April 16, 2024 • 27 mins
Decks versus patios... the lifelong debate about what makes more sense in your back yard. Well the short answer is: either. In this episode, Wade and Shane discuss five scenarios where it makes more sense to build a deck, and five other scenarios where a patio makes more sense.
Find more The Ultimate Deck Shop - Backyard Building Centre:
https://www.youtube.com/theultimatedeckshop
https://instagram.com/theultimatedeckshop
https://www.facebook.com/theultimatedeckshop
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
The ultimate deck podcast need a
show about outdoor living this is where it's at with your host shane chapman
and way lauren thank you for tuning in now let the show begin yeah the ultimate.
Music.
Deck podcast let's go welcome to the ultimate deck podcast everybody wade and
shane here on a Monday evening,
(00:23):
10.08pm Late night Late night What are you working on?
Of course not when you're going to be listening to this But that's what time
it is when we're recording This and probably two more episodes We're going to
pull a late one tonight and get a few stacked up here Are we just going to do
short ones though right?
Yeah just short ones We always say short ones but here we go We'll talk as much
at the start We're going to the Yorkton Spring Expo this week So that's going
(00:46):
to tie us up a little bit And then you're gone You are gone to Edmonton next week.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. For WRLA meetings. So we're like,
we better get ahead of this and record a few ahead of time to make sure we don't.
I'm going to play my very first round of golf Monday. Are you? Yeah.
I'm going to take my clubs to Edmonton. And? And I'm going to play with my buddy
Colin from Windsor Plywood. Okay.
(01:07):
I don't know who else he's got. He's got some other people lined up.
Maybe Kev, who's on the board as well. So anyways, we're going to play golf. Are you excited?
Yeah. So here's. First round frustrating. No, no, no. The first round is always great.
Here's what's going to be frustrating though.
My, like the golf clubs I always use, like my regular set and bag is in Saskatoon.
(01:31):
And the ones I've been using at indoor golf, which are not that good,
that I don't like as much, are here.
And I'm not going to Saskatoon before I go to- So like you have two full sets
of golf clubs? I have three full sets. You have three full sets of golf clubs?
Why do you have three full sets of golf clubs? He who dies with the most toys wins.
That's not true. You don't know that. Have you died? No.
(01:51):
You don't know that. But I'm pretty sure whoever's proverb that is didn't mean
a whole bunch of the same effing toy.
It wasn't like the guy who dies with 17 boats. No, no, no. The guy who has different
toys. Well, you got a wakeboard boat and a fishing boat.
Except these are all just golf clubs. Yeah, but they're different.
Same activity. Yeah, same activity.
So the way it happened. You're not going to talk me into thinking that that's a good idea.
(02:15):
The way it happened was I bought a new set of clubs like a few years ago,
maybe like, maybe like six, seven years ago.
And at the time I didn't want to get rid of my other set because there was always
a chance that I would either own a cabin or I would own like another property somewhere.
And so I was just going to have a second full set. I was going to leave them there.
You can't get the cabin because you spent all your money on three sets of golf
(02:37):
clubs. That's not true. They were cheap.
And then I traded a set from even earlier.
And so like I had an old set that I never used.
And then I bought one and I had the second set and was like,
so now I have two sets and that was going great. And then I bought a third set
and didn't sell off any of the other ones, but then traded one for a different
(03:00):
set. So I have three full sets of clubs.
How much of a difference do you think the, between your first favorite set of
clubs and your second favorite, is it all mental?
No, between one and three, there's some significant differences.
Between one and two, what you're, what you want to play with and what you have
with you. Well, those are two and three.
Oh, two and three. Between two and three, not much difference.
(03:22):
But number two is full blade. blade, like a full blade, which is hard to hit. Yeah.
And so it's not that bad when you're playing indoor golf, cause you don't lose
golf balls at indoor golf.
If you hit one bad, it's just like, well, it just still hits the screen.
You just duck and then find it and go again. But in the real world,
if you hit it bad, then it's gonzo. Yeah. So anyways. Okay.
(03:44):
All of that to say my excuses have already started and I'm a week out from. Yeah, I can see that.
Yeah. I also don't have a putter, so I'm totally taking your putter. Okay.
My seconds, I only have one putter. I have three sets of clubs.
I was trying to think of what putter I even have. And I was like,
oh wait, I bought a new one last year. Yeah.
I'm going to play it. Yep. I'll let you know how good it is.
I was going to offer you, you're like, my clubs are in Saskatoon.
(04:06):
I was like, well, take these ones if you want. And then you're like,
no, I got sets everywhere.
Yeah. I might take your driver though. Sure. Anyways. They're all here.
I can for sure tell you I'm not using them next week. Yeah. So courses might
be open here. You don't know.
I do want to golf more this year. That's for sure. Okay.
So I'm going to have to make that an effort. Did you watch the eclipse today?
So I didn't. Yes, I did. Well, kind of.
(04:29):
So I forgot. I didn't actually know what it was. I've heard all sorts of things
about this eclipse, but I've never actually like looked into when it was supposed
to be. I just kind of didn't care.
I was like, if it's going to be significant, then I'm going to notice it when it happens.
