You should call around to deck companies to ask. I doubt that they would let you help. I would think that there are liability issues with that. Either for actual harm done if your husband gets injured or if there are issues with workmanship later. Also they want to be able to pay their own employees if they have them. Unless you have a handy man type person (a known friend) do it with you, it is doubtful. If you have any demolition to do first, you could do that before they even get there to start to save money..

I agree with the above comment; in our experience with decks we prefer using our own technicians for liability and quality reasons. Unless you have a preexisting personal relationship with your contractor I'd say most places would prefer to do the work themselves.