Having an outdoor space attached to your home in these times is considered a luxury. You could sit out and bask in the sun or host a variety of events like barbeques and birthdays in that area. You have an option of converting the area into a lawn or perhaps place a swimming pool in the middle but the trend these days points towards converting that space into a patio or a deck.

Now people often do confuse between decks and patios so let’s shed some light on them.

Patio

A patio is an outdoor area or a porch that is often covered using cement, tiles, stones and other materials. Patios are connected to the house and are a part of the exterior.

  Uses

Patios at home are often used for hosting small gatherings and events like parties and barbeques, as mentioned above. They are quite common and trending in the United States, Canada, and Australia, where people like to relax outdoors to enjoy their dinners.

People also convert their patios into playing areas for kids to make some open space available to them for various activities. Since it is simply an extension of the house, the parents can easily monitor the child’s activity from inside the house.

Having patios at restaurants and cafes have also been gaining quite some popularity lately. People love having their dinner out in the open with maybe some candlelight and soft music.

Patios in offices offer a place for the employees to sit back and relax, which helps keep up the work productivity and work environment.

Material and Costing

While building a patio you need to focus on the material that you are going to use. A lot depends on what activity you’re going to use it for. Nonetheless, the material always needs to be durable and easy to maintain.

The cost factor also comes into play as most people have a fixed budget for their spending on these things.

The most common and viable options given for material are concrete, flagstone, bricks, and gravel. People have also started using ceramic tiles but experts from Maryland Paving Pros advise checking the PEI rating which gauges the strength of the tile. There are many other factors one should check with every material to understand the durability of your patio.

Usually, the cost of patios is around $15 per square foot, which obviously, may rise and fall with different requirements.

Deck

A deck is almost like a patio but with wooden or vinyl flooring which is slightly raised from the ground.

Uses

Just like patios, decks also have multiple functions. They are made for some specific purposes like the flooring near a pool or simply a place to relax. Since the decks are raised from the floor using a support system, they are ideal to be constructed near swimming pools and other water sources, which makes it easier to install a grid of drainages.

Also unlike patios, decks can be constructed inside the house to replace normal flooring for some rooms and also at balconies and terraces.

A lot of households have started building decks and it has become very common with modern architects, maybe because they have a more modern feel to them as compared to patios.

Restaurants, clubs, bars, hotels, and other such businesses have started incorporating them in their designs which look amazing with the correct lighting and furniture. Many of these places have an option of covering the deck to control the sunlight with a canopy or something similar

Material and Costing

Decks don’t have as many options for material sourcing as patios do. The most popular

materials for them include wood. High-quality wood like cedar, pine, and spruce raise the cost of construction a lot. Though apart from actual wood, composite wood has also started gaining popularity. Similarly, aluminum and concrete are also being used to replace these options for the construction of decks.

Since the decks are a bit more complex and luxurious than patios, their cost of construction is obviously more than patios. These can cost you around 33$ per square foot which is more than double that of patios. The cost is, of course, tentative.

It might increase and decrease while taking factors like material placement and design into consideration.

Patios and decks have definitely gained popularity all over the world and are slowly becoming essential to any property which has enough space to have one. They are truly a mark of luxury, comfort, and class.