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Patio or Decking – Which One Should You Choose?

When creating an outdoor living area, a hard surface is necessary for placing furniture on. Patio and decking are the two most popular types of outdoor surface – but which one is right for your home?

Below are just a few considerations that can help you to choose the right surface.

What’s your budget?

When installing a patio, most homeowners can be expected to spend $10 to $20 per square feet. Decking meanwhile costs an average of $35 per square feet. This means that a patio is often better suited for those on a tighter budget.

Of course, patios can be more expensive if you plan to add patterns or use special stone slabs. Meanwhile, decking can be made cheap by shopping around for timber (or by going DIY).

What are your future plans?

Both a patio and decking can add value to a home. Decking however tends to have the better return on investment – while patio has an average ROI of 47%, decking can have a ROI of as much as 80%. This means that a deck that cost $10,000 to build could add as much as $8,000 to the value of your home.

If you have plans to sell up your home in the future, decking might allow you to make most of your money back.

What surface are you building on?

Patios are only really suited to flat surfaces. If you’re building on a sloped or bumpy surface, you’ll need to spend some time and money levelling the surface first before installing a patio.

Decking on the other hand can be easily raised on stilts without having to level the surface below. This makes it ideal for sloped and uneven surfaces.

Which is easier to maintain?

Both decking and a patio are fairly easy to maintain compared to a lawn. That said, if you’re looking to keep maintenance to an absolute minimum, a patio is probably the best option.

Decking can benefit from being treated with oil annually to prevent wood from rotting. If you choose to paint your decking, you’ll also want to apply a new layer of paint every two to three years.

As for maintaining a patio, you may want to look into pressure washing your patio every couple years to get rid of dirt. Other than this, there isn’t really much maintenance required, providing your patio has been professionally installed.

Below are some of the pros and cons of both decking and patios summarized. By weighing these up, you may be able to make the right choice for your home.

Patio Pros