Right. Because the lights go out. And I didn't notice that ever happened.
But I picked up my seven-year-old from school today at 1.31 because the teachers are on strike.
(04:51):
1.31 every day. Not every day. Don't ask.
It's rolling blackouts. It's like California. No, this week they're like full every day 1.31.
Then you pick your kid up now. For the whole week? Whole week.
That's handy. Sorry, it's at 1.31. I picked my son up today,
seven-year-old. He gets in the van.
He's like, dad, can we go watch the solar apocalypse?
(05:14):
I was like, solar apocalypse?
Oh, the eclipse. Yeah. Well, I think that's already done, buddy.
I was like, just cause I, I heard people talking about last week.
So I kind of assumed it was just like last week.
So I had to look it up and it was like, well, no, it's going to be over Regina between like 12 and two.
Okay. And it was one 30. So I was like, okay, well, I was like,
it was, it was regular brightness out today and it was behind a cloud.
(05:35):
So I was like, I don't know that it's actually happening right now,
but, but they did say that Regina, it was only going to be 40% covered.
41% covered the sun, not a full blackout here. Right.
So we went home. Obviously there were full blackouts in the world.
Summer. Yeah, did you see?
So I'll talk about it in a second. We went home and he's like,
I want to go look at it. I was like, well, we can't look at the sun just directly.
So I was like, let's get out the sunglasses.
(05:56):
Idiot. I walked outside with just my sunglasses and I was like,
nope, that's not going to do.
No, you have to have like. Went back on, put another pair on.
I was like, nah, it's not going to do either.
I ended up with, I think six, six or seven pairs of sunglasses on.
This is how I looked at the solar. Aren't you supposed to like use like special
glasses? Yeah, but wait, it's now 140.
This thing's over in 20 minutes. Oh yeah. I don't know where to get these fancy
(06:19):
sunglasses for like who, who has them?
You just run on down to Walmart and get some solar eclipse glasses.
You should pick them up tomorrow.
They'll be on sale. Right. Wherever they are. 70 years.
So anyways, I was like, well, how do we do this? How do we look at this thing?
And I was like, just multiple layers of sunglasses, I guess.
So I, I managed to get like six or I should have took a picture of me.
Six or seven pairs of sunglasses stacked on top, like holding them all together.
(06:41):
And I looked at it and then that worked.
I could see, I could see like a little concave piece of the sun covered.
Yeah. At that point. So Avery threw him on too and he had a look too.
And then like five minutes later
it was gone because we were catching it right at the very end. Right.
So we kind of saw it. Kind of saw it. You, did you see it?
No. Okay. I saw an image. I was in the office.
(07:02):
I actually like, it's funny how some things happen in the world and I just like don't care. Yeah.
I don't care. Like I don't think I got, it got only dark enough here to be like
the same as when clouds cover.
Yeah. Like I think if it was going to be a full eclipse, then I'd go look I'd
be like well that's pretty cool that'd be neat,
But I saw this, listen to this. Oh yeah.
(07:24):
Vodka. Iced coffee and I took an ice cube there and I was like,
I either have to talk with this or crunch it up. I was like,
I'll share it with the Willis.
I saw a map and it was the, a map of like. Oh, the path.
Airbnb vacancy rates across the United States for today, presumably, or last night.
And essentially it was like red if there's a hundred percent vacancy in these
(07:47):
markets, like no Airbnbs available.
And then green, if there was vacancies and it was like a direct path across like from,
from like basically Mexico up through kind of the Southern U S and then towards
the Northeastern U S this path that the solar eclipse was supposed to be like
where it's like perfectly like blacked out and like Airbnb,
(08:07):
like it was a major, major vacation planning thing.
People were going to stay at places that was in the path of the solar eclipse.
And so it was like, it was a straight line of places like.
Wild. And so that like mostly went up the East coast of the US mostly?
Not the East coast. It was like, I should see if I can find here.
Not that this is going to help anybody on the podcast, but while we're chatting,
I can look it up. They also could look it up at that same time.
(08:29):
Yeah. They can look it up too. Yeah. Well, that's.
Airbnb solar eclipse map. This one right here. Look at this.
Look at that. That goes right across them. See that?
So from like Texas. From like Eastern Texas all the way up to like basically New York. That path.
Like Northeast across. How fantastic is that? It's just like people were just booking,
Booking shit up to go take it So you'll see that we were not really Anywhere
(08:52):
near the path of this thing So we only got We got to 40% I think Haney was on.
Posted a story on Instagram He was wearing his welding mask Oh yeah I saw that
too Just when he thought he couldn't get any weirder Of course that's what he
used Of course that was what he used I didn't know what he would use But then
I saw it was like Well yeah,
(09:14):
For sure you would. Okay. Enough of that. Since we're trying to do three episodes
tonight, we'll save some banter for the next ones.
This episode we're talking about, last episode or maybe two episodes ago,
we talked about the fact that we're into the hardscape space now.
Yeah. So now we're experts.
Now we're experts in hardscapes too. Nope.
We're like, we're probably learning faster than some people. By next year we will be.
