Pavers vs stamped concrete
15 years ago
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15 years ago- 15 years ago
we live in CT too and had that same debate.i didnt want to deal with cracks with concrete,so we went with pavers.the price of pavers installed for me was the same price i was quoted for stamped concrete.so if the pavers heave,thats a simple fix.my paver guy did a walkway for me in the front yard and the results were awesome,therefore i chose him to do our pavers and steps around our pool.1340 sq feet
if your interested you are more than welcome to come and check out his work at my house.i live just south of hartford.
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Replacing concrete walkway with pavers or stamped concrete? Pics
Comments (4)Hi Digin, Without actually being in the space, this is what I would do. First, we need to change the hallway effect. It is uncomfortable to most people, makes them walk faster instead of leisurely enjoying the space. I would definitely bring the walkway up to the garage as well as the width of the porch. I probably would turn it towards the drive almost as is but would also have another section going a little down the drive. A walk for you and one for visitors. I would put a small, 4 seasons of interest tree to soften and connect human scale to the hard lines of the tall house. And I would under plant the tree with just one groundcover and carry that groundcover through out the entire area. I can't tell what it looks like under your large window but I do know if it needs hiding, putting 4 round or square shrubs that have to be trimmed is going to look like you are hiding something and does nothing to soften the hard lines of the structure. It is the same feeling that the shrubs along the garage gives. The purpose of foundation planting is to soften the hard lines of a building in an attempt to have it blend in with nature. Why some people plant things that are the same shape as the lines they are trying to soften has always baffled me. That type of designing, of course does have it place but it is dictated by the style of the house and for the most part doesnt work in most situations. I am not sure what exposure you have, nor what the rest of the space is like so again I am winging it. Will you be paving over the porch? If I could do what ever I wanted, I might try to make the step have a much wider tread and try to make it look like an half moon. I might also, not directly in the middle of the garage wall have an arched cutout small enough that it doesnÂt wreck the flow of 2 people walking side by side and possibly espalier or grow something on an interesting trellis with maybe an uplight shining on the wall. All these types of things should be consider in advance for placing PVC pipes under the walk for wires or drip irrigation. There are so many little things that can be done to make great changes. Simple things like, we painted some of our exposed foundation gray because it blended in with the siding better then concrete color. Another simple thing that lots of folks donÂt think about it putting shutters on their windows in the back of the house. It really dresses things up and doesnÂt break the bank. IMO, with your style home it is important to not use a bunch of different types plants, keep it simple and elegant. You want to create a comfortable, not busy approach to your house and that is how your guests will feel when you open the door. The backyard is the living area where you put al the fun, things that are you, like how you decorate the inside of the house. We inherited a builders concrete 2' wide walkway, also have brick and gray siding and pretty much removed all the round and square shrubs that lined poth sides of the walk. It was tough on our clothes when the shrubs were wet. One of my passions is gardening/design, so I plant for me and for what I see, consequently, starting a small bed at the street and adding alittle when ever I could on each side with the plan that the two sides would eventually meet. Good luck, more importantly have fun. My rule is that plants should bring me pleasure and if it is getting on my nerves it then becomes a weed and it is removed. Sorry this post is so long, as I said landscaping is one of my passions and if I can steal a moment to myself, I love to talk design. Ally...See MorePatio - stamped concrete vs. pavers - Conflicting Info
Comments (18)You know, it's interesting how when we travel to Europe or other parts of the world where we can see buildings several hundred years old, we appreciate the patina of age on things -- plaster showing its age, cracked stone paving, irregular color in brick, time-worn marble, and so on. In the US we always want to rip out the old, solid materials because of minor imperfectons, and replace them with something shiny, new, and not necessarily of equal quality. If there is a real problem with your tiles -- undermined and unstable surface, safety issues, water leaks, or whatever -- sure, replace them. But otherwise the older material has charm that pavers do not have, in particular with your nice brick wall and balusters. You'd want all your architectural elements to be speaking the same language....See MorePaver question
Comments (12)"A friend of my wife has pavers they self installed around the pool." This is probably the reason they are having problems. Did they compact the ground correctly? Are they experienced with installing pavers? We had our pavers in since December through our PB and we haven't had any sinking issues at all. Like said above, if one chips or anything you just pick it up and replace it and don't have to worry about unsightly cracks in your deck. We love the look of ours. If you go with standard concrete pavers, be sure you chose the "white cement based" paver and not the gray. They will be much cooler on the feet. Gray cement based pavers tend to be super hot and make walking on your deck very difficult. Sand has not really been an issue for us. When they were first installed there was a lot of sand on the deck, but with brushing it into the creases and a few rain showers, the sand compacts itself between the pavers and you don't feel any sand on your feet. DH just recently added more sand last week (he's anal about stuff like that) and the gritty feeling is already gone thanks to the amount of rain showers we've been having....See MoreDriveway/Walkway advice needed
Comments (12)Yardvark, thank you so much for evaluating my proposed plan. I appreciate your comments and will try to address your questions as I understand them. I too had a problem with the sharp angled lines of the walkway. I think it was drawn that way to avoid the water/sewer access points that are imbedded in the flower bed. I had planned to change the sharp angles to curves, but I have to admit that I was having a hard time making a decent curve as our front yard is not too deep and the walkway would connect to the patio over a shorter distance than desired. The front flowerbed was already executed a few years ago and is actually not as narrow as it appears on the plan. The yellow highlighted path was existing to the property (our home was built in the 1950s), and as you note, it is somewhat narrow (probably about 2’ wide). However, it has been very convenient to walk around the property. Do you propose that we make that path wider? Other elements on the plan we did not plan to execute include the black squares on the driveway’s edge that represented large flower filled urns on black rock (and a small awning at the beginning of the front porch from the patio). The narrow flower bed that runs along the front porch would be eliminated. My main concern is that I feared that without distinguishing the walkway/patio/front porch in some manner differently than the driveway, it would look like a massive driveway. But since the front of my house is only bedroom windows, I needed to find a way to make a more welcoming presence and an obvious path to the front door instead of weaving between cars in the driveway. In your proposed revision, do you think the 90 degree angles of the patio/seating wall would be appropriate because the house has the same lines? I think it would look good. What material would you propose for the walkway/patio/front porch that would run alongside the driveway? My hope was that I could do some kind of stamped concrete there that would be complimentary to the driveway but subtly different that would distinguish it as the walkway. I am really taking your observations to heart and so appreciate that you took the time to give me your professional opinion. Your comments and suggestions are really making me rethink this. Thank you very very much! Kathy...See More- 15 years ago
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Though not with the majority so far....I went with the stamped... I have a pretty big paver patio already which I love that comes off the back of the house. It was done very well and I don't regret it one bit. I also had a paver surround in our previous pool...My one issue would be with bare feet... I find it very hard to walk on, as mine gets scorching and I also have the tumbled type which is rocky feeling, I always catch a pebble or rock crumble barefoot... on the other hand my stamped is a lighter color which doesn't get that hot, and is very soft to the feet. We have a non-slip agent in the sealer so it cuts down on the slip... it is more slippery then pavers by far though. I am strict with the no running rule to prevent accidents.
I think asthetically they both are nice.. I chose the textured pattern for mine which if and when hairline cracks occur, they will not stand out.
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