Composite Deck or Paver Patio? (1 Viewer)

[SWC]

I did this two summers ago and I went with the pavers. I also considered stamped concrete but since I was replacing an original concrete patio that had cracked due to soil expansion, I sent the paver route. I am glad I did.

First off, the bids I received for stamped concrete were more expensive for pavers. Second, the finish on the stamped concrete got quite slippery when wet and would have to be reapplied every few years. Finally, we have had no soil expansion problems. No weed problems either. We did go with the polymeric sand too. We are very happy with our paver patio. We had them add in a fire pit and seating area too. Very nice. Year round use.

May I ask what you spent on this? Also, how did you go about finding an outfit to do this for you? Is this something you could do yourself or are you glad you hired a pro? Need to do this at my house...

We were thinking of just pouring concrete like we did at our old house, but I'm not sure that's what I want to do anymore.

There is a garden and home show here every year. We went and collected a few cards. Then we had them come to look it over and give us an estimate. Most did both concrete and pavers. We asked for references in our area and then went out to see their work and talk to the homeowners. I would not have done it my self. There was concrete removal, ground preparation, gas line work etc. I am glad we hired a pro. I think we spent about $6K.

in this thread you should be james running bond brohan that is a little masonry humor right there take that to the bank

 

[DocHolliday]

I did this two summers ago and I went with the pavers. I also considered stamped concrete but since I was replacing an original concrete patio that had cracked due to soil expansion, I sent the paver route. I am glad I did.

First off, the bids I received for stamped concrete were more expensive for pavers. Second, the finish on the stamped concrete got quite slippery when wet and would have to be reapplied every few years. Finally, we have had no soil expansion problems. No weed problems either. We did go with the polymeric sand too. We are very happy with our paver patio. We had them add in a fire pit and seating area too. Very nice. Year round use.

May I ask what you spent on this? Also, how did you go about finding an outfit to do this for you? Is this something you could do yourself or are you glad you hired a pro? Need to do this at my house...

We were thinking of just pouring concrete like we did at our old house, but I'm not sure that's what I want to do anymore.

There is a garden and home show here every year. We went and collected a few cards. Then we had them come to look it over and give us an estimate. Most did both concrete and pavers. We asked for references in our area and then went out to see their work and talk to the homeowners. I would not have done it my self. There was concrete removal, ground preparation, gas line work etc. I am glad we hired a pro. I think we spent about $6K.

in this thread you should be james running bond brohan that is a little masonry humor right there take that to the bank

You have been hitting them out of the park lately sir brohan.

 

[DocHolliday]

I always spray the sealer on. If it dried cloudy, you probably put it on too thick or put it on when it was very humid.

Spray the sealer on lightly. Go too light rather than too heavy. You are going to put on a second coat in about 4 to 6 hours anyway.

Probably both...Any way you know of to make the cloudiness go away?

We all learn by making mistakes. I have learned a lot in my lifetime! Fortunately, I was warned by my partner to apply the sealant lightly so I have not seen this.

I will ask around to see if there are any solutions. Maybe it will wear off or fade on its own. The sealant does wear and fade over time. Of course, this is probably going to be one of those times where it does not happen nearly fast enough.

When did you apply the sealer?

 

[General Malaise]

I did this two summers ago and I went with the pavers. I also considered stamped concrete but since I was replacing an original concrete patio that had cracked due to soil expansion, I sent the paver route. I am glad I did.

First off, the bids I received for stamped concrete were more expensive for pavers. Second, the finish on the stamped concrete got quite slippery when wet and would have to be reapplied every few years. Finally, we have had no soil expansion problems. No weed problems either. We did go with the polymeric sand too. We are very happy with our paver patio. We had them add in a fire pit and seating area too. Very nice. Year round use.

May I ask what you spent on this? Also, how did you go about finding an outfit to do this for you? Is this something you could do yourself or are you glad you hired a pro? Need to do this at my house...

We were thinking of just pouring concrete like we did at our old house, but I'm not sure that's what I want to do anymore.

There is a garden and home show here every year. We went and collected a few cards. Then we had them come to look it over and give us an estimate. Most did both concrete and pavers. We asked for references in our area and then went out to see their work and talk to the homeowners. I would not have done it my self. There was concrete removal, ground preparation, gas line work etc. I am glad we hired a pro. I think we spent about $6K.

Cool. If it's not too much, would you kindly PM a picture of your patio? I know that's weird, but I'd like some ideas before I pull the trigger.

If not, no worries. Thanks for the info.

