Paver Patio vs Concrete Patio
A poured concrete patio costs less per square foot installed and goes in faster. A paver patio costs more, takes longer, and is the better long-term answer because it moves with the ground instead of cracking across it — and because any part of it can be lifted and put back. Both live or die on the base underneath, which is the part neither quote makes obvious.
Start here
- Paver Patio Calculator — pavers, base stone, bedding sand and cost for a patio
- 16x20 Paver Patio Material & Cost Calculator — pavers, base and sand for a 16 by 20 foot patio
- Concrete Patio Slab Cost Calculator — concrete, base and cost for a patio slab
- 20x20 Concrete Slab Cost Calculator — concrete, base and cost for a 20 by 20 foot slab
| Poured concrete | Pavers | |
|---|---|---|
| Installed cost | Lower per square foot | Typically 1.5–2× concrete |
| Installation time | A day to pour, then days to cure | Longer — excavation, base, screeding, laying |
| Cracking | Will crack; joints control where | Individual units shift instead of cracking |
| Repairs | Patch is visible; section replacement is a saw job | Lift, re-level, re-lay the same units |
| Access to what is below | None without breaking it | Lift and replace at will |
| Base requirement | 4 in. compacted base | 4–6 in. compacted base plus 1 in. bedding sand |
| Weeds and joints | None, except in cracks | Polymeric sand needed; topped up every few years |
| Freeze-thaw | Heaves as one plate; cracks show | Moves as units; can be reset flat |
| Best for | Budget, large plain areas, a base for something else | Long life, patterned work, ground that moves |
Both are mostly base course
The visible material is the smaller half of the job. Under a paver patio go four to six inches of compacted dense-graded base and an inch of bedding sand, which for a 16 by 20 patio is several tons of stone to buy, deliver, spread and compact in lifts. Under a concrete patio go four inches of the same compacted base, for the same reason.
That is why quotes vary so widely for what looks like the same patio. A cheap price almost always means a thin base or none at all, and a patio on unprepared ground fails the same way in either material — the concrete cracks and the pavers dip. When comparing, compare the base depth first and the surface second.
How each one fails, and what that costs
Concrete cracks. Control joints decide where, and a well-jointed slab cracks along the joints where nobody notices. But a random crack across the middle of a patio cannot be repaired invisibly: patching material never matches, and cutting out a section and re-pouring leaves a visible seam. You live with it or you replace the area.
Pavers do not crack as a surface, because they are not one. Ground movement shows up as a dip or a lifted unit, and the repair is to pull the pavers up, fix the base, and put the same pavers back — a genuinely invisible repair that no poured surface can offer. The maintenance in exchange is joint sand, which washes and settles out over the years and needs topping up.
This is also the utilities argument. A pipe under a paver patio is a morning of lifting and relaying. A pipe under a concrete patio is a saw, a breaker and a new patio.
Where each one is clearly right
Concrete wins on large plain areas where the budget is the constraint and the ground is stable, and it is the obvious choice when the surface is a base for something else — a shed floor, a hot tub pad, a workshop apron. It also wins where the finish itself is the point: a broom-finished or exposed-aggregate slab is a look pavers do not do.
Pavers win on anything patterned, curved or bordered, on ground that freezes hard or moves, and anywhere the patio might be extended, re-shaped or dug under later. On a small patio the cost gap is modest in absolute terms and the flexibility is worth it; on a very large area the same gap becomes a real number and concrete gets more tempting.
Result
A large, plain, budget-driven patio on stable ground: poured concrete, with proper control joints and a real compacted base. Anything smaller, patterned, on ground that freezes or moves, or over utilities you may need again: pavers, with four to six inches of compacted base and polymeric sand in the joints. In both cases, spend the argument on the base depth rather than on the surface — that is what decides whether the patio is flat in ten years.
Common questions
- Are pavers more expensive than concrete?
- Installed, usually 1.5 to 2 times as much per square foot. Over twenty years the gap narrows, because pavers can be reset while a cracked slab is replaced.
- Can pavers be laid over an existing concrete patio?
- Sometimes, if the slab is sound, drains away from the house and the resulting height still works at doors and steps. Over a cracked or heaving slab, the movement carries straight through to the pavers.
- Do paver patios get weeds?
- Weeds germinate in the joint sand rather than growing up through it. Polymeric sand, properly installed and topped up every few years, keeps it under control.
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Updated 09/03/2026