If you are researching on different materials to make your outdoor space more useful, you have probably figured it by now that each material has different pros and cons. Some materials are more durable, while others are comparatively low maintenance. Each material’s price depends on such qualities and on installation by masonry contractors.

When choosing a material for your outdoor space, you have to not only look into all its advantages but also disadvantages and your own budget. simply liking the material is not enough. You should also be able to afford it. The same things could be said about pavers and concrete.

Concrete vs Pavers for patios

This article is all about the comparison between concrete and pavers. The choice is hard, but we are here to make it easier for you.

Maintenance

They are both easy to maintain. However, it concrete is still relatively low maintenance. While maintenance is important to preserve the look of the material, concrete is still bound to crack and stain overtime as it ages. These cracks and stain can be hidden if you use stamped concrete. Moreover, with a layer of sealant, the concrete may not stain or crack as much. However, if cracks appear and are too noticeable, you will have to replace it with a new slab to avoid algae growth.

Pavers also require almost little maintenance. However, the joints between the stone will require special care. Professional cleaning services do the best job regarding this. Similar to concrete, weed and moss can grow in between the joints. The stone can crack as it ages too. However, the repair for pavers is much easier than repairing concrete. One advantage paver has over concrete in this regard is that pavers will retain their look after repair while with concrete, the repairs become a little obvious.

Durability

While concrete slabs are fairly durable and strong, they are still likely to crack overtime due to the earth’s movement. It is not just the earth’s movement, but temperature changes also affect concrete. It causes the concrete to expand and concrete and this leads to splitting and cracking with time. However, pavers are said to be stronger and more durable as compared to concrete.

There are no drainage issues with pavers, and they can bear more weight without cracking than a concrete slab can bear. They can bear such huge amounts of weight due to their interlocking system. This causes them to distribute the weight evenly throughout. Since the weight is not concentrated at one point, cracks are unlikely to appear. They also expand and contract due to temperature changes, but they adjust to it better than concrete in an outdoor kitchen or patio. Concluding this we can say that in terms of durability, paving stones takes the lead.

Safety

This is the last category we will be discussing. While pavers and concrete are said to be comparatively safe materials, we have to compare the odds. Concrete slabs become really slippery when they are wet. This can not only cause accidents but also makes the car leave behind tire marks, hence ruining the appearance. Paving stones on the other hand are not slippery. In fact, they are made to be non-slippery. Hence you are less likely to slip on pavers than you are on concrete. Moreover, this also means that there won’t be any accidents or tire marks on the paving stones.

Conclusion

While there are a lot of other things to discuss about concrete and pavers, we can confidently say that in these 3 categories, paving stones have proved to be a better material. For further information, feel free to reach out to stone veneer contractors near your area. However, before you finalize a material, you should look into its other pros and cons too, like cost, value, aesthetics, installation etc. lagras