The time has come, and you’re ready to make some landscaping changes to your Tallahassee home. However, you’re torn between installing Pavers or Concrete.
You’ve passed by numerous homes in Leon County and seen decorative driveways, patios, and walkways. From what you’ve seen, a new decorative addition will enhance your home’s look and could increase its resale value.
However, deciding which one to choose, pavers or concrete, and what you need to know first is not always clear. So, we’ve put together this simple paver and concrete guide to help you decide.
What are the five “Must-Knows” to consider first?
Before you invest in Pavers or Concrete, there are five essential areas of the project; we recommend homeowners review first. They are:
Designs
Installation
Cost
Maintenance
Safety
What are the design limits?
With Pavers, you can move them around, they come in a variety of colors, and you can create vivid designs and are more visually appealing than concrete.
With concrete, it gets poured; you have to add color, and creating vivid designs are limited. Color that gets added to concrete will fade and does need reapplying every 2-3 years.
Which is easier to install?
Installing pavers is done by hand one-by-one. Before installation, detailed planning, excavation, and grading are required. Upon completion, then pavers are installed using an adhesive type material or polymer sand to join them together.
Concrete slabs are poured all at once. Depending on the concrete mixture, curing takes 48-72 hours before it is ready to use. Typically, installation involves excavation, grading the land, setting up perimeter forms that retain the poured concrete until dry, and finally any foundation adjustments.
How much will it cost?
When it comes to designing any decorative landscape, no two are identical. Every project is unique and a one of a kind creation. Which is why we advise any homeowner to obtain multiple quotes before proceeding. As a general guideline, the cost to install pavers or concrete is based on five criteria:
The surface area to be covered
All materials needed
Time and labor for prep and installation
Removal of previous pavers or concrete
Disposal of previous pavers or concrete
Do note, removal, and disposal, as noted above, are not the same process. Some homeowners only want the old material removed, but left elsewhere on their property. Others require the old material gets extracted and then hauled away for disposal.
How much maintenance is required?
Pavers are easy to clean but not as easy as concrete. An area of maintenance to watch for is weeds. These pests do find their way to grow up in between pavers.
Maintaining and cleaning concrete is easy too. With a scrub brush, some dish soap, and a garden hose it can be washed down in no time. In some instances, using a power washer cleans up your slab too.
As for protective sealants, it is possible to have it added to the concrete to reduce stains, but with any applicant, the sealant will need reapplying per the manufacturer’s recommendations.
How safe is it to walk on?
Pavers, by their design rarely have slipperiness issues as their concrete slab counterpart does. Two reasons for this pavers get individually placed, and you can choose having raised edges to help improve shoe and foot grip.
Concrete slabs, on the other hand, will become slippery when wet, especially during and after a rainfall, treated with a protective sealant, got painted, or some solvent, grease or oil spilled on the surface. In these instances, your shoes will not grip, and a slippery fall can happen.
Did you find “5 “Must-Knows” To Consider Before Choosing Pavers or Concrete” informative? Then check out How To Enhance Your Tallahassee Garden With a Fountain, Pond, or Aqua Features we think you’ll find it interesting too.