Patios. Concrete VS Pavers

[perry]

When I was 20 wanted wood decks. Yep. Lots of fun rebuilding again and again.
Remember: TREE VERTICAL=Good, TREE HORIZONTAL=dead, decaying.

In my 30's new house went with pavers after living in the house for 5 years. (so the dirt was settled) The pavers FADE. Crap grows between them. Outside is retained and the sand washes out from underneath, so we take out a few here and there and reset them. Spray it for weeds. Algae grows on them, (North side of house)

I'm in my 30's and I'm pretty much set on stamped & stained concrete when my beautiful (for now) deck needs rebuilt. Maybe sooner if I get tired of paying someone to stain it. Some friends had a nice slab poured last year and I think it looks just great.

 

[Skywired]

If I went concrete, it would definetely be stamped and stained.

Then, cost wise: it's a no brainer....go pavers...

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Also note with the pavers:

I've seen ~5 year old "brick type" pavers disintegrate within a few years due to water pummeling upon it.

So, be careful that you don't put any under downspouts!

 

[CountryBoy19]

Given that stamped/stained concrete can look very, very good when done right, and the fact that it will out last any paver patio, I would pony up the extra money to do a nice concrete patio if you can afford it.

 

[Leo]

Pavers don't really have cracking issues, but settlement issues are a whole other thing. They will move and shift and heave.

Pavers work fine in Texas, where lack of wet freezing weather does not start upsetting them. In Indiana my paver patio needed dug up and reset after 4 years. I added another concrete lane to the drive way the same time the patio was originally installed. The driveway has needed no maintenance

 

[pjcalla]

Also note with the pavers:

I've seen ~5 year old "brick type" pavers disintegrate within a few years due to water pummeling upon it.

So, be careful that you don't put any under downspouts!

Obviously, there are different "grades" of pavers, but my parents have them under a downspout, and they don't show any signs of disintegration and they have been there 10+ years.

What is your budget, OP? That should help narrow things a little bit. If you go the paver route, would you install them yourself?

 

[steve666]

Pavers. Or try paving bricks, a little work but well worth it. Regardless, be sure to put down a barrier (landscape cloth) to cut down on the weed problem.

 

[pjcalla]

Here's a little bit of all three (concrete, stone, wood). The stone patio is somewhere between 800-900 sq. ft.

We just got the stone patio done last November. We have some work to do, planting and such, but this is how it looks now. We will be adding a custom fire pit made out of steel, and possibly a fountain where all the pots are clustered in the middle. The grill needs to be moved down to the patio still, and we may add some lighting. Overall, we are happy. It sure beats looking at a compacted stone base for the last few years.

 

[eldirector]

Pavers for me, or stone like pjcalla (that's just awesome).

I've got a big patio and fire pit on my "honey do" list for this year. Just need the time and money to get it done!

 

[Wdsman11]

+1 Pavers, If you ever have to do underground work in that area you'll wish you had something that can be easily moved.

 

[CitiusFortius]

Pavers. We went with natural stone, but either is better than concrete. No matter what, concrete is going to crack. Yes, you can "show" the concrete where you want it to crack, but there are no guarantees.

Bingo to this. If a paver gets messed up, dig it up and replace it. Like replacing a busted tile. If a concrete slab cracks you just gotta live with it.