templateFinal invoice with upgrades and the deposit applied
- Deck builder scheduling softwareEvery step of the build moved together when an inspection slips
- Job profit calculatorSee what a deck leaves you after material and labor
Keep reading
- Quotes and estimatesItemized quotes by chat or from a photo, with a deposit. Options and tax in the composer.
- Job pipelineEvery job from Lead to Paid, with cards that turn amber and red as they sit.
- Fencing softwareQuote by the linear foot, take a material deposit and keep the backlog straight.
- Carpentry softwareTrim by the foot, built-ins by the piece, written exclusions, lumber deposits and rot change orders.
- Job profit calculatorSee what a job really makes after materials, labor and overhead.
Run your business by chat.
Redline is free to start. Tell it about the job and it handles the quote, the schedule, the invoice and the follow-up.