Why You Should Hire A Professional To Install Interlocking Pavers

Interlocking Pavers are a great choice regardless if you’re building a new driveway or you’re remodeling your sidewalk or patio. They are highly sought after by homeowners who are looking to upgrade the aesthetics to their home or increase the property value of their home because interlocking pavers are highly flexible, durable and aesthetically pleasing. 

Interlocking Pavers can be a beautiful addition to your home, however, if not properly installed the pavers can cause a lot of issues in that will manifest in the future. Costing you money and time.

The best way to avoid these headaches would be to hire a contractor.

The installation process of interlocking pavers is very similar to putting together a puzzle. Installing interlocking pavers is very different from installing tile, tile requires a non-flexible surface and mortar while the pavers require a lot more work to complete the process correctly, it is not as simple as putting some paving stones on the dirt and walking away. The installation process is tedious and intricate but it is well worth it because pavers are far more durable, flexible, and aesthetically appealing than concrete.

Some of the major advantages of pavers are low maintenance, durable, highly versatile, environmentally friendly, weather resistant. Pavers are also easily repaired or replaced.

Interlocking Pavers are a wonderful addition to any home, however, the process is time-consuming and can be intricate, meaning if you want to ensure that the pavers are installed correctly and properly the first time it may behoove you to hire a contractor. To speak to one of our professionals about your project fill out our FREE Estimate. 

How to Clean your Patio

Backyard Patios are the ideal space to entertain guests, spend quality time with the family, or simply relax and enjoy the outdoors. Maintaining your patio clean is relatively easy. Routine maintenance will ensure your patio will last for years to come. The proper steps needed to clean your patio depends on the material that your patio is made out of.

Poured Concrete:

Concrete is a very porous material, meaning that concrete is susceptible to stains and discoloration. For that reason, properly maintaining your concrete patio is important to maintain the aesthetic of the patio and your investment.

If you make sure that you routinely practice proper maintenance, which includes sweeping away debris and hosing the patio down with water, that should be all that is required. 

If you happen to have not kept up on the maintenance using a mixture of soap and water, along with a little elbow grease and a synthetic bristle brush should do the trick. Keep in mind that you should not use a wire brush because those have a tendency of scratching the concrete.

If you happen to have tougher stains to remove, we’ve included a few more tricks you can use to get rid of even the toughest of stains. 

Spraying oven cleaner on stains directly and letting it sit for 4 hours, then rinsing it off with a hose should help lift the stain.

Sprinkling a mix of Laundry detergent and a bit of water on the stain and then scrubbing it with a brush until the stain begins to fade, then rinsing off the mixture with water should help lift the stain. 

If you happen to have oil stains, cat litter does wonder to remove oil stains. Grind the cat litter into the stain with a block of wood or something similar, allow the cat litter to set for a few minutes to absorb the oil and then sweep up the cat litter and hose down the area. 

Stamped Concrete:

Stamped Concrete is much easier to clean than poured concrete because stamped concrete is protected by a sealer, making it waterproof and and stain resistant meaning stamped concrete requires minimal upkeep.

Just like poured concrete you want to start out by sweeping away all the dirt and debris, the reason why this is important is because if debris such as decaying leaves or wood is left on your patio for too long it can stain your concrete. 

We recommend using a simple solution of dish soap and warm water and nylon brush to scrub the stains away. And then simply hose it off with your garden hose. The ratio for the soup/water solution should be 1 cup of soup for every half gallon of water. 

Another great alternative is using a pressure washer to remove the stains and debris.

Your stamped concrete patio should be resealed every 2-3 years to protect it and keep it looking new.

Natural Stone:

Natural stone is a very good option. Natural stone is a stain resistant and maintenance is also very fairly simple. 

A good way to clean natural stone is to scrub the stain with a strong brush and use a solution of 1 part bleach and 1 part water and then rinse it off with your garden hose. Be careful rinsing the solution off though because the bleach/water solution has a tendency to kill grass and plants. If you’d like a more plant friendly solution replace the bleach with white vinegar. 

Another good option is to pressure wash your natural stone patio. 

If you’d like an extra level of protection natural stone can be given a sealant which would protect it against stains, making it even easier to clean. 

Paver Stones:

If you are looking for the most low-maintenance option paver stones is your best bet. Paver stones don’t require a lot of maintenance work to keep it looking fresh and clean and chemicals are usually unnecessary.

To clean paver stones we recommend simply scrubbing the stain with a deck brush and simple solution of regular dish soap and water. Keep in mind that the binding agent used to keep the pavers in place is sand so be careful when rinsing off the stone because you do not want the sand to wash away which is why we do not recommend using a pressure washer on paver stones. 

An awesome plus of paver stones is if your patio is fine except for a couple of paver stones that are cracked or badly stained you can easily replace those couple of paver stone and your patio back to being good as new

If you found that your patio or driveway needs more than cleaning reach out to us and you’d like to remodel your patio. Fill out our contact form for more information and a free estimate. 

Pavers vs Concrete Patios

So you’ve decided that you would like to remodel your walkway, patio or driveway, but are a bit confused about whether you should go with concrete pavers or stamped concrete, don’t fret we will go over the pros and cons of each so you can make the best decision for you.

Pavers:

Pavers are the top choice for homeowners. Pavers are very versatile because they come in so many different varieties of style and colors. Pavers offers the homeowner the ability to create a one-of-a-kind driveway, walkway or patio by mixing and matching colors and shapes. Repairing pavers is a lot more cost efficient than repairing stamped concrete because you only need to remove the damaged pavers and replace them with new pavers. Additionally, the life expectancy of pavers is more than 30 years meaning they are built to last making them a better return on your investment than Stamped Concrete. Furthermore, Pavers are extremely durable and tough, meaning, unlike stamped concrete, you can use pavers in your driveway and not worry about them cracking. Pavers are very low maintenance. Sweeping and rinsing them off is basically all you need to do to maintain your Pavers. If any weeds sprout between the pavers just pull them out. Pavers are highly weather resistant giving it another advantage to stamped concrete if you live in an area that experiences large amounts of weather fluctuation. 

Concrete:

Stamped Concrete is the fastest growing alternative to pavers. Stamped Concrete mimics higher end materials such as stone, brick, and slate at a fraction of the price. There are a multitude of choices available at your disposal when it comes to stamped concrete. Because Stamped Concrete can mimic so many different surfaces and comes in many patterns, textures and colors that will allow you to perfectly customize your patio, driveway or walkway to match the aesthetic and feel of your backyard perfectly. Another advantage to Stamped Concrete is that it is easy to install. Stamped Concrete requires a lot less labor to install than pavers. However, getting the mixture of water and cement powder correct is vital because an imbalance can cause poor finish or premature cracking. One of the major disadvantages of Stamped Concrete is that it lacks durability. Stamped Concrete has a tendency to crack easily when it is consistently put under a heavy load which is why we do not recommend using Stamped Concrete for driveways or any areas that have very objects. Furthermore, Stamped Concrete will eventually crack due to weathering and time, meaning, even though, Stamped Concrete is less expensive than other surface choices, stamped concrete may end up costing you more money in the long run if unsightly cracks bother you. 

Whether you decide to go with Pavers or Stamped Concrete both are great options .But if you need help understanding which options would be best for you or need help installing Stamped Concrete or Pavers fill out our contact form for more information and free estimate.