If you want to add gorgeous pavements to your patio area but you think it is too expensive, then this article is for you. There are great ways to reduce the cost of installing pavement and adding retaining walls. In this article, we are going to focus more on simple DIY tips that will help you get the dream pavement and driveways you want without spending a lot of money in the process.
Budget for the Project
This guide is designed to help you select the right material and installation method according to your budget. Before you continue with the tips, take a moment and determine the amount of money you can afford to spend on pavement. As you read through this article, you will be able to determine the right tips to apply without hassle.
1 » Brick Pavers
Brick pavers are timelessly elegant. They are easy to install and can be made interesting by using them in patterns and layouts. What’s special about brick pavers is the price tag; brick is one of the most affordable paving materials and one that suits DIY projects nicely.
Hiring a professional costs around $15 to $20 per square foot. Certain paving specialists such as iPaverDesign uses the new and improved paving technology that allows more bricks to be installed precisely; the maximum efficiency allows these paving specialists to reduce the cost of installing brick pavers all the way to $12-$14 per square foot.
Use brick pavers on DIY projects, however, and you will be able to reduce the cost by a whopping 80%. Material and tool rental would cost no more than $3 per square foot. The wider the area you are paving, the cheaper it will be.
2 » Concrete & Concrete Pavers
These next materials, concrete and concrete pavers, are trickier to work with. You need a sufficient amount of persistence and patience if you want to tackle the task of installing concrete pavers yourself. That said, they are also THE most affordable material to use today.
Compared to the standard $10 per square foot you will be paying for professionally installed concrete pavers, using the material in a DIY project costs a stunning $1 per square foot. The extremely low cost makes spending more time learning about the correct installation and finishing methods worth doing.
Concrete pavers come in blocks with interlocking components. They are amazingly easy to install as long as you plan the shapes and areas ahead. You can also order pre-cut concrete pavers should you need to pave difficult shapes and areas that are hard to reach.
3 » Slate Pavers
Slate pavers were used by professionals exclusively until a few years ago when DIY kits were made available. Today, slate pavers offer a nice balance between beauty, durability and functionality. The only downside is that getting a professionally installed slate pavement would cost an excess of $20 per square foot.
This is where the DIY kits play their role. If you want to save money while still have a beautifully finished slate pavement for your patio area, these kits are worth looking into. The average cost is set at no more than $15 per square foot. No particular skill is required to install them as well.
This tip also applies to granite and marble pavements. These materials are handled similarly to slate. They may appear difficult to install or work with at first, but the available DIY kits make them more affordable and very easy to handle yourself.
Saving Money on Pavers: Is It Worth It?
The answer to this question is an absolute YES. A small amount of savings these tips offer may seem too small at first, but they translate into a substantial amount of savings once you’ve taken the size of the area you are paving into considerations.
Saving $5 per square foot, for example, may not be much. Pave an area of 20 square feet and the amount of money you can save is increased all the way to $100.
You don’t even have to worry about not being able to complete the installation process correctly. Simply use the correct tools, take your time and read the instructions before you get started.
Landscaping is one of Aileen Hines’ passions; when she’s not writing for online publications or ghost-writing for clients, she seeks design inspirations, reads books or spends her time with her family.
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