The sticker math
PT pine decks cost ~$6/sq ft installed DIY; composite ~$22. On a 200-sq-ft deck that is $1,200 vs $4,400 — a $3,200 gap that feels decisive at the register. The decisive question is what happens in years 2 through 12.
The maintenance ledger
Wood wants cleaning + staining every 2–3 years: a weekend of labor plus $150–300 of product per cycle — roughly $1,500–2,500 over a decade, not counting your weekends. Composite wants soap and water. The lifetime gap closes to noise around year 8–12 for maintenance-faithful owners — faster for owners whose stain schedule slips (which is most owners).
The third option nobody prices
A well-built PT deck that gets stained on schedule is a perfectly good 20-year deck. The real failure mode is the maintenance that never happens — at which point composite's premium is insurance against your own calendar. Buy for the owner you will actually be, not the one you plan to become in the spring.