Concrete or Decking

theenergy

Hi all...

We are doing up our back garden and are seeking opinions / advice on getting concrete or decking

and do you have any contacts for doing this in dublin

Supercell

Neither I would say - paving stones or slabs can give texture and character and need next to no maintenance and look great for many years to come.

chopper6

Agree with the above but i have a particular loathing for decking...common and nasty-looking after afew years it degenerates into a slippery,mould-covered mess.

theenergy

thanks for the comments guys

no any people looking for some work ?

vinnie13

i wouldnt dismiss either,have a look at a few images online of both to give you a more visual outlook,
paving looks really well and would be my choice over concrete which looks to commercial for a home
its all a matter of personal taste,
keeping a deck slime fee is really simple and will take 5min to do so dont let it put you off.

Gairdin nua

I cannot speak for the east coast but had thoughts of doing decking here in the south west but went to look at two neighbours decks which had been laid for a few years and they were not low maintenance and were not pretty. I have decided on patio slabs and dont know if we have B&Q or equivalent in Ireland, have a very nice imprinted concrete type stone on a net backing which comes in strips and is aparently fairly easy to lay.

theenergy

thanks for the comments guys

we have a reasonably long garden

So what we are considering doing is breaking it down in 3 section

1st 3rd Concrete
2nd 3rd Grass Flowers etc.
3rd Decking and shed area


the imprinted concrete looks really good however it is costly.

fricatus

We got Indian sandstone for our "outdoor kitchen extension"

Looks lovely, cleans up great, even after plant pots have been sitting on it over the winter. You get a certain amount of green algae, but that's disappearing on its own where the sun gets at it, and can be removed easily enough. Roadstone and various other places supply it.

I think that imprinted concrete looks good, but apparently it's tough for the builders to do, as the surface finishe needs a totally windless day to dry in (it's this dust apparently), and we get very few of those here. Also, our architect said that it doesn't wear well, so you get "goalmouth" wear at the place where you habitually get out of the car. If yours is going around the back, it would probably wear at the house entrance.

As for decking, I never understood what anyone saw in this. It was all the rage about 10 years ago and seems to have gone into every second house in the estates built from 2000 on. David McWilliams even referred to the demographic as the "Decklanders"!

I don't know of anyone who's actually removing it, but Ross O'Carroll-Kelly's friend has a business ripping up decking, so I'd say it's not unheard of!