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ttyler_gw

Cheapest way to build a patio

ttyler
15 years ago

I'm a low income single mother who is wanting to build a patio for our home. I'm not sure what would be my cheapest yet stable way to do this. I've had a lot of people tell me that pea gravel is good and then others say that concrete is my cheapest way. Its going to be a patio about the 10 x 15 so I can really use some advice

Comments (13)

  • hortster
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Please do NOT use pea gravel, especially for a patio! Pea gravel used in circulation areas "squirts" everywhere and ends up in the lawn (great hazard for lawn mowers, windows, pets and small children) and everywhere you don't want it. Concrete is stable and is probably the best answer. I work for a landscape management company and HATE pea gravel because it ends up in the beds, lawn, etc. When you begin to talk about other pavers, the price goes up. Concrete is probably your best answer.

  • karinl
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cheapest: scrap concrete (off craigslist or wherever you find it). Other scrap material that works if you can find it includes granite countertop off-cuts (sink cut-outs are good) or scrap lumber, maybe from pallets (but lumber is slippery).

    2nd cheapest: plain concrete pavers from your local big-box store. For a few dollars each you can buy 12x12 or 24x24 if you can get someone to deliver or lift them for you. Don't know your zone but in my zone I put these on plain dirt, no base required, and you can lift and re-level them if the dirt settles.

    KarinL

  • laag
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    They all cost a lot. What you choose indicates how you wil pay for it.

    Aggravation, effort, money, labor, and maintenance is the currency. Which ones do you not want to spend and which are you willing to spend?

    Pea gravel can work fine, but it has to be done right. The problem is that it takes a lot of effort and understanding to do it right. More often than not, people who do not want to invest either of those are the ones who go with pea gravel. That is what most of us see or have experienced ourselves which is why so many people say it is no good.

    Poured concrete is not an expensive material, but preparing for it is often hard work and takes some knowledge to form it well. Finishing the surface is not as easy as it may look.

    Watch HGTV and you might think tossing a bunch of flagstone around makes a good patio.

    All of it has a price to be paid one way or another.

  • laurastheme
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I found broken concrete pieces on craig's list for free. We laid them, spacing a few inches apart, then shoveled crush gravel over them. When the gravel had packed well we swept the swept what was loose off the concrete and there was our patio. Also did the same thing in another area with concrete pavers that I poured in molds (pans and jello molds) that I found at TS.

  • jenangelcat
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We made ours out of broken paving stones from Home Depot. They sold us a pallet full for $5. Placed on a gravel bed of course ($30).

  • silverjeans
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am redoing my pathways to create a more maintenance free garden and want to use landscape cloth, concrete edging and gravel pathways.

    I'm looking at DeWitt Pro-5. It's expensive and I'm wondering if their lower priced product would be good enough. They are guaranteed 20 and 15 years respectively. Dones anyone have experience with them and know if crushed gravel on top damages it?

  • inkognito
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am just wondering if you have made a leap from 'somewhere to sit outside' to patio. Single mother no doubt comes with a child, a crawling falling child a ball throwing child? Considerations that will effect your choice of surface.

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I see free brick for the hauling on craigs list often. You and a friend could go get it and arrange it on a sand base. Stable and cheap but nice looking if it would go with your house.

  • jack_thomas122
    8 years ago

    They all cost a lot. I am rebuilding my corridors and garden and want to use landscape cloth, solid border
    and stony pathways .I'm wondering if there is any lower priced product is available and is good
    enough.

  • PRO
    Yardvaark
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    jack thomas you should start a new thread with your request. Would be good to include your location so the feedback is relevant.

  • Tinna McGee
    7 years ago

    Make sure you install bricks or paving stones on polymeric sand or coat the stones with polymeric sand, not just regular sand or you will have weeds coming through like crazy.

  • bluesanne
    7 years ago

    Instead of pea gravel, look into 1/4-10 gravel. It looks just as nice, as the individual stones are all about the same size, but it's not round like pea gravel, so it's not like walking on marbles. You could purchase plastic edging or pavers to create an edge or use craigslist. Whatever you do, if some of it drifts into the lawn it merely helps aerate the turf. Win-win.