Choosing a Material for Your Patio

Since the patio is an outdoor room of the home, it can be a bridge between the exterior and the interior. A family and their guests not only step from the patio into the house, but can step down from it into the garden or to the area around the pool.

Patios are traditionally made out of masonry like stone, brick or concrete. Here are some of the ways these materials can be used to make a fantastic patio that’s ideal for eating, playing and entertaining.

The Everlastingness of Stone
Stone can be:
• Granite
• Slate
• Schist
• Sandstone
• Even the kind of marble that can bear up out of doors.

Terrazzo can also be used for patios, but only if it has a cement base. Terrazzo is an attractive cross between stone and cement, for the cement is embedded with chips of marble.

The stone can be installed on the patio as flagstone, which means it’s milled to a thickness of one to two inches. It can be randomly shaped or come in uniform pieces. It can also come as pavers, which are brick-sized elements also used for he patio’s surface. The stone can be dry-laid or mortared. Whatever type of stone is used, it’s important that it be level and smooth to support chairs, tables, banquets and barbecue grills.

The Attractiveness of Easy-to=Install Bricks
The variety of bricks that can be used for paving is amazing. The bricks can come in standard size but in many colors, or they can be outsized or have irregular shapes. They can also be laid in a riot of patterns, including basketweave, herringbone and diagonal and capped herringbone and the traditional running bond. Another good thing about paving bricks is they can be laid in sand without mortar. The sand not only dispenses with a tedious mortaring job but also provides drainage.

The Wild Versatility of Concrete
Advances in the technology of concrete fabrication have made new concrete patios amazing to behold. Though it’s still a job of work to build a concrete patio, especially if it has more than one level, the finished product can be truly astounding and may drown out any talk of the patio’s view or state-of-the-art fire pit or barbecue grill.

This is because all manner of things can be done with concrete that simply can’t be done with any other paving material. It can not only be embedded with chips of stone, but with colored glass and seashells. It can be stained or dyed a rainbow of colors. It can be stamped with all kinds of patterns and polished to a soft, matte finish or to a blinding brightness. Moreover, it can be made to resemble anything else. This includes real stone, wood, brick and even leather.

Mix and Match
Of course, there’s no law that says that a homeowner can’t mix different materials for their patio. One clever design is blue slate bordered by red brick or flagstones planted among grass. The choices are nearly endless.