Fence or deck costs in Pittsburgh
Here’s the ballpark for common fence or deck jobs around Pittsburgh, PA. Want one for your own project? A photo is all it takes.
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What it usually costs
- Build a wood fence$14 – $43 per linear foot
- Build a vinyl or metal fence$14 – $57 per linear foot
- Build a chain-link fence$9.47 – $38 per linear foot
- Build a wood deck$14 – $47 per sq ft
- Build a composite deck$24 – $76 per sq ft
A ballpark, not a quote. All of these are national averages adjusted for Pittsburgh prices, so your job could land outside them.
Fence or deck in Pittsburgh
On a Pittsburgh hillside lot, the wall holding up your yard can matter as much as the fence along its top. The city's permit office says a retaining wall 4 feet tall or less, measured from the lowest grade to the top, needs neither a building permit nor zoning approval. That changes if the wall is holding back a surcharge, meaning extra weight above it. Taller walls aren't on the exempt list.
Fences and low decks sit in a middle tier. A fence 6 feet or under, or an uncovered deck at a one- or two-family house with its floor 30 inches or less above grade, needs a Record of Zoning Approval but no building permit.
Front and side yards are where the zoning code gets picky. Only open, ornamental fences are allowed there, and they top out at 4 feet. In a 2025 Beechview case, an owner had added a 6-foot mesh privacy screen to a 4-foot chain-link fence without approval. The Zoning Board of Adjustment did allow 6 feet along that property line, but the screen had to come down. Any replacement needs an open or ornamental element, and the board said it has not allowed stockade fencing or other fully solid screening in those yards.
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