 

[WampusCat43]

We put in a composite deck over 10 years ago and have never had a problem with it. Just have to power wash it occasionally. One recommendation if you go this route is to make sure to get some extra boards. We had a worker break a couple accidentally last year and were unable to exactly replace them. We ended up with a slightly lighter shade of gray but after time and dirt it's barely noticeable.

 

[Fat Nick]

I always spray the sealer on. If it dried cloudy, you probably put it on too thick or put it on when it was very humid.

Spray the sealer on lightly. Go too light rather than too heavy. You are going to put on a second coat in about 4 to 6 hours anyway.

Probably both...Any way you know of to make the cloudiness go away?

We all learn by making mistakes. I have learned a lot in my lifetime! Fortunately, I was warned by my partner to apply the sealant lightly so I have not seen this.

I will ask around to see if there are any solutions. Maybe it will wear off or fade on its own. The sealant does wear and fade over time. Of course, this is probably going to be one of those times where it does not happen nearly fast enough.

When did you apply the sealer?

Pressure-washed all the sand out and re-sealed it 3 years ago. Last year I picked loose chunks of sand out and re-sanded, but didn't re-seal. The walk, truthfully doesn't get used much as we usually use our side-door. It's starting to look a little more normal, but still has some cloudiness to it.

The next time I do it I'm either a) having it re-done with new stones as that work is needed anyway, or b) I'll take all the sand out again, re-polymeric, and seal the way you recommended.

 

[DocHolliday]

How many SF is the walkway?

 

[El Floppo]

So I'm curious what some of you think might be a good idea to do with this area. Granted, this is not the best pic (and I can get more tomorrow), but if anyone has some thoughts based on this, let me know:

The area I'm talking about is the dirt area contained by the larger retaining wall. It's about 30' wide from that door all the way to the left out to the edge of the wall where the guy is and goes out about 20'. As you can see the grade is currently below that door. It still has to be filled in a little more but it won't go much higher. It's also currently supposed to slope gradually down from the house to the retaining wall. We were initially going to just do a deck, but now that I'm seeing the area after the retaining wall is in, I'm much more interested in doing a patio. Of course, the problem is, I'd rather not have to go down 6 steps to get to it, thus the thought of doing at least a couple levels.

We can't make the retaining wall any higher because of code (6' max).

Picture

Any thoughts or ideas?

That's a challenging space, but a cool one too. If I had that space, I'd put a nice composite deck up by the kitchen door. Not a big one. Just enough room for a grill, and some seating. Then I'd do a cool staircase down to the lower level at the base of the wall, and have a patio down there with more "chill" seating.

I'd have the deck follow the curved contour of the retaining wall. It'd be a neat design feature. It could overhang the wall some, or just come to it...either way. A small overhang would be cool b/c it could provide sheltered seating underneath. I know this isn't your space exactly, but something like THIS would be cool.

The biggest challenge I see would be code for the footings on a deck like that. Most code (at least in NJ) requires footings to be X inches below the frost line - unless it's in "disturbed" soil, in which case you have to go X inches below where the soil is disturbed. In the case of that wall, that could mean that a footing could be 6' (the depth from the top of the dirt on the wall to the bottom) + whatever your code is (3' in most of NJ) - so upwards of 9' deep. That'd be a pain.

had the same thought- rounded deck. too far a drop and not enough real-estate for a paved area, IMO. but I'd be wary of taking the deck too far out towards the retaining wall- will feel like it's looming over the lower graded area below the retaining wall. also not so hot to look at the underside of a deck from down there- although you could plant around it, I guess.

 

[Spike]

Good thread.

 

[NutterButter]

This looks awesome. No idea how durable the look is.

 

[SWC]

This looks awesome. No idea how durable the look is.

that does look awesome that guy took it to the bank

 

[PlayaHata]

I'd recommend stamped, colored concrete instead of pavers. Pretty much maintenance free. We had our patio done 5+ years ago and power-washed it this spring for the first time and it looks brand new. I have a hard time believing pavers would be cheaper unless the individual pavers are really big. Labor should be way less with stamped concrete.

 

[glvsav37]

Have not read whole thread, but my $0.02....I have a large composite deck I built 9+ years ago and I HATE it.

Scratches,

Stains

Buckles

Joints cracked

Washes out

Cant Powerwash

And I cant buff/sand out any of it

I will never do a composite deck ever again.

I used a product called Weatherbest which at the time was "top of the line" and I've heard that since them, there had been a class action suit for false claims. But it aint worth my time. I'll be ripping it out and replacing it with a patio once we begin our home expansion.