Trying to decide how you can create a better home impression with just the area around your garden? To make the area on your property stand out and impress your guests and neighbors, then getting pavers and concrete is a great idea. These two are a great idea whether you’re looking to simply update or completely redesign the area around your garden.
Although both are great and simple options, it does not change the fact that you may only choose one of the two alternatives. Here, we will clearly state the difference of each one, their positives and negatives, as well as in which situations they fit. In doing so, we may hopefully be able to help you decide which would better suit your home.
What’s The Difference?
To clearly define the very basis of pavers and concrete, it goes like this; concrete is made up of the fine mixture of sand, gravel, and cement, while pavers, on the other hand, are stones made of clay, concrete, or natural stones. It is also important to look at their differences more in detail in order to avoid making mistakes while choosing building material.
Durability
Naturally, when choosing a building material, the durability and strength of said material is an important factors to consider. It would all depend if the material is installed properly or if it is properly maintained, however, when it comes to pavers, they have a life expectancy of 30-50 years, meanwhile, concrete itself may have a shorter lifespan.
Additionally, concrete itself is quite vulnerable to splitting and cracking, this especially applies when there are changes in temperatures and earth shifting. As for pavers, they more rarely show signs of breaking and cracking even with high amounts of stress and heavy weights, but they can tend to get loose over time. Although when pavers do get loose, it may become a hazard and you may need to replace the individual paver.
Visual Appeal
Although it more or so comes down to preferences when it comes to the difference in appearance, more people do tend to favor the visual appeal of pavers rather than normal concrete slabs. When it comes to pavers, they can come in an endless amount of design options along with a great variety of colors. Compared to concrete, they are said to have a more refined, higher-end appearance.
There are also quite a wide variety of design options when it comes to concrete, having stamped or decorative concrete opens a new arsenal that offers a beautiful appearance. However, the thing is that they are prone to cracks and similar damages that may affect their appearance. Moreover, dyed concrete tends to have their colors fade, making it not look as nice as it once did.
Method Of Installation
Pavers are undoubtedly way more difficult to install compared to concrete. Apart from some proper and precise planning, the process of installing pavers also includes excavation, grading, subspace compacting, installing geotextile fiber, base preparation, sand preparation, laying the pavers, cutting borders, compacting stones, and sealing the pavers. Because of this, DIY is not at all something to be considered.
A concrete slab in the meantime is poured. Although the process of installing concrete may be much simpler and straight-forward compared to pavers, professional work is still recommended as to prevent early breakage and guarantee durability. Apart from doing necessary preparations, the process also includes excavation, grading, foundation preparation, leveling, then pouring a concrete slab, and waiting for about five days for the concrete to dry up.
Which Ones Are Better?
As they have already been compared, let’s make things clear as to which material is better at which fields. Concrete is much better than pavers when it comes to budget-friendliness and ease of installation, while pavers exceed concrete when it comes to durability and higher property resale value. Both materials are practically tied when it comes to maintenance, and it mostly depends on preferences when it comes to appearances.
Cost Difference
Concrete costs between $6 and $12 per square foot, installed. On the other hand, pavers typically cost $8 to $25 per square foot, including installation. For some high-end pavers, you can pay as much as $50 per square foot.
When it comes to pavers, the total cost to install pavers for a 120-square foot area will cost between $1,310 and $1,770, while for a concrete slab that goes over 120 square feet, it will be somewhere between $865 and $1,085.
Contact Us
You can contact our professional at Concrete Tampa Solutions to take care of your concrete projects. It would also prove useful to have the thoughts of a professional and when dealing with bigger projects of installing pavers or concrete as they should not be easily done with DIY.