(09:36):
But there's always this dilemma for us or there used to be when we weren't in
this space of to when, when to like,
somebody comes in and wants like, for example, a ground level deck
and we're like okay if that's what they want we'll quote it whatever but in
the back of our minds kind of like or we'd send them somewhere else to be like
this is probably better for a patio but there was a bit of a conflict there
but now there doesn't have to be anymore because we we offer both yeah building
(09:59):
materials for both so today's episode we're talking openly and honestly.
About five reasons you would build a deck over a patio and then conversely five
reasons why you'd build a patio over deck. And I don't have to feel bad about it.
Yeah. Because we sell both. We sell both. And they both have,
like they both have the right time.
For sure they do. Absolutely. They're like, obviously their,
(10:22):
their primary function is similar.
Yes. They're kind of in a way competing, but often they're, they're, they're what?
They're on the same starting lineup in the backyard. Like they're complimenting
each other. That's what I was trying to say.
I was like, wow, one's higher than the other. to what they can both falls off
a house yeah it doesn't have to be an either or you can have both,
(10:45):
yeah and i actually it is either i really like that because i've i've done a
few designs already this year where typically you would have put we would have
put a deck on the lower level because,
that was the option yeah and now it's so much better i don't have to do that
i can be i can say to people listen rather than building a deck eight inches
off the ground and having your.
(11:07):
Choice rot out. Yeah. Here you go. Okay, go ahead.
So here's the five reasons why you should build a stack instead of a stupio.
A stack instead of a poofsio.
A deck instead of a patio. Number one, elevated views.
So like we asked for some assistance with this from chat GPT, because why not?
And I'm glad I did because it brought a couple pointers up that I wouldn't have thought of myself.
(11:29):
You are not as smart as GPT. No, hell no. Is that what happened?
Yeah, that's absolutely what happened. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
But number one is elevated views. So this is, I wouldn't have thought of this
one. I wouldn't have thought like, hey, I want to be up higher because of my view.
But if you think about it, it's like you may be in a situation where maybe you
do have a beautiful scenic view over the lake or something like that.
And from down low at the ground level, maybe you can't see it as well.
(11:50):
Maybe there's obstructions in the way, buildings potentially or shrub or greenery or something.
And by getting up and having that deck out the second story,
your house, for example, your cottage allows you to maintain and see a better
view of, of everything than had you just done a a ground level patio.
So that's, that's a good point. That's fantastic. I wouldn't have thought of that.
(12:10):
Like what happens in my head is the exact opposite. Right. Want to get down,
hide from the neighbours because you're, because we live in the city.
Yes. That's how city dwellers think. Yeah. Yep.
That could be one for patio for sure. Absolutely. And just get over some trees. Yep.
Yeah. Yeah. Very good. Like I know that I, for sure, back when I was building,
I for sure built some decks that were elevated up where it was like, yeah, being up.
(12:32):
Cause also like sometimes you're up in the trees a little bit too.
Like just a cooler feeling being up in the trees rather than just being down at ground level.
Number two is adding levels to your outdoor space. So if you have a house again,
that is multiple stories,
like a two-story house or something like that, you can come out of there and
(12:52):
have multiple elevations to your deck project as well. Yeah.
To kind of get down to ground level.
So if you're somebody who's got a budget, you're going to do a larger deck,
breaking it up into different levels is,
is usually smart and aesthetically pleasing and functionally appropriate and everything else,
and so a lot easier to do with the deck to multiple like
(13:13):
you can do that with the patio too to a certain extent but if you're coming
off the second story you can't at some point you've got to use you got like
decks got to come first maybe part of that maybe the last elevation is a patio
that's what i was thinking they meant by that was that you know you can have
multiple layers or multiple levels and so obviously one is the deck,
That comes off the house. And then the second one is the, is the patio.
(13:36):
That's the second level. Yeah.
Used for a different function, right? It was like, you're going to put your
fire table and seating and all that stuff down there up tops, like eating.
Certainly. That's how I envision that.
Number three is dealing with uneven train. Again, I'm not sure that I would
have thought of this one by myself, but it's a completely valid one.
But imagine you were in like a rocky area potentially, or just like you're on
(14:00):
the side of a valley, like many of the lake in cottage country is here is on
the side of the valley. It's like a huge slope.
Yeah. To do a patio would be a ton of excavation. And if you're in a place that
has rocky soils or bedrock six inches below the soil line and you're on a slope,
well, a patio may be next to impossible.
Yeah. Out on the, like on the coast, right? Where it's all. Sure. Rock. Yeah.
(14:21):
You can't do anything. You can build a deck over any type of elevation because
you're not requiring any unearthing or grading or whatever of the ground.
You just build above and floated above what's going on down or uh yeah
down below so that's exactly what this
says is where the ground is uneven rocky sloped or sloped
constructing a deck can be less invasive and more cost effective than excavating
for a patio totally less ground prep
(14:43):
required and can be sorted with posts to level the outdoor living space see
such a that's such a great point and number four i don't know if i like this
one but we're going to read it anyway temporary solution so because they're
less invasive to landscape they might be preferred in situations where permanent
solution is not desirable so the The only thing I can think of with this is like,
we often will sell them to like seasonal campsites where you're wanting to put
(15:05):
a deck in for maybe six months and then take it out again.
