DIY patio opinions

[os1kne]

We are looking at adding a 22'x16' patio to the back of our home. Luckily the area that we want to use is pretty flat. We're not sure exactly what style to go with. Here are the options that we are looking at.

1. Dig out about 12" deep; fill w/ 5" of pea gravel, 5" of sand, then pavestones. My wife really likes the pavestone idea, I'm concerned with an area that large staying flat for several years.

2. Poured concrete slabs that are tinted and "stamped" to resemble bricks or some other stone. I'd probably do 4 or more sections, to do 1 managable section at a time. My wife hates the plain grey slab look. I suspect that this will be less expensive than pavestones, I've never had to do a large concrete job w/ forms, rebar, etc. - so this may be way over my head, or it may be an opportunity for me to get my feet wet with something new. Would probably buy a small concrete mixer used or at HF and resell when done.

3. Same as #2, but with cement truck pouring if cost isn't much more that DIY.

Any other options for me to consider? Am I crazy to attempt to do this myself? Obviously money is a factor, but I want to know if this is just too big a job to DIY.

[prlundberg]

A friend of mine ended up pouring a regular slab then putting large pavers on top of that.

He said it was cheaper than the tinted and stamped concrete. That was last year, I don't know if it's still true or not, but may be something to check out.

[Russianwolf]

I priced out materials for a 12x12 area in my yard.

decking was about $250
Pavers were about $225 (For cheap ones)
concrete was about $200

And that was just the surface materials (no gravel/sand for pavers, no footings for deck, and just a 3 inch thick slab done by manual labor).

I decided to go with the deck since I am fully capable of building one even though it's alittle more expensive.

I did email the concrete company, but never received the quote on delivered.

[isddarms]

I went the paver route last summer. While probably more spendy than concrete, it's a nice look and easier to do a little at a time. If you take care to ensure your base is well compacted, the patio is supposed to stay flat. So far one Minnesota winter hasn't messed up mine. I think the look is much, much better than concrete.

If you go concrete, I think you'd likely be better off getting ready mix delivered. Mixing 3 1/4+ yds of concrete will turn out to be a big pain.

[messmaker]

The concrete molds that make concrete resemble cobblestone is great looking after it ages and easy but you are looking at a pretty big job at 22' x16'. one mold is about 2'x3' and takes about 10 minutes.

[crokett]

Concrete will last longer than pavers. Also no worries about weeds, etc growing up through the cracks. Properly prepared a paver patio will stay flat for a while - key being properly prepared.

Mixing that much concrete is a huge job, but it can be done. A truck will deliver arond here for ~100/yard. The problem is not so much the truck as it is getting a crew to help you with the screeding, stamping etc.

[RayintheUK]

Am I crazy to attempt to do this myself? Obviously money is a factor, but I want to know if this is just too big a job to DIY.

I know how you feel! I did this 45 x 15 in 1998:



I was a quite fit 53-year-old at the time and it just about did me in. I had tennis elbow in both arms for 6 months, plus all sorts of other aches and pains. All 38 tons of materials had to be carried up 12 steps at the side of the house (built into a slope), mostly in buckets. I had to dig out 5 tons of earth first, then break up a concrete slab, most of which I used as hardcore for the split-level result. I'm proud of it, but I couldn't possibly tackle it now, I'm just too old.

Compared to this, your job sounds quite easy! I don't want to sound patronizing, but at the end of the day, only you can decide if you're up to it. Good luck!

Ray.

[TheRic]

I redid my patio 2 summers ago. Had a 15' X 6' slab (very uneven and dangerous) from back door to unattached garage. Put in a 35' X 35' patio with built in fire ring. Went with stamped tinted concrete. Went that route since my brothers used to pour concrete walls for a living.

Also put in pavers/landscaping blocks for steps out the back door and pavers/landscaping blocks for a retaining wall at the back of the patio.

IMHO I think concrete is less maintenance in the long run. I have to spray (Roundup or similar) were the pavers meet the patio. Seems like I need to do this several times a year. Granted stuff gets trapped there more than on top of the pavers. Still I need to watch it.

Both ways would be a lot of work if you do it yourself, one can be done over time (years if you want) the other has to be done at once. If you go with pavers you could add on here and there a few years from now.

If you are going to go with tinted stamped concrete I would go with having it poured. It may cost you more but save you more in time. Also the tint would all be the same. If you are going to mix it it would take several mixes, you would have to make sure the tints are the same and have to blend each pour together so you don't see a sudden change in color. Pouring that size is not something one person could easily do. Not to mention also mixing and stamping it.

The stamping has to be done at the right time. Do it too soon and a small person will leave deep grooves. Do it too late and a heavy person has to jump up and down to make the groove. On a hot, sunny, windy day that could be 20 minutes, on a cool, overcast day, no wind that could be hours.

Either route you take, don't make it rectangular. Give it a little shape, looks more pleasing to the eye IMHO.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Option #3.

[siliconbauhaus]

Have you considered a spray applied acid stain to the concrete rather than stamping it? You can get some marvelous colours / patterns from it.

[sparkeyjames]

My brother in law did an interesting trick with a 20' concrete walkway a few years back. Immediatly after pouring the concrete he took bags of colored decorative pea gravel and poured them onto and embeded it into the top of the concrete. Was worth the effort. It looked good and as far as I know is still there 20 years later (Sis and BL moved 10 years after it was done). Just something to dress up drab concrete.


sparkeyjames

[jlm]

We put in a cobblestone paver patio (about 10'x10') three summers ago, and it's staying very flat and secure. I was worried that the winters here would frost-heave the bricks, but LOML insisted on the pavers. They look great (we used the tumbled ones, with a more rounded, rustic edge which helps hide any inconsistencies in layout) and used the synthetic locking sand or whatever the heck it is that HD sells to fill the spaces between the pavers. Weeds won't grow in it (though some green moss has formed in the cracks by the dryer vent on the back of the house - it actually adds a nice character, so I haven't bothered to try to get rid of it), and it seems to stay in place better than plain old sand.

I think the trick is to ensure you've got a well-drained, well-compacted bed to start with. Your plan is probably very good for ensuring that, with 5" of gravel and 5" of sand. You can rent a compactor for around $40, but get ready for some numb hands...

[DaveS]

In my neck of the woods, stamped concrete would have cost around $8000.

This is $1700 worth of pavers, plus $1700 for bobcat work, class-5, sand, and misc.

It took me and two friends two weekends.





These were shot before I put the sand in the cracks.

I had a bobcat do the excavation, bring in the class-5, level it, and compact it. I had the bricks forked right to where we were working.

I would disagree that concrete will last longer than this patio. As long as you put in a good base, and keep the ants out, it will last for years.

[os1kne]

Thank you for all of the tips and suggestions.

Ray and DaveS: Very nice work!

[JimD]

Ray - great work and I fully understand taking on big projects in your fifties. I work out a bit regularly but still cannot avoid the aches and pains.

DaveS - yours looks nice too.

I created a path way and extended a patio with one of those concrete forms that makes imitation stones. You put the form where you want the concrete and then fill it with concrete. A 60 pound bag will fill a form with some left over. You then mix up another bag and then move the form. If you are careful you should not damage the "stones" you just made. I had to finish the edges with a trowel to get them to look right. Later, after they are dry, I mixed up latex modified thinset real thin and poured it into the cracks between stones. That kept the weeds out. We like the end result and it was cheap but it is also a bunch of work.

Jim