Patio vs Decking - Opions welcomed

Hi all.

I'm building my back garden from scratch. There's one project that I'm really undecided about though.

I want either a patio or decking area running along the back wall of the house, at a guess without measuring I'd say about 10x5 metres.

I cant decide whether to pave it or build wooden decking.

In favour of Decking
* If I change my mind later it will be easier to alter
* If my 2 year old son takes after me and does all manner of silly stunts he is less likely to crack his head on wood than on concrete.
* I could make a chunk of it hinged so I can store things under it.
* I'm better at woodwork than I am at things like laying perfectly level paving.

In favour of a Patio
* I think I'd like it better
* I already have as much rubble (for the hardcore base) and paving slabs as I need to build it, so very little expense.

I'm genuinely torn between the two. I'd welcome all opinions.

 

A wooden patio can get greenish and slippy in the winter with all the moisture we get.

My personal preference would be for a patio. (Well, I put one down myself, didn't I? )

 

Morning Clueless
Two of my friends have decking , one slipped on it when wet and broke his ankle , another one slipped and put his knee out. I understand that if you wear golf shoes all the time it is perfectly safe :WINK1:
If you do pave your patio and are thinking of using natural stone , try and find the main importer in your area. Usually these are sometimes listed under masons. They are far cheaper than the big GC's.

 

I built a raised decking for a client. She insisted on using Soft yellow sothern pine from America, because she'd googled it & someone had said its the best. The stuff absorbs water like a sponge & takes weeks to dry out.

Rats are unlikely to nest under a raised decking, only one close to the ground.

They can burrow under a patio, when I removed the tin cladding from our old beer cellar, they had completly undermined the concrete to the point where it cracked & subsided.

 

Hi Clueless.
Decking is for ships :D

 

Thanks all. Lots of good tips here. I think you've convinced me. Patio it is.

 

Hi Clueless, Good Luck in whatever you choose, I have decking and i love it but as others have said, it is slippy in Autumn/Winter, When its Frosty, I went to the Compost bins a few weeks ago, slipped on the decking, well one leg went and the other stayed put, Sort of done the splits lol..

 

Some good info on this site, just in case you haven;t come across it before:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/patio01.htm

 

Wow! That's some site.

 

I've just had a quick look at that site Kristen. It is very useful, thanks for posting it up. I'll be reading a lot more of it later.

 

My preference for smaller patios is to lay the slabs so they aren't quite flush together.

Leave an inch or two between slabs. Then plant plants in the cracks!

Meditteranean herbs are particularly good - they like the tough conditions, and you get a nice scent when you walk over em and bruise the leaves!

Having roots under there helps to soak up excess moisture too.