The outdoors has always been a joy, especially if you have a spacious backyard. While you can simply hang out in your yard, more often than not, households would want to add a deck or a patio. This is especially true during the hot summer months. A designated outdoor area allows you to spend your days (and nights) living outdoors. Doing activities such as cooking barbecue, making s’mores, or just sitting around a fire and chatting with family and friends.
How do you decide whether you should go for a deck or a patio? First, you need to consider the climate. If you live in an area that snows and rains for long, you might need a covered patio or deck. If you are ready to take your backyard to the next level, then it is time to hire professionals who install deck or patio roofs in Kent. Then, you also need to consider a number of factors such as:
Size and backyard layout
The plinth area of your deck or patio will help determine the development cost. If you are only developing a minimal space, then your cost will be low. The layout of your backyard also determines the cost of construction. If the yard has many roots that need uprooting, then installing a patio will be expensive. When installing a deck, however, none of the roots will be affected. Alternatively, if your yard has a slope, then installing a deck or patio will be expensive.
Materials used
Most decks are either made of wood or composite decking material, which makes up the majority of the cost of installing a deck. You also need to decide whether you intend to used wood or cement columns or steel pikes to support the deck. Depending on the type of soil you have in your yard, this cost can be exceedingly high or relatively low. On the other hand, patios are mostly made of concrete pavers or a direct concrete pour job.
Regulations and maintenance
You do not need a permit to build a patio, but you need one to build a deck. This may very well cost you time and money. More so if you want to start your project, but have to wait for months to get your permit approved. Maintenance for both decks and patios can run into hundreds of pounds, depending on the material used and the extra fixtures installed alongside the deck or patio.
Add-ons
While it is cheaper to install a patio, especially if you are only going to install concrete pavers, the job entails a lot more than that. In most cases, you also need to get your yard landscapes, buy patio furniture, install a patio roof, and build a fire pit. A deck will also require deck furniture, a fireplace, a deck roof, and outdoor lighting. These add-ons can raise your construction costs very fast.
It is up to you to decide the quality of work you want to be done, the types of materials you want to be used, and how fast you want things done. That said, more often than not, patios still cost much less than decks.
