Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Pavers vs Concrete

Can anyone tell me what the average price per yard is for a concrete patio, paver patio, and stamped concrete is? I am trying to weight my options and would like to know the cost basis.

Do it yourself or have a contractor?

If a contractor does it. I would rank them in increasing cost as poured concrete(cheapest), stamped concrete and interlocking pavers.

Doing it yourself, the possiblities change depending on your experience and resources(friends). Stamped concrete may be out because of the experience required to do a reasonable job. Poured concrete is possibly the cheapest, but you need some help and possibly and experienced finisher to work with you and friends all in one day or pouring, depending on the size. An interlocking paver patio is very do-able by yourself and a friend or two over a longer period of time - it becomes very economical because of the "free" labor. It takes less experience if you can follow directions.

In each of the choices, you can prepare the base yourself if you can rent a compactor and get base material to the patio location.

Dick

I always recommend pavers over stamped or placed concrete for DIY for the following reasons:

All of the cracking is engineered in. That means that pavers don't crack; worse case they move and can be reset.

All it takes to lay pavers are a strong back and basic concepts of "sub-base", "base" and "leveling bed".

Pavers can be laid in sections, as you can afford them.

The color and texture of pavers is integral, and you can't screw it up.

In this part of the world, pavers are cheap, around 2 bucks a SqFt.

The cost basis of pavers is that they are low maintanence, forgiving as to installation and soil movement, and require no special skills to do a decent job.

As a stamped concrete contractor, I agree completely with everything the other two guys have said. As a DIY project, pavers are your best bet.

Pecos

Pavers look great when they are properly sealed.. Our front porch was done with Uni-lock pavers last year, and this year we cleaned and sealed them.. There is no way we could get such a great looking porch with any other method, including wood..