Concrete vs Pavers: Which is Better?
October 31, 2022
Do you want to pave a walkway to your front entrance, build a patio in your backyard, or install a new driveway? If this is the case, you may be thinking whether you should choose concrete or pavers. In this post, we'll go over five factors to think about while deciding between the two solutions, as well as what we propose for your project.
Durability
Whether you're installing concrete or pavers, you'll want a long-lasting product. Consider the wear and tear caused by foot traffic, bike traffic, automobile traffic, or harsh weather.
Concrete is a long-lasting material. Without a doubt! However, cracking in cold temperatures is a regular issue. Moisture and temperature can cause concrete to expand and compress, resulting in cracking.
Concrete
Concrete is a long-lasting material. Without a doubt! However, cracking in cold temperatures is a regular issue. Moisture and temperature can cause concrete to expand and compress, resulting in cracking.
Concrete manufacturing regulations necessitate a substantially lower ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) criteria than pavers. Poured concrete has a compressive strength of 2,500-3,000 PSI, whereas pavers have a minimum compressive strength of 8,000 PSI. Concrete is approximately half the density of pavers.
This means that concrete is more prone to absorb water than displace it, resulting in breaking when the air temperature drops below freezing.
This means that concrete is more likely to absorb water than displace it, which causes cracking when the air reaches freezing temperatures.
You'll want to fix any fractures in your concrete. Except that repairing concrete without a band-aid method is difficult. Typically, you must start over and pour a new slab.
Pavers
Pavers are far less prone to break because to the aggregate mix and interlocking mechanism. The natural density of the stone, caused by its great compressive strength, prevents water from entering the stone in the first place.
Our pavers, in particular, have less than 5% water absorption, which implies that moisture rarely enters the pavers themselves. This substantially eliminates cracking caused by moisture absorption.
A hardscape will still expand and decrease with the seasons. However, the sand joints and natural interlocking of the pavers allow them to stretch and compress without cracking.
Drainage
Consider how your project will handle water drainage if you reside in a region like the Pacific Northwest. You don't want any water draining towards your house or down your driveway into your garage. You also don't want low locations that invite a lot of puddling.
Concrete
When wet, concrete behaves similarly to a sponge (albeit much less porous). If you splash water on a concrete surface, it forms a wet spot rather than a puddle. Because concrete is porous, it will absorb as much moisture as possible until it hits its limit. It will either pool or drain when it can no longer retain any more moisture.
The greatest technique to promote water drainage on concrete is to slope it correctly. However, if the slope is placed in the wrong direction or the base is unevenly laid, concrete might form puddles.
Pavers
Pavers are designed to drain and move water. They're highly thick and don't hold water, as we covered in the last point concerning durability. They disseminate and penetrate water instead, thanks to their sand-filled joints.
Permeable pavers can also be used to divert heavy rains back into the earth. Smaller stones, broader joints, and an open-graded rock substrate distinguish permeable pavers as even better for water drainage. If you're concerned about water drainage for your project, consider utilizing pavers, preferably permeable pavers.
Repairs
We've previously demonstrated that pavers and concrete may both develop problems and require maintenance. Additionally, repairs to plumbing or utilities may be required beneath the pavement surface. When this happens, can you restore the current hardscape or do you have to start over? Will you be able to perform a repair? Let's look at how concrete and pavers do in terms of durability.
Concrete
Typically, to repair concrete, you must chip away any damaged pieces and fix the area. This can be accomplished with an epoxy compound, latex patching substance, or mortar mix. Unfortunately, concrete rarely looks the same after a repair.
The concrete chipped, as shown in the photograph of the sidewalk above, and someone attempted to patch it up. Some compound remains on the margins, but the concrete is gone. The only way to address this problem is to tear up the sidewalk and pour a new portion.
Pavers
Pavers are far more easily repaired than concrete. To repair paving stones, remove the affected section (and occasionally the surrounding stones), correct the base, and re-lay the stones.
Application
Most individuals undertake home improvement projects for two reasons: beauty and practicality. A new approach to your front entrance, a new patio in your rear, or a new driveway must address both a functional and visual necessity. Let's take a look at how decorative concrete and pavers can be.
Concrete
Concrete may look great when polished, coated with a glossy sheen, or stamped with a texture that resembles brick, slate, flagstone, stone, tile, or wood.
The image above shows exposed aggregate concrete; the concrete slab in the middle of the driveway is standard. They utilized a bigger stone mix on the right side, near the shrubs, to give the concrete more character.
If you don't stamp, polish, or texture your concrete, it might resemble a helicopter landing pad rather than a living place. It's functional and simple to maintain; it's just flat and has little to no intrinsic beauty. Unless you dye your concrete, it will always be the same drab grey tone.
Pavers
Paving stones provide (nearly) limitless pattern, shape, and color variations. There are several paver styles available to meet your taste and finish any hardscape project. Pavers can also be installed in a number of patterns and designs, such as smooth, rustic, cobbled, and textured. Each has a distinct appearance and feel.
You may pick from light grey, dark grey, tan, brown, and red paver hues. Individual colors may be used to create a variety of mixtures that bring everything together. Not to mention that our color combination saturates the entire paver—inside and out—ensuring that the color lasts for a long time. If you have any further questions about patio Installation contact Hubley Landscaping today!
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