As part of the purchase agreement for my house the former owners agreed to put in a new driveway with out choice of pavers or concrete. I like the looks of pavers, but I’m worried about their long term durability- will I be constantly pulling up weeds, sweeping in new sand, etc. Do pavers hold up for many decades like concrete does or do they need to be redone periodically? I’m thinking non-permeable pavers might be better because they’re placed closer together?
Pavers can last a long time when properly done. Weeds can be taken care of with simple herbicides. The quality of the pavers makes a difference, real stone vs. manufactured blocks. The manufactured stuff may degrade over time. Personally I’d go with concrete, you can jack a car up on it, play basketball, skateboard, lots of stuff that doesn’t work well on pavers.
Look at permeable pavers. There are some made to stand up to parking areas and full sized trucks. I imagine they would last quite a while and have the benefit of rarely being slick from rain or ice.
Here is an example of a vendor, but you should search for actual studies that have been made by towns and other institutions who are considering them.
I would go with the concrete. Pavers can be installed to last but rarely are they.
When I built my enclosed patio, I did the floor with pavers, in a pattern of concentric rings. Then I continued the pattern out the door and onto a path leading to the driveway, and another curving out to the garden. It’s so beautiful and practical, but I stopped short of doing the driveway as well. Occasionally one of the outdoor pavers gets a little skewed, and I have to adjust its support, but that’s only about once a year.
Interesting. I’d never heard of pavers before, and thought you were talking about getting a paved (i.e. asphalt) driveway, and I was going to say ,“not if you care about aesthetics.”
I have poured concrete…but the installers “drew” stones on top of it and painted it. It looks just like pavers, but with no gaps for weeds. It’s similar to stamped concrete, but without the regular pattern. I’m very happy with it.
The particular company I used was owned by a guy with an art degree.
Concrete loves to crack. The extent of cracking depends on the quality of the job and the consistency of the substrate. stamping in a pattern might just help the cracking follow a pattern which would blend in. That’s just a guess. Anytime I’ve seen stamped concrete work it was indoors and they poured a seriously thick floor.
BUT, if somebody gave me the option of actual pavers I would trip over myself signing that contract. If one breaks you can pull it out and drop a new one in. If they settle slightly unevenly then to me it adds a little charm. If concrete settles unevenly it looks like crap. If all I had to do was occasionally power wash it and broom in a little Polymeric sand that would be worth the upkeep.