That's what I was thinking of too. Could I suppose do a patio,
but it's a lot of, like that's a lot more work.
Absolutely. And yeah, with the, with the campsites, like sometimes you would
want to pack that whole thing up, like.
Fold up the deck, like break it into the five by 10 sections and stand it up and then.
(15:26):
Yeah. You know, it doesn't sit in all the snow and rot and.
Another one where maybe this is a good answer is for like home builders where
they're just putting on kind of a builder deck in the backyard and it's just
kind of meant to be either like a safety thing where they just got to,
they have to build something there. Lots of them do those little temp stairs, right?
Or a little bit eight by eight deck they're doing it just so it can,
the house can be sold with a deck on it, but you know damn well that it's coming
(15:46):
off and they're going to do something more appropriate there.
Yeah. Like I suppose that could be a scenario too where that comes into play. Certainly. Yeah.
And the final one I'm going to read, because I, again, this is a little bit
odd, but easier to navigate.
For homes with accessibility considerations, decks can be customized more easily
with ramps instead of stairs, providing a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors.
This can be especially important to those with mobility issues.
(16:08):
So that's a fairly good point, I guess. Not that you can't do a slope with a
patio, but certainly if your door is coming out four feet up.
Yeah, I was going to say three, but regardless. Four feet up above grade,
then it's a lot easier to build a ramp.
Yeah. Then it's all retaining walls and tons of fill. And yeah,
that's not, that's not the best. Yeah. Not impossible with patio, but easier.
(16:29):
So that's what it says. It says easier. So yeah, it's a good point.
What would it be? Some that you'd add yourself to that.
That's, that's five as per jet chat, GPT's input.
But are there situations where you're like, Oh no, deck would for sure me a wiser idea with that.
No, I think that covers all of it. The one I think about all the time is just
the, just like the height. So here we have basements under all of our houses.
(16:53):
That's not common in every, every place in the world, right? Yeah.
And so a lot of our, like our door thresholds, it's pretty common for that to be three feet in the air.
Yeah. And so like we address decks because of an elevation.
Yeah. You get into the Southern US and it's just like on slab a lot. Yeah.
And so it makes very little sense to build a deck there. And there isn't many
(17:15):
decks down there. It's like a lot of patios.
Yeah. In Arizona and Texas, it's usually just on So I guess that's, there you go.
There's a reason if your door threshold is super low to the ground.
Well, this is the reasons why to build a deck. Yeah. Why to build a deck.
We'll get to that with the patio section.
Yeah. The other one I would say is because like aesthetically it may give different options.
(17:35):
I was thinking of the word texture, but sure. Yeah.
But I mean, there's more color options and composite decking and wood materials
are just softer than concrete.
Yeah. Like I know it sounds stupid because they're both hard,
but there's a difference between walking and sitting and playing on,
you know, plastic or wood than there is concrete.
(17:56):
Yeah, definitely. No, they're both hard. If you're. Yeah. If your little boy's
running across the deck and trips and falls and lands on your composite deck, he's fine.
Yeah. He's going to, he might be a little bit sore, but if he turfs it on hardscape,
he scratched something.
Yeah. Band-aids are coming out. Yeah.
For sure. And I think there's also a maintenance component. There's more maintenance
with the brick than there would be like, if you want true maintenance free,
(18:20):
like not having to oil stain or seal or anything, then composite decking plus
aluminum railing can give that to you as well.
Yeah. But I don't think many people are actually sealing their pavers.
Like I feel like a lot of people treat that like.
Yeah, maybe not. But then you, so then, so then benefit to composite decking
would be staining and fading. No staining and fading. No staining or fading. So you get that as well.
(18:42):
Yeah. The warranties, of course, too, would be longer than they would be in brick. Absolutely.
So there are certainly more than five, but. Yeah, I think, I think there's an
opportunity to have a deck board that complements your house and you know that
in 10 years from now, that's still the one. Yeah. Still the same color.
I would argue that these are easier, like a deck is easier to build as well
(19:04):
for the average Joe with, with typical tools.
So most people could build a deck with a skill saw and a drill and you might
not need much else than that. Correct.
But as soon as you start doing patio, like you've probably get,
you're probably gonna need some equipment that the average Joe doesn't have sitting in the garage.
(19:24):
The excavation and the prep work process or even cutting it, cutting the brick.
You know, like if you want to DIY the, the excavation. Yeah.
That's a lot of digging. Right. That's a lot of work. Yeah.
So depending on where you are, maybe it's not that easy to dig the piles for
the deck either, I guess, but regardless. Yeah.
Anyways, we'll get onto the five reasons now why to build a patio instead of
(19:47):
a deck. These are five like reasons or scenarios. So number one is ground level integration.
Who knew? Hey, all you have to do is wait to get there. Yeah.
Patios are ideal for homes that emphasize ground level living spaces.
They offer seamless extension of your home's indoor space to the outdoors,
particularly when the backyard is flat.
Patios can blend naturally with the landscape, creating a cohesive look between
the home and its surroundings. I think this is the most obvious one.
(20:10):
It's like, this is where decks don't work that great because like you said,
well, I mean, there's scenarios, there's materials you can use that are different,
but most decks are built with treated lumber and putting that in the ground
is like, unless you're going to get some, you know, some critically treated
lumber that's. But even that.
