Patio Installation

Patio Installation Options to Consider

If you've decided that you want a patio, it's now time to think about all of the options and design variations. One of the most basic is which material to use. Wood, stone, brick, and tile are some of the most popular choices. Each one has properties that make it better for some designs than others.

Wood is the most popular option for a raised deck. Its elevation keeps it from the rotting that it would suffer if it was in direct contact with the ground. This is a great-looking choice, and it looks the most natural. However, wood requires maintenance every year, or at the minimum, every other year. If you don't want to have to refinish your deck, it's best to choose another option.

Stone, brick, and tile work much the same as each other, but they look different enough that you'll likely find that one of them fits the look of your house better than the rest. Note that bricks or pavers do have one functional difference, and that is that they have more gaps between them than large-format options. This can lead to an increased need to weed them. All of the hard options are preferred for patios in direct contact with the ground because they can't rot away.

Finally, think about whether or not you want an outdoor kitchen setup. If you do, non-flammable materials are safer. Alternatively, you can have a stone pad installed in the cooking area of a wood deck.

You should also consider whether you want your patio installation to stand alone, or if you want to combine it with walkways and sidewalk installation. If you do, you'll want to make sure that all of the materials are compatible in a visual way. This helps prevent a piecemeal appearance.

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