Landscaping is one of the things that increases the curb appeal and value of your home. When designing the surfaces around your home, you want to ensure you pave them with a material that fits your budget and style.
Concrete pavers are a common building material people add to their landscape to pave walkways, patios, driveways, pool decks, and other surfaces. They are made using a mixture of cement, gravel, sand, and pigments.
The builders pour the wet mixture into molds that come in different sizes and shapes, depending on your preference. After curing, the professionals install the pavers, after which you can walk on immediately. Some of the reasons you should consider concrete pavers for your landscape include:
Versatility
This is one of the main reasons many people gravitate toward concrete pavers over other paving materials. You can use them on different surfaces around your home, like the driveway, walkway, pool decking, or patio.
You can also choose different colors, sizes, patterns, and styles to go with the rest of your landscape elements. Whether you want to achieve the look of natural stone, brick, or cobblestone, the professionals making the pavers will emulate that using different pigments, textures, and patterns.
You also don’t have to worry about leveling the ground for a uniform surface. The professionals will install the pavers along the natural land contours, giving a natural look and finish.
Durability
Concrete pavers are made to withstand approximately 8,000 pounds of pressure per square inch, compared to poured concrete, which can handle about 3,000. This strength makes them last for nearly 30 years before you have to conduct any maintenance, repairs, or replacement, even when installing them in high-traffic areas.
When making them, the professionals vibrate them to ensure they eliminate any air pockets, which could result in cracking. When installing them, there are usually joints between the pavers, which allows for contraction and expansion without cracking.
Other paving materials like concrete have no space for expansion, which could cause them to crack unevenly.
Low Maintenance
The strength and durability of paved concrete make it easy to maintain because you don’t have to repair or replace them as soon as you need to repair poured concrete. You also don’t need to seal them as often as you have to seal other materials like asphalt.
The only maintenance you need to conduct is to sweep and clean them regularly. While you might need to seal or refill the joints between the pavers, you can go for months without doing it.
If any pavers become damaged, cracked, or stained, it’s easier to repair than repair other materials. You only need to remove the damaged paver, which is easier than removing a section of other paving materials and replacing them.
Affordable
Concrete pavers are more affordable than other paving materials like asphalt and poured concrete. Since they come ready to install, it takes less time than installing asphalt or poured concrete, which helps reduce the cost of labor.
Since concrete pavers don’t need any time to cure like asphalt or poured concrete, you can use them immediately after installation.
It is also cheaper to maintain or repair them because you only have to remove a few of the damaged pavers instead of destroying a large area of poured concrete or asphalt and replacing it. The lower and easier maintenance also makes it cheaper to take care of them.
Environmentally Friendly
Since concrete pavers are made using sand, aggregate, cement, and water (which are all-natural), it does not contain any chemicals or fumes that could pollute the air, soil, or water around where you install them.
They are also permeable, allowing water to seep through them into the ground instead of causing floods or pods of water around your home. This preserves your soil and vegetation and protects your foundation and house structure from water damage or weakness.
Conclusion
Concrete pavers are a good choice for adding to your landscape because of their beauty, affordability, durability, ease of maintenance, and environmental benefits. Because of their ease of installation, you can buy the pavers and install them yourself if you have the knowledge and skills required.
However, you need to get the best professionals to do the installation for the best results. The people you work with will determine the quality of work, durability, cost, and installation time. Ensure you look at their qualifications and experience.