Yeah. Like even that, the stuff that's like a PWS. Steel or aluminum or something.
Right. But then it's going to cost you infinitely more.
(20:31):
Yeah. To do that. But so like, as from a cost perspective, a a ground level,
the patio wins every time.
From a cost perspective, patios always- If you combine cost with longevity. Yep.
Always less. Yep. If you're going to do a full treated deck in the ground,
deck boards and everything, probably less money, but longevity would become an issue. Yep.
Number two is durability and longevity. Look at you and your foreshadowing.
(20:54):
Patios, particularly those made from concrete pavers or stone,
can last for decades with minimal maintenance.
They're not susceptible to wood rot or termite damage, which can affect decks
over time. This makes patios a more durable option in many climates.
There you go. I always forget about the termites.
It's not an issue here. It's not an issue here. You get the odd carpenter ant
here, but not even that, like, not that it causes like structural concern for
(21:18):
buildings in this. Yeah. Market. Yep.
But certainly in some areas that is absolutely. Oh yeah. Right?
Yeah. Very much reality.
Number three is cost effective for large areas. If you're looking to cover a
large area, patios can be more cost effective than decks.
Materials like concrete or pavers can be less less expensive than wood or composite
materials typically used for decks, especially when considering larger foundation
requirements for decks. Yep.
(21:41):
There's no doubt that like some, if you start talking about base and stuff too,
but if you're talking about just the, just the pavers, you can get some of those
things and we're talking Canadian dollars here, but you could get some for six
bucks a square foot, five, six bucks a square foot.
Of course you can go off on that, but composite decking is like,
I guess it starts not too much above that and would be, would be cheaper,
but that's just for the decking.
(22:01):
If you can include the whole project where it's like the excavation,
the fill and the base prep and the pavers, it's generally going to be less money
than a deck that requires the piles and and the framing and the deck and the railing.
Correct. Whatever else. Generally, it can be lower cost.
So that's definitely a pro. Heat resistance in very hot climates. Stone is number four.
Stone or concrete patio can be cooler to the touch compared to wood or composite deck.
(22:22):
Materials like concrete and stone do not retain as much heat,
making patios a more comfortable option during peak summer months.
Yeah. And the other part is they may not reflect back as much heat, right?
Like there's always that, like the heat that hits the decking then gets bounced
back up. I feel like the concrete absorbs a lot of that, right? Yeah.
It's a more porous surface. So I think that would probably help a little bit.
(22:43):
You know, like when they, when guys walk on lava rock that's been sitting in
the fire and they can, and the reason is because there's lots of air pockets in it.
So like it doesn't, the surface temperature isn't as high.
And I wonder if that like concrete being a little bit more porous than a plastic
slab, you know, might play into that for sure. So yeah, certainly can be.
(23:04):
And then local regulations and permits. So this is a good one I probably wouldn't
have really considered or thought of either, but you may be in an area where
this deck requires a permit.
And if it does require a permit that you may be in an area that has a really
stringent, long drawn out process, or it can be pricey, like we're not too bad
here, but some markets are tougher.
It can certainly be tough. And you almost never need a permit for a patio.
(23:26):
You may need to like, depending on some areas or like,
I don't know if you're close to like a wildlife area or something like that,
you may need an excavation permit or something potentially or a disturbance or permit or something,
but for the most part, much less often are you going to need a permit for a
patio hardscape area than you would a deck. Yeah. And some of the reasons, you know.
That you might get shut down on, on, you know, when you build on a site as they
(23:50):
want to make sure that your site allows enough water on there, right?
You're allowed to retain a
certain amount of water on that area and can't pave it to have it run off.
But a patio is, patio still works for that because you can just guide it to
the one side or to the edge of.
Yeah. And if you do have drainage requirements, you can get permeable pavers as well.
(24:11):
Absolutely. Because some places do have, have restrictions or requirements around
that as well. So you have that option.
Of course, like the deck's going to pass water as well, but any reasons that
weren't mentioned here that you would say pro patio versus a deck?
Yeah. And so again, probably that elevation thing.
So when we see it the most is that people are trying to get off of a deck down
(24:31):
below, because you, we have so many houses that are just row houses.
So everybody's out at the same height and everybody's deck is up above the fence
line. And so, yeah, that's it.
Different textures. Like I think there's, I think when you start to look at
the whole backyard and you can, and you can envision and mix different textures,
(24:52):
I think you can actually really, really liven up a whole backyard.
Yeah. And so. I also think that patios and, and brick and stone and concrete
do blend well with nature a little bit better than a deck does.
Sure. You can integrate, maybe, maybe it doesn't look like it was naturally
there, but you can integrate it with the greenery and the shrubbery and the
grasses and whatever else.
(25:13):
Integrated a little bit more cleanly or tightly than a deck that's built above all that stuff.
It just interfaces with nature a little bit easier or better or more naturally.
So I do like that as well. I think they're. Better around fire tables.
So if you're going to have an actual fire table as opposed to the propane one.
Fire ratings at all. If you're in an area, I guess it'd be a big pro patio, right?
