Landscape 101

[midnightrumbler]

Come spring time i will be pulling up my 18'x15' deck and putting in some sort of patio. Reason for pulling up the deck is it is pretty rotten in alot of spots and was stained in red paint. I have come to the conclusion that the cheapest and easiest thing to do is just pull up the deck and put in the patio. This will be a first for myself in tackeling a patio project and i was just wondering if anyone knew of some good resources over the internet.

I want to go with a nicely landscaped patio but also want to take the cheap route as well but have a nice appearance when finished. Money will be an issue which is why i would like to keep costs down.

Any help would be appreciated. I am not sure if i should cement,lay brick or lay patio stones. What is the cheapest and easiest for a 18'x15' area but still look very nice.

Thank you

[LazyPup]

It would be difficult to offer any pricing becuase material costs can vary greatly from one region to another, but i can offer you some math that might help you decide what you want to do.

18' x 15' = 270 sq.ft.

If you pour concrete you should pour a 4" thick pad.
4" = 1/3 ft... so you would need 270 / 3 = 90 cubic ft of concrete.

1 cu.yd = 27cu.ft so you need 90cu.ft / 27cu.ft = 3.33 cu.yds.

You would also probably need to put about 4" of compacted sand as a sub-base for concrete, bricks or patio stone.

That would be 3.33 yards of sand.

Sand weighs approximately 1 ton (2000 lbs) per yard.

You should be able to use these figures to check out local material costs to estimate your job.

Heres a tip, rather than price the material at the big box home supply, contact a local masonary supplier. You will probably find the material much cheaper.