About PaperPlan

Why PaperPlan exists

A deck is a $10,000–$40,000 decision that most homeowners make from a verbal description, a brochure, and a guess. Contractors lose evenings to quotes that go nowhere; homeowners hesitate because they cannot picture the result on their own house.

PaperPlan collapses that gap to about 15 seconds: upload a photo of the actual backyard, pick materials, and show a photorealistic render of the finished deck — on-site, from a phone. When the homeowner can see it, the conversation changes from "we'll think about it" to "when can you start."

How the renders work

PaperPlan uses AI image generation constrained to real products: Trex, TimberTech, AZEK, Fiberon, Deckorators, cedar, and pressure-treated pine, with accurate color and grain for each SKU. The render happens on the customer's real photo — same house, same fence, same trees — which is what makes it persuasive.

Renders are a sales and planning tool, not construction documents. For structure, spans, and permits, you still need a builder and your local code.

How we write our guides

The deck guides on this site follow three rules. First, brand neutrality: we sell software, not decking, so Trex, TimberTech, AZEK, and Fiberon get compared on their merits — unlike brand-owned design tools that only show their own boards.

Second, real numbers with honest error bars: cost figures come from public 2026 North American installed-cost surveys, rounded into ranges, and clearly labeled as starting points rather than quotes. Site conditions can move any number 20% in either direction.

Third, fair comparisons: every page that compares PaperPlan to a competitor states plainly what the competitor does better. If a CAD-style designer is the right tool for your job, our comparison page will tell you so.

Who builds it

PaperPlan is built by Monty (Manpreet), founder, at Tinywave Labs. Every guide on this site is written and reviewed by the team that builds the product — the same name you see in the bylines.

Questions, feedback, or partnership ideas: hello@tinywavelabs.com. We read everything.