(25:35):
Yeah. An area that requires like, you know, class A fire rated decking and framing,
whatever, that can get pretty pricey. Certainly.
It's not a concern for concrete blocks. Yep. So that's definitely a big one.
I think like my perfect backyard has a blend of both. Absolutely.
Yeah. So it doesn't have to be either or, but you like the best projects out there have both.
(25:55):
Yeah. Yeah. So, and they've come a long ways, right?
You know, the pavers used to be like, they weren't as good as they are now.
It used to be kind of like tumbled pavers that were quite porous.
And now they're, you know, between bell guard and tackle block,
they all have a, like a, basically a sealed surface and it's smooth and like it. Yeah.
(26:16):
It's a polished finish. More vibrant colors. Better colors. Dirt fusion top, whatever.
So yeah, and that can be said for decking as well.
Composite's come a long way in the last 10, 20 years as well.
Like both have made some good advancements. Yeah, and so they work well together.
Like you can tell that some paving companies are working with decking companies.
Not like maybe they're not working super closely, but they're definitely looking
(26:38):
at each other's palettes.
Yeah, and they're blending the yard nice. Yeah.
So that's that. But a good conversation. Maybe we, you know, we assist.
I mean, there's some guys out there like F Dex. What's his, it was Paver King. Patio.
Paver King, I think his name is. Oh yeah, Paver King in Ontario.
Does t-shirts. It's like F Dex. He's so funny. We don't have to be offended
anymore. No. We can be like, yeah.
(27:01):
Yeah, F that. Well, not all of them. F the patios too. F both of them.
So anyways, that's, that's it for that. If you have any feedback or comments,
just reply or send us a message and like, we won't read it, but we can all pretend we care.
Right. until next week folks I hope you have a wonderful week.
Hey thank you for listening to the ultimate deck podcast now you know what we're
(27:24):
about check the site come and shop ultimate deck shops dot com hit us right
away for sponsorships so tell us if you want to collaborate let's go check us out on internet.
Music.
The ultimate deck podcast need a
show about outdoor living this is where it's at with your host shane chapman
and way lauren thank you for tuning in now let the show begin yeah the ultimate.
Music.
Deck podcast let's go welcome to the ultimate deck podcast everybody wade and
shane here on a Monday evening,
(00:23):
10.08pm Late night Late night What are you working on?
Of course not when you're going to be listening to this But that's what time
it is when we're recording This and probably two more episodes We're going to
pull a late one tonight and get a few stacked up here Are we just going to do
short ones though right?
Yeah just short ones We always say short ones but here we go We'll talk as much
at the start We're going to the Yorkton Spring Expo this week So that's going
(00:46):
to tie us up a little bit And then you're gone You are gone to Edmonton next week.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. For WRLA meetings. So we're like,
we better get ahead of this and record a few ahead of time to make sure we don't.
I'm going to play my very first round of golf Monday. Are you? Yeah.
I'm going to take my clubs to Edmonton. And? And I'm going to play with my buddy
Colin from Windsor Plywood. Okay.
(01:07):
I don't know who else he's got. He's got some other people lined up.
Maybe Kev, who's on the board as well. So anyways, we're going to play golf. Are you excited?
Yeah. So here's. First round frustrating. No, no, no. The first round is always great.
Here's what's going to be frustrating though.
My, like the golf clubs I always use, like my regular set and bag is in Saskatoon.
(01:31):
And the ones I've been using at indoor golf, which are not that good,
that I don't like as much, are here.
And I'm not going to Saskatoon before I go to- So like you have two full sets
of golf clubs? I have three full sets. You have three full sets of golf clubs?
Why do you have three full sets of golf clubs? He who dies with the most toys wins.
That's not true. You don't know that. Have you died? No.
(01:51):
You don't know that. But I'm pretty sure whoever's proverb that is didn't mean
a whole bunch of the same effing toy.
It wasn't like the guy who dies with 17 boats. No, no, no. The guy who has different
toys. Well, you got a wakeboard boat and a fishing boat.
Except these are all just golf clubs. Yeah, but they're different.
Same activity. Yeah, same activity.
So the way it happened. You're not going to talk me into thinking that that's a good idea.
(02:15):
The way it happened was I bought a new set of clubs like a few years ago,
maybe like, maybe like six, seven years ago.
And at the time I didn't want to get rid of my other set because there was always
a chance that I would either own a cabin or I would own like another property somewhere.
And so I was just going to have a second full set. I was going to leave them there.
You can't get the cabin because you spent all your money on three sets of golf
(02:37):
clubs. That's not true. They were cheap.
And then I traded a set from even earlier.
And so like I had an old set that I never used.
And then I bought one and I had the second set and was like,
so now I have two sets and that was going great. And then I bought a third set
and didn't sell off any of the other ones, but then traded one for a different
(03:00):
set. So I have three full sets of clubs.
How much of a difference do you think the, between your first favorite set of
clubs and your second favorite, is it all mental?
No, between one and three, there's some significant differences.
Between one and two, what you're, what you want to play with and what you have
with you. Well, those are two and three.
Oh, two and three. Between two and three, not much difference.
(03:22):
But number two is full blade. blade, like a full blade, which is hard to hit. Yeah.
