Patio Choices: Helpful Information from Yard At A Time Concrete

Stamped concrete or patio pavers? It seems like a simple question as the warmth of spring returns along with our desire to be outdoors – enjoying our patios and yards. Walkways, driveways, and backyard patios all provide pathways that, when tied together, accent and enhance the overall personality and architectural style of your home.

Pavers are individual units of brick or stone that interlock with each other. Molded under extreme pressure they are strong, durable, and ready for use once installed. Installation is labour intensive, they can move, require maintenance to fill sand in the spaces that form between individual pavers, and possibly weeding to remove weeds from between the pavers.

For this reason, many homeowners today are opting for stamped concrete patios that mimic the look of stone, brick, or tile. Stamped concrete patios are perfect for any outdoor area, such as surrounding a pool, and offers the ability to get creative with patterns and colors. More and more homeowners are opting for decorative concrete over traditionally smooth and gray concrete when designing an outdoor patio, walkway, or pool deck.

There are a variety of benefits to stamped concrete. While the price of a stamped concrete patio varies by location, the amount of detail or pattern, and type of colors used – generally, a stamped concrete patio costs less than the natural stone, brick or tile patios. Also, concrete lasts longer and requires less maintenance than other paving materials, which results in lower lifecycle costs. There’s also a sustainability element in the making of cement, the key ingredient of concrete, which uses many materials recycled from other industries that would otherwise be wasted.

Stamped concrete is less labor-intensive and lasts for decades if properly maintained with sealer, although almost all concrete cracks over time. To install your stamped concrete, contractors first pour a slab, often with a base color mixed in. As it dries, they apply highlight coloring and repeatedly push down a stamp to create a pattern. Since it needs to cure first, this option takes about 3-5 days before being able to welcome traffic.

Beautifying your outdoor space in an affordable and attractive way definitely requires some careful deliberation. When considering whether to go with stamped concrete or pavers, it’s important to keep the above mentioned factors in mind when making your decision.

Likewise, Yard At A Time Concrete’s team of professionals works with both residential and commercial Lower Mainland clients on a wide variety of jobs.

If you have questions about stamped concrete for your home complete our e-form, or call us today at 604-940-0191. We deliver ready mix concrete to all of Metro Vancouver from Horseshoe Bay to Aldergrove.

Categorised in: Blog, Home Improvement