I bought a brand new house in Jan and have been going back and forth about a deck vs paver stones.

I want something simple and plan on doing the labor myself. I am also planning on getting a spa so the deck would need to support the weight.

I am thinking the paver stone is more labor upfront but less maitenance over time.

Anyone have suggestions or experience?

 

deck = up in the air

paver stones = down on the ground

seems to me the location of your door would make the decision for you?

 

We have both and I much prefer the pavers....less maintenance and I think that they look classier. Now if you were doing a trex deck, that might change my mind a wee bit, but even then, I'm not sure.

I'm adding onto our paver patio as we speak and it is quite easy. A good bit of manual labor, but not all that difficult- just time consuming....for an idiot like me!

 

Brick paver ftw. Maintenance on a deck not so fun.

 

We combined pavers with natural stone. The stone gives it a real classy look and the labor is about the same.

Patio Pic 1

Patio Pic 2

For some reason I cannot get imbedded pictures to work.

 

^^ Nice work. Did you do that yourself? Man, I wouldn't dare try -- no skillz.

 

Thanks

No, I hired someone to do it. I just designed it. Between that and the rock garden there is 60 tons fo stone in my back yard.

 

We went with pavers, mostly because I like the maintenance free aspect. But I also dig the look (we went with tumbled stones).

A few people on my street tried to do it themselves, and it took a long time, was a lot of work, with sub par results IMO (uneven leveling seems to be the most common problem). But they did save a lot of money.

 

For some reason everyone I know that owns a deck lets it goto hell. What kind of maintenance is required besides hitting it with a pressure washer once a year and some waterproof sealer?

 

Thats pretty much it I think. But still, not everyone can get off their ass to reseal it every couple of years. And even if they do, wood doesn't hold up to the elements as well as pavers or stones.

That said, there is just something about walking out onto a deck, barefoot, in the early morning that just can't be beat.

 

Actually we have a concrete padio that is covered but it is only 12 x 12.

I think pavers all the way to go! Any ever had any experience with concrete patios?

Looks like the way to go but expensive $14.00 per square foot!


*not mine*

 

Mind if I ask how much the labor was to do something like that? It looks great!

 

Good pavers will come pretty close to that anyways (with installation). The stamped concrete is OK, but if it cracks you cant really repair it. Whereas with the pavers its an easy repair. I was once really into "that look", but now i prefer the look of separate stones (vs stamped concrete)

 

Pavers are a royal PITA to put in. My little summer project has been a wood bordered patio for the grill in the backyard.

Before:


After some preparation:




Currently I have dumped 13 bags of gravel, 20 bags of paver base, and 10 bags of paver sand in. I need about another 10 bags of sand until I can start laying the stones. I decided to go with the big stones (possibly patterned) as I don't want to spend a fortune on the bricks (even though parents are paying, still) and I don't want to try to lay a patter that there is no way I am capable of.

Mike

 

bent09 - Thanks for the compliment. i believe the total, material and labor, for the patio was about $20k. The natural stone aded about $800 over the cost of using pavers.

The patio is about 400 square feet. There was also added expense to raise the large area up off the gound to create the step down to the lower area. If all of it was at ground level you could take about $2k off the price, even more if you don't include the low wall around the raised area.

My neighbors put in a deck using the Trex material. It looks to be about 12 by 18 feet and is about 5 feet off the ground. They hired someone to do it and paid ~$11k for it. (just to give a comparison for pricing)

 

So I decided to go the flagstone route and plan on doing it myself to save.

Some resources say put a concrete slab down and some just say use gravel. Any suggestions?

kcroberge- did they pour a concrete slab below your stones?

crazymjb- I take it you are going to gravel rock, sand, and sand?

 

My patio is a dry application, so no concrete. There is a layer of crushed stone CR6 about 6-8 inches thick compacted. That is covered with a 4-6 inch layer of fine sand compacted. The stones were then placed on top and compacted into the sand. The mason used a mixture of polymeric sand and a small amount of mortar for the grout between the stones. Three applications were done, with a compacting and a good sweeping in between each application. The mortar helps to solidify the sand better.

Be sure to post pictures when you finish.

 

I'd vote for a deck. But go the composite route, like a Trex.

I've had my Trex deck three years and have had to do nothing to it. Other than grabbing a hose to spray off the bird poo.

I liked the idea of walking out my back door and not having to worry about steps. That and a deck doesn't really care about grade, so I didn't have to prep the earth below.

 

If you already have a concrete patio a great look and relatively cheap is to have the concrete stamped. It can be made to look like bricks, pavers or flagstone. Definitely not diy, but about $4.00-6.00 per sf.

 

taking into account that you live in houston a deck would not require much maintence because you don't have to deal with freezing weather, just something to protect it from the sun, and nothing beats the feel of wood on the bare feet.

Also if you go the paverstone route you don't need a concrete basse just good compacted gravel. Most companies i've seen do a 3/4 crushed base about 4-6inchs deep then a finer gravel ontop of about 4 inchs. all compacted

 

Is cost a factor? Cause around here, a deck is about 1/3 the cost per sqft. Even less if you DIY.

 

Imho Stamped concrete>*

We were going to do the composite decking, but for the extra few dollars a sqft we went with the stamped concrete instead. We actuall ripped up a small portion of pavers to put it in and the issue with the pavers was even though they were installed right there still seemed to have stuff grow up through them.

here is the pattern

 

if you go with a deck go with trex, trust me, wood is a pain in the butt to maintain.

the house we bought had to have the deck refinished and stained. it took quite a while and the stain is impossible to get off the vinyl siding.


btw, how do you get stain off of vinyl siding?

i tried paint thinner, throttle body cleaner, and last but not least, scrubbing with spic n span

 

That looks great!

 

Try a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? They are the best for a LOT of things (especially textured materials like vinyl siding).