Patio After Setting Pavers Over Concrete Patio Slabs
Family Handyman
Pavers dress up the patio and make it an attractive outdoor living space. A concrete patio is made for practicality, not beauty. It starts out looking plain and goes downhill from there. As craters, cracks and stains accumulate, it can go from dull to downright ugly in just a few years. But theres a simple solution, whether you want to dress up a bland patio or hide an aging one. Covering concrete with paver bricks is much easier than pouring new concrete or laying paving stones the traditional way. It requires less skill and less time, and its a whole lot easier on your back. Here well walk you through how to lay paving stones over concrete.
Assess your slab This project will work with most patios. Surface damage like flaking, chips and craters is no problem. But a few conditions make this method a no-go:
- A too-low threshold. Door thresholds have to be high enough above the existing patio to allow for the thickness of the border pavers, plus an extra 3/4 in. to allow for frost heaverising of the slab when the soil freezes.
- Expanding cracks. This method will work over most crackswhich grow and shrink with seasonal ground movement. But if you have a crack that has noticeably grown in recent years, this method is risky. The crack may eventually telegraph through the pavers, creating a hump or gaps.
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Add A Beautiful Outdoor Rug
The easiest way to make over a concrete patio is to invest in a large and striking outdoor rug. Heres a great example. The eye will instantly go to the rug and the concrete patio will disappear into the background. Put some great outdoor furniture on top of the rug and youve got yourself an outdoor space you can be proud of. If you like a beachy color scheme of blue and white, youll love this rug.
Tiege Hanley Level : Combatting Trouble Spots
Tiege Hanley Skin Care System Level 2 has everything from Level 1, plus an eye cream to help address those extra concerns you might have there.
Its important to use products that are specifically made for the skin around your eyes because its generally more sensitive.
If your eyes have been looking more tired lately, start with level 2 from Tiege Hanley.
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Your Next Skin Care Steps
Once the basics are covered, advanced options pave the way for upgrades: addressing more specific skin concerns.
These include skin issues like dark eye circles, puffy eyes, skin brightness and more than your basic routine might not be covering.
Tiege Hanley actually offers some upgrades to their Level 1 System. Skin Care System Level 2 offers an eye cream that helps address under-eye bags, crows feet, and dark circles in addition to their basic skin care products.
Skin Care System Level 3 adds a smoothing serum to the mix to help reduce fine lines and wrinkles in addition to the other two systems products.
These add-on products are where men often tend to check out of skin care because it seems like a lot. The key for this part of your skin care routine is to think about your skins needs and the issues you face, then search out products that address them.
You can find both systems through the links. Tiege Hanley is also offering a free gift for our readers with the purchase of your first box.
Install Clay Pavers For Your Patio
You could also resurface your old backyard patio with new clay pavers, says from Pine Hall Brick Company, based in Winston-Salem, NC.
Clay pavers are bricks that have been hard-fired in a kiln for maximum strength. This allows them to stand up to the suns rays and foul weather.
They are less expensive than natural stone, with professional installation at prices ranging between $3 and $15 per square foot.
More smart landscaping ideas: Order extra patio pavers to make a matching fire pit and for the surround near a pergola.
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Landscaping Around A Concrete Slab
Better Homes & Gardens offers over 20 different ideas for landscaping around concrete slabs and patios with accompanying photos. You can surround 2 to 3 feet of the slabs perimeter with landscaping stones or gravel and place some large planters on it. Alternatively, you can even add some planters along the sides of the patio to soften its edges if there is enough room. Another idea is to build a retaining wall around the concrete slab using stone or brick blocks with additional concrete pavers on top for accents.
A border can also be made from flagstone, or you can even dig out garden beds and plant bushes and flowers. Adding plants around a patio border creates a lovely contrast against the gray concrete, and you can even dig out from the patios borders if you want to extend it even farther. Plant smaller greenery closer to the concrete and add some taller trees for privacy if you like. You can also choose a mix of green shrubs to use as plants around the patio border using perennials for a nice splash of color.
Set Up The Guide Strings
Set up guide strings to represent the edges of the patio, using stakes and mason’s lines. Start by driving two stakes at each corner of the patio area, placing the stakes about 1 foot beyond the edges of the patio. Tie mason’s lines between pairs of opposing stakes to create a square or rectangular layout. The points where the strings intersect mark the patio corners. The strings should be at least 6 inches above the ground.