And so it's not that bad when you're playing indoor golf, cause you don't lose
golf balls at indoor golf.
If you hit one bad, it's just like, well, it just still hits the screen.
You just duck and then find it and go again. But in the real world,
if you hit it bad, then it's gonzo. Yeah. So anyways. Okay.
(03:44):
All of that to say my excuses have already started and I'm a week out from. Yeah, I can see that.
Yeah. I also don't have a putter, so I'm totally taking your putter. Okay.
My seconds, I only have one putter. I have three sets of clubs.
I was trying to think of what putter I even have. And I was like,
oh wait, I bought a new one last year. Yeah.
I'm going to play it. Yep. I'll let you know how good it is.
I was going to offer you, you're like, my clubs are in Saskatoon.
(04:06):
I was like, well, take these ones if you want. And then you're like,
no, I got sets everywhere.
Yeah. I might take your driver though. Sure. Anyways. They're all here.
I can for sure tell you I'm not using them next week. Yeah. So courses might
be open here. You don't know.
I do want to golf more this year. That's for sure. Okay.
So I'm going to have to make that an effort. Did you watch the eclipse today?
So I didn't. Yes, I did. Well, kind of.
(04:29):
So I forgot. I didn't actually know what it was. I've heard all sorts of things
about this eclipse, but I've never actually like looked into when it was supposed
to be. I just kind of didn't care.
I was like, if it's going to be significant, then I'm going to notice it when it happens.
Right. Because the lights go out. And I didn't notice that ever happened.
But I picked up my seven-year-old from school today at 1.31 because the teachers are on strike.
(04:51):
1.31 every day. Not every day. Don't ask.
It's rolling blackouts. It's like California. No, this week they're like full every day 1.31.
Then you pick your kid up now. For the whole week? Whole week.
That's handy. Sorry, it's at 1.31. I picked my son up today,
seven-year-old. He gets in the van.
He's like, dad, can we go watch the solar apocalypse?
(05:14):
I was like, solar apocalypse?
Oh, the eclipse. Yeah. Well, I think that's already done, buddy.
I was like, just cause I, I heard people talking about last week.
So I kind of assumed it was just like last week.
So I had to look it up and it was like, well, no, it's going to be over Regina between like 12 and two.
Okay. And it was one 30. So I was like, okay, well, I was like,
it was, it was regular brightness out today and it was behind a cloud.
(05:35):
So I was like, I don't know that it's actually happening right now,
but, but they did say that Regina, it was only going to be 40% covered.
41% covered the sun, not a full blackout here. Right.
So we went home. Obviously there were full blackouts in the world.
Summer. Yeah, did you see?
So I'll talk about it in a second. We went home and he's like,
I want to go look at it. I was like, well, we can't look at the sun just directly.
So I was like, let's get out the sunglasses.
(05:56):
Idiot. I walked outside with just my sunglasses and I was like,
nope, that's not going to do.
No, you have to have like. Went back on, put another pair on.
I was like, nah, it's not going to do either.
I ended up with, I think six, six or seven pairs of sunglasses on.
This is how I looked at the solar. Aren't you supposed to like use like special
glasses? Yeah, but wait, it's now 140.
This thing's over in 20 minutes. Oh yeah. I don't know where to get these fancy
(06:19):
sunglasses for like who, who has them?
You just run on down to Walmart and get some solar eclipse glasses.
You should pick them up tomorrow.
They'll be on sale. Right. Wherever they are. 70 years.
So anyways, I was like, well, how do we do this? How do we look at this thing?
And I was like, just multiple layers of sunglasses, I guess.
So I, I managed to get like six or I should have took a picture of me.
Six or seven pairs of sunglasses stacked on top, like holding them all together.
(06:41):
And I looked at it and then that worked.
I could see, I could see like a little concave piece of the sun covered.
Yeah. At that point. So Avery threw him on too and he had a look too.
And then like five minutes later
it was gone because we were catching it right at the very end. Right.
So we kind of saw it. Kind of saw it. You, did you see it?
No. Okay. I saw an image. I was in the office.
(07:02):
I actually like, it's funny how some things happen in the world and I just like don't care. Yeah.
I don't care. Like I don't think I got, it got only dark enough here to be like
the same as when clouds cover.
Yeah. Like I think if it was going to be a full eclipse, then I'd go look I'd
be like well that's pretty cool that'd be neat,
But I saw this, listen to this. Oh yeah.
(07:24):
Vodka. Iced coffee and I took an ice cube there and I was like,
I either have to talk with this or crunch it up. I was like,
I'll share it with the Willis.
I saw a map and it was the, a map of like. Oh, the path.
Airbnb vacancy rates across the United States for today, presumably, or last night.
And essentially it was like red if there's a hundred percent vacancy in these
(07:47):
markets, like no Airbnbs available.
And then green, if there was vacancies and it was like a direct path across like from,
from like basically Mexico up through kind of the Southern U S and then towards
the Northeastern U S this path that the solar eclipse was supposed to be like
where it's like perfectly like blacked out and like Airbnb,
(08:07):
like it was a major, major vacation planning thing.
People were going to stay at places that was in the path of the solar eclipse.
