Patios vs. Decks?

Question

Hello, my family is soon reduing the backyard, and i was wondering, is a Wood Deck more expensive, or Like a nice Concrete Patio , like with a nice design on it, and level (stairs) in it.

Answer 1

Patio is more classy, less slippery when wet, more durable, safer, and no animals hiding under it.  Build it with concrete "interlocking" bricks or frost-proof clay paver bricks or natural stone. You never have to worry about "concrete cracking", brick modules are forgiving, allowing variable pressure from people and things moving on top of it, and expansion and contraction of materials without cracking the units.  Also, rain water can seep through the bricks and filter through the soil, instead of flowing somewhere or overloading your municipal storm sewer system.  There are a lot of colours and shades and blends, and you can be artistic at patterns, borders, etc.  If you ever stain a brick or few, you can pull them out and replace that spot with an extra brick, without having to replace the whole patio.

Answer 2

Another thing to take into consideration is upkeep.  The concrete can develop cracks that are difficult to repair.  The deck is easy to repair, but can rot.  So there's a big trade off.

Answer 3

If the change is for your family and not to enhance property value and market appeal, go with which one you can live with.  It you are selling the deck is more attractive.

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Answer 4

Your question is difficult to answer.  Concrete is not too expensive but elaborate patterns, stains or finishes can drive up the cost.  A plain pine deck without fancy built in benches or plant pot squares or a lot of frills usually is not too expensive either.  The size of the project also determines cost.

If I had to rank the costs of a project similar to yours, it would go...pinewood deck almost equal to concrete patio.

Answer 5

Speaking from experience....I had to have a deck. I HATE IT.

If I had to do it again I would go for the patio. Decks are too much upkeep.Needs stained about every 2 years. Ours takes 5 gallons @ 25 bucks each. They do have the Trex material now and would be better, no staining with that stuff. Ours is on the north side of house and it gets very slick. We use ours daily as a way in and out of house. I have broke my tail bone 2 times and last year broke my leg...( No Fun ). They can stamp the concrete now with different designs and colors and it looks so good. As soon as I get some extra money this deck will get replaced with  concrete. Have fun..