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Furniture And Fences For A Concrete Patio
If youd like, you may want to consider turning your patio into a private outdoor living room by building a fence around it. Having a private space in your backyard is great for having family dinners or even for hosting small get-togethers, especially if you live in the suburbs and dont want your neighbors looking into your yard every night.
Decorate the fence with climbing plants, suggests Pacific Fence & Wire. Look for perennials that will return year after year as opposed to annuals, which have to be planted every spring. Plants around patio borders can really make you feel like you have your own private oasis.
With so much going on around the concrete patio, dont forget about the main attraction. Find patio furniture that will look at home on the concrete. To warm things up, add some beautiful, comfortable cushions and throws. You can also add a fire pit to encourage outdoor gathering. Just treat the patio as you would a deck and it might get used much more often.
Building The Patio Cover
I realized, too late, of course, that I didnt take a good before picture for this project, but the above step 1 shot will do the trick, I think. You can clearly see the concrete pad we had to work with it measures about 12 feet deep , and about 24 feet long. It was also slanted, in order to guide water away from the house, but I did not realize how slanted it was! Chels said she had always noticed the dramatic slant , but upon measuring it, I found it dropped a full four inches from the house to the grass! Four inches over twelve feet was much more than I bargained for when I was drawing this project up on my notepad, and I knew that compensating for it was going to be a fair amount of work
The first part was relatively simple. Before erecting the 4×4s, I cut the ones closest to the house down about four inches so that the tops of the posts would be level front to back. I attached plastic post anchors to the bottoms of the 4×4s, and then secured the plastic post anchors to to the concrete using my hammer drill and nail-in concrete anchors. The plastic posts do a couple of things for you first, they make it easy to mount, erect, straighten, and level the 4×4 posts. Secondly, they keep the post itself elevated off the concrete just slightly, so the post base will never be sitting in water as time goes on.
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Stamped Concrete Vs Plain Concrete Patios
Concrete in any form can be an affordable, attractive, and durable option for your patio floor, but there are differences between stamped versus plain in terms of maintenance. Stamped concrete is designed to look like brick or concrete pavers without the higher maintenance.
It has detailing in the surface and often incorporates coloring to match your taste and other décor. To preserve the detailing, a color hardener and sealant must be applied.
People often choose stamped concrete because its more decorative than plain concrete. Its also more affordable than pavers, bricks, or stones and its more environmentally friendly, with a high-end look. Stamped concrete features the look of a brick or stone paver patio, but maintenance and longevity are far superior.
Plain concrete is more affordable than the other options. Its cheaper than stamped concrete, but you can still get a fairly high-end look if it has the right finish. The maintenance requirements are actually a little higher for plain concrete because it entails fewer treatments to the surface, but the durability is similar to what you can expect with stamped concrete.
The primary difference in maintenance concerns between stamped concrete and regular concrete is the finish. The sealer, which creates the shine on the surface when its finished, may need to be replaced often, but its more visible with stamped concrete.
Add Curves With Pavers
A square concrete slab is standard, but you can add curves around your concrete patio with the help of pavers. For instance, you could add a half circle to one side to create a fire pit area. Or use pavers to border off a circular garden at one corner of your patio.
You can see how we added a curved retaining wall during our backyard patio project, plus a matching fire pit.
This is such a pretty way to make over a concrete patio.
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Patio Pavers Are Versatile And Attractive
Patio pavers are small bricks or blocks that fit together to form a surface in your yard. Pavers can give a backyard a classy look that’s able to fit in with an old-world design scheme or a contemporary one.
Because pavers are available in a wide variety of shapes, colors and materials, you can easily customize a patio that’s made out of these blocks. You might choose the look of light gray natural stones near your pool or opt for dark, rectangular bricks under your patio table. You can even arrange pavers in eye-catching patterns. The choice is up to you and your design goals.
Find inspiring patio paver design ideas in the following video:
When a paver cracks, you may be able to remove it from the patio and replace it with a new one. This can help keep your patio looking nice for years to come.
The small spaces between patio pavers serve an important purpose. They can help rainfall and other moisture drain into the soil so that standing water doesn’t collect on your patio.
Build A Concrete Patio
How to build a concrete patio step by step? Get here the step-by-step guides and visual diagrams about how to pour a concrete patio by making the concrete slabs. Use the wood slats to add the bordering and then fill the concrete that you can smooth down a towel, and float using the respective tools. It will be solid and durable and will be super affordable too. twinfallsconcr
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A Full Skin Care Solution In Tiege Hanley
Weve already been sharing it throughout the basic steps, but if you havent caught it yet, Tiege Hanley offers a full skin care routine in three easy-to-follow steps that cover the basics. This complete routine sets the stage for clearer, healthier skin.
