Garden Paving - Saving Money

To many people, a paved patio is an essential piece of their garden space, however it is also usually the most expensive feature of a garden. If the budget set aside for your garden is quite low and a paved area already exists, then it would make sense to keep it.

Previously used slabs can be relaid into new shapes, or the paving can be extended by using another material such as gravel. If the old slabs are looking dirty, then a good idea would be to give them a pressure wash to spruce them up.

Gravel is certainly a cheap enough material, but is not always the best choice of surface for a main seating area. Also, the gravel will usually have to be contained by an edging, and the stones are usually irresistable to children.

Another cheap paving option is poured concrete, as it can be given alternative textured finishes, most commonly with the aggregate exposed, or also colour tinted or imprinted. The concrete is also quite easy to form into curves.

Another way of keeping the cost of the paving down without relinquishing style is to use ordinary materials in an extraordinary way. Concrete slabs could be lifted via the way that they have been laid. Also, for slightly more cost, you could use bricks as well to form a pattern that will benefit the area.

You could also try edging a cheaper paved surface with a more dearer one. You might also have come to the decision that you would like the look of old natural stone slabs for your paving. Even if all the work is done by yourself, this type of material will be beyond the reach of the budgets of many people. However, nowadays there are many types of reconstituted stone slabs on the market that could potentially offer quite a convincing lookalike.

Joints can affect both the cost and the look of your paving. Generally, natural stone tends to be butt-jointed, without mortar, and slabs that are man-made can be laid the same. However, some patterns and slabs are enhanced by the mortar given to the joints.

Whatever type of paving, you decide upon, you will have to dig a hole and install a sub base that is at least 100mm deep. Always make sure that when comparing a contractor's estimate with the diy costs, you take into account the cost of getting the materials into the garden.