Wood Deck vs Pavers vs Concrete

Concrete by far. Can have it stain to a color you like.

simple choice:

wood deck = regular maint and still have to replace again in a few years

pavers = constant maint with loose pavers moving around and grass/weeds growing in the cracks after a year or two

concrete pad = maint free for life, you can paint or stain to create a non-concrete look, easy cleanup and care of the surface

there are the choices, you decide

4 to 5 bags of 'playsand'...for a 450 sq ft area ????
More like 40-50 bags pal !

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pavers = constant maint with loose pavers moving around and grass/weeds growing in the cracks after a year or two

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I asked about weeds and was told that they use 6" road base and 1" crusher rock and another inch of sand. Then polymeric sand in the joints. Said weeds are not common at all and if a few do show up, it's mostly b/c they're germinating on top of the polymeric not b/c they're coming up through the 8" of base.

I'd prefer concrete patio as it's probably cheaper (haven't gotten my quote yet) but I'm super concerned about it cracking etc due to the shitty clay soil we have here. A coworker mentioned a pier & beam concrete patio which would raise the patio to same level as house (about 3' higher than ground level). Not sure how that is done or how much extra cost we're talking.

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A professional paver job usually has 12" of underbed.

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Never seen any paver job having 12” of underbed. On the ALDOT jobs that I’ve actually built myself that are going on heavy downtown foot traffic, we installed 6” of rock base with an inch to two inches of sand under the pavers.

On my parents house I installed pavers directly on top soil after tilling the area up and none have moved at all after 10 years.

I, obviously have no idea what I’m talking about. My advice was to the other poster talking about a DIY idea of it. The 4 or bags of playsand should actually be close to enough for 450 sf of pavers if you have reasonable soil under it and use the sand to simply level out an tough spots.

I put in a paver patio this summer. It came out great...also used Belgard pavers and paid around $15 per sq foot. The contractor I used said there shouldn’t be much issue with the grass bc of the polymeric sand. I researched stained concrete vs pavers and felt pavers were the better option. If concrete cracks you have to start over. With pavers you can simply replace them as needed.

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yep, the grass isnt growing up from under the pavers, it starts growing between them as dirt and whatever gets grass seeds mixed in from birds, wind, yard creep, and whatever. grass seems to magically appear from thin air sometimes and once it gets a hold between the cracks of pavers there is no getting rid of it unless you want to start over.

concrete is your only smart choice for maint free do it once and your done permanently

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This is DFW, not Louisiana. shite doesn't grow here like it does there. I've had pavers down for ten years over three inches of gravel. No cracks, no grass, no weeds, but I used an inch of grout mix under the pavers that I packed in to the gravel, not polymeric sand. And I brushed it in to the cracks, too.

You could build a composite wood deck...i.e. Trex deck that will last forever w/ no maintenance, especially if you use 4" square tubular steel for the posts. But even if you use 4x4 pressure treated for the posts you can set a metal post anchor into the footing so the wood is not touching concrete or ground. This will keep the post out of prolonged dampness and last for a very long time.

Pavers are a nice look too and if done properly....and it sounds like your bidder has the correct sub-base in his bid, there will be very little movement or maintenance. You may get an occasional weed pop up but roundup will knock those out quick....10% vinegar and orange oil mix will knock weeds down too if your are anti chemical....but it won't kill the weed to the roots like round up.

Concrete is not my favorite look for a residential patio. The Stamped & Stained concrete is better looking but still has a "commercial office building" feel to it IMO.

I am a Landscape Architect in Dallas and know how bad the soils are here. I think most people in Louisiana don't understand how much the soils move in DFW. I have been involved in commercial projects were the civil engineer did everything he could to neutralize soil movement (lime injection, etc.) and the damn paving still heaved more than 12". And I actually don't design a paver patio/plaza without a 4" reinforced concrete sub base, but I do mostly commercial design work.

Synthetic deck boards. Mine are about 5 years old, have been pressure washed once and look brand new.

I'm beginning to lean against the pavers. They're not cheap and I was considering them b/c they're touted as low maintenance.

I think I'm going to look into poured concrete patio stamped and stained. Also may look into a concrete deck. I never heard of those before but I do have a pier and beam house. I think a concrete deck off the kitchen and then a ground level concrete patio off the rear of the back of house would look good.

Any recommendations on good concrete contractors in Dallas who will use rebar,mesh, do control joints, etc I'n a residential setting in Dallas area?