Tiege Hanley built their system around the basic skin care steps every guy needs: WASH, SCRUB , and MOISTURIZE. From there, they add the optional System 2 and 3 upgrades.
Tiege Hanleys system is not complicated and cuts back on the mens skin care confusion and time lost in the bathroom. When it comes to skin care, self-care, and the daily routine, every minute counts.
While its great that many more guys are getting into skin care routines, they might not be getting the best advice or solutions from their network of friends and family.
What one person uses might be right for them, but may not be right for you. Thats why its important to seek out brands that know what theyre doing and even consult with a dermatologist.
The Tiege Hanley Skin Care System gives you a simplified starting point to cover your skin care basics. The customizable options ensure everybody gets what they need.
All thats left to do is to choose a level and put the routine in place. Lets review one last time:
Considerations To Keep In Mind
Because it takes many individual pavers to build a patio, the walking surface can become uneven over time as the blocks settle. This can create a problem for people with limited mobility who may trip over gaps or ledges. Professional paver installation can help avoid this issue.
Pavers have a tendency to spread apart from one another over time this can leave gaps in your design. Using interlocking pavers and rimming the patio with a strong edging material are two workarounds for this issue. However, one of the best things you can do to ensure that your pavers will stay together well is to hire a professional to lay your patio.
You can achieve nearly any patio shape with pavers, but some designs are more challenging than others. While rectangular pavers can easily form a rectangular patio, constructing other shapes from them can require trimming or configuring. Incorporating additional paver styles can help create curves or angles as well.
Because there are so many options for paver materials available, costs and maintenance needs can vary widely. Pavers are unlikely to be your cheapest patio option, but with proper care, they can last for years to come.
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How To Extend A Concrete Patio Slab
- Written by Tanya Khan on Jan 28, 2010To ensure our content is always up-to-date with current information, best practices, and professional advice, articles are routinely reviewed by industry experts with years of hands-on experience.Reviewed by
Adding additional space to your concrete patio becomes a necessity if you need more room to entertain or relax. Extending the patio is relatively easy, and it will add the extra area you desire. Of course, you will require additional manpower if you want to pour large amounts of concrete, but if the extension is minor, you can do it yourself with these simple instructions.
Using landscaping paint, or a marker, mark the perimeter of the extension that you are planning, making sure to keep lines even. Then, take a shovel and excavate the area within the markings to a depth that is roughly nine inches below the level of the current patio. This is necessary since the amount of concrete slab and gravel you’ll be adding will amount to this total height.
Compact the Soil
Using a hand tamper, or a similar piece of equipment such as a heavy-duty plate compactor, compact the soil in the planned extension. Be sure to check the level of the dirt periodically with a level or your extension could turn out uneven when it’s finished.
Add Crushed Gravel
Afterward, add finely crushed gravel over the soil, ensuring that it amounts to about four inches. Level the gravel with a rake or shovel, and compress it, checking it for an even surface as you go.
Mixing Mortar By Hand
On a mixing tray, thoroughly mix the dry sand and cement together. Using a shovel, make a hole in the centre of the pile and pour clean water into it. Carefully push the dry mix into the water, letting it be absorbed. Mix it thoroughly, adding more water as necessary. It’s better to add less water to begin with and slowly add more if needed.
The consistency of the mortar is important it mustnt be too dry or too runny. To test it, make a depression in the mix with a shovel. If this is easy to do and the mortar holds its shape, the consistency is correct.
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How To Cover A Concrete Patio With Spray Paint
Finally, First Home Love Life updated her front entry with a stepping stone mold and spray paint! Easy alternative to stamping concrete!
We hope you loved these DIY patio cover up ideas! Check out our post 9 DIY Cool & Creative Patio Flooring Ideas for more great ideas, projects and tutorials! You also may love our post on Patio Privacy Screens!
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Why Does The Concrete Patio Settle
In the first place, why does the concrete patio settle or sink? Before the concrete is installed, the ground is prepared and the earth is compacted using heavy machinery. Typically, the compacted surface usually comprises of gravel or it will have at least a layer of gravel. This is usually done to prevent the ground from sinking because of the weight of the concrete patio that is installed above.
Settlement can occur because of weather conditions or the soil below it eroding due to rainwater. It may also occur if the compacting is not done thoroughly or properly.
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