Pavers, Concrete, and Wood: Choosing Your Patio Material

A patio gives you a solid, generally unchanging surface on which you can put furniture, play or sports equipment, and other items. The surface of the patio stays intact during rain instead of turning into mud, and you don't have to worry about furniture tilting to one side due to runoff creating eroded pathways through the surface. Choosing a patio surface requires thought because the surface you get will come with specific maintenance and repair issues. No surface is perfect, but one type might be better for you than others.

Stone or Concrete Patios Would Likely Be Cheaper Than Wood

Stone and concrete in the form of pavers, poured concrete, stamped concrete, and so on, will likely be cheaper for you to have installed than a wood deck or platform. Even if the deck rests right by the surface of the ground, that requires more support and added digging and securing than stone or concrete. Preparation of the material is much easier, too, as with stone and concrete, you have it poured, stamped, or simply laid in a pattern, and with wood, you have to have the planks be the correct length, along with having all the hardware for each plank, too.

Pavers Do Take Time

Paver installation can take longer than pouring a concrete slab or stamping concrete; each paver has to be placed one by one, whereas pouring concrete and then possibly stamping it doesn't require nearly the same amount of work and time. If you aren't trying to install the patio by a certain date that's approaching, pavers are a really nice option. You can get them in different colours and have them added in different patterns, making your patio look very inviting.

Poured Concrete Repairs Are an Issue

A large area of poured concrete, even if it has a few separate slabs, may be harder to repair should the concrete be chipped or become cracked. With small pavers, you can replace just the pavers that were damaged. However, with poured concrete, even if it's stamped to look like pavers, you'd have to replace the entire slab. That's not so bad if the slabs are relatively small or moderate in size. If your entire patio is one slab, however, you're looking at an interesting repair. Yet that might be fine with you if you like to redo your yard every so often anyway.

Speak with patio contractors about what options they offer and what their warranties are like. You may find that a combination of styles works for you or decide that one type of patio is perfect for your needs.

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