And so it was like, it was a straight line of places like.
Wild. And so that like mostly went up the East coast of the US mostly?
Not the East coast. It was like, I should see if I can find here.
Not that this is going to help anybody on the podcast, but while we're chatting,
I can look it up. They also could look it up at that same time.
(08:29):
Yeah. They can look it up too. Yeah. Well, that's.
Airbnb solar eclipse map. This one right here. Look at this.
Look at that. That goes right across them. See that?
So from like Texas. From like Eastern Texas all the way up to like basically New York. That path.
Like Northeast across. How fantastic is that? It's just like people were just booking,
Booking shit up to go take it So you'll see that we were not really Anywhere
(08:52):
near the path of this thing So we only got We got to 40% I think Haney was on.
Posted a story on Instagram He was wearing his welding mask Oh yeah I saw that
too Just when he thought he couldn't get any weirder Of course that's what he
used Of course that was what he used I didn't know what he would use But then
I saw it was like Well yeah,
(09:14):
For sure you would. Okay. Enough of that. Since we're trying to do three episodes
tonight, we'll save some banter for the next ones.
This episode we're talking about, last episode or maybe two episodes ago,
we talked about the fact that we're into the hardscape space now.
Yeah. So now we're experts.
Now we're experts in hardscapes too. Nope.
We're like, we're probably learning faster than some people. By next year we will be.
(09:36):
But there's always this dilemma for us or there used to be when we weren't in
this space of to when, when to like,
somebody comes in and wants like, for example, a ground level deck
and we're like okay if that's what they want we'll quote it whatever but in
the back of our minds kind of like or we'd send them somewhere else to be like
this is probably better for a patio but there was a bit of a conflict there
but now there doesn't have to be anymore because we we offer both yeah building
(09:59):
materials for both so today's episode we're talking openly and honestly.
About five reasons you would build a deck over a patio and then conversely five
reasons why you'd build a patio over deck. And I don't have to feel bad about it.
Yeah. Because we sell both. We sell both. And they both have,
like they both have the right time.
For sure they do. Absolutely. They're like, obviously their,
(10:22):
their primary function is similar.
Yes. They're kind of in a way competing, but often they're, they're, they're what?
They're on the same starting lineup in the backyard. Like they're complimenting
each other. That's what I was trying to say.
I was like, wow, one's higher than the other. to what they can both falls off
a house yeah it doesn't have to be an either or you can have both,
(10:45):
yeah and i actually it is either i really like that because i've i've done a
few designs already this year where typically you would have put we would have
put a deck on the lower level because,
that was the option yeah and now it's so much better i don't have to do that
i can be i can say to people listen rather than building a deck eight inches
off the ground and having your.
(11:07):
Choice rot out. Yeah. Here you go. Okay, go ahead.
So here's the five reasons why you should build a stack instead of a stupio.
A stack instead of a poofsio.
A deck instead of a patio. Number one, elevated views.
So like we asked for some assistance with this from chat GPT, because why not?
And I'm glad I did because it brought a couple pointers up that I wouldn't have thought of myself.
(11:29):
You are not as smart as GPT. No, hell no. Is that what happened?
Yeah, that's absolutely what happened. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
But number one is elevated views. So this is, I wouldn't have thought of this
one. I wouldn't have thought like, hey, I want to be up higher because of my view.
But if you think about it, it's like you may be in a situation where maybe you
do have a beautiful scenic view over the lake or something like that.
And from down low at the ground level, maybe you can't see it as well.
(11:50):
Maybe there's obstructions in the way, buildings potentially or shrub or greenery or something.
And by getting up and having that deck out the second story,
your house, for example, your cottage allows you to maintain and see a better
view of, of everything than had you just done a a ground level patio.
So that's, that's a good point. That's fantastic. I wouldn't have thought of that.
(12:10):
Like what happens in my head is the exact opposite. Right. Want to get down,
hide from the neighbours because you're, because we live in the city.
Yes. That's how city dwellers think. Yeah. Yep.
That could be one for patio for sure. Absolutely. And just get over some trees. Yep.
Yeah. Yeah. Very good. Like I know that I, for sure, back when I was building,
I for sure built some decks that were elevated up where it was like, yeah, being up.
(12:32):
Cause also like sometimes you're up in the trees a little bit too.
Like just a cooler feeling being up in the trees rather than just being down at ground level.
Number two is adding levels to your outdoor space. So if you have a house again,
that is multiple stories,
like a two-story house or something like that, you can come out of there and
(12:52):
have multiple elevations to your deck project as well. Yeah.
To kind of get down to ground level.
So if you're somebody who's got a budget, you're going to do a larger deck,
breaking it up into different levels is,
is usually smart and aesthetically pleasing and functionally appropriate and everything else,
and so a lot easier to do with the deck to multiple like
(13:13):
you can do that with the patio too to a certain extent but if you're coming
off the second story you can't at some point you've got to use you got like
decks got to come first maybe part of that maybe the last elevation is a patio
that's what i was thinking they meant by that was that you know you can have
multiple layers or multiple levels and so obviously one is the deck,
That comes off the house. And then the second one is the, is the patio.
(13:36):
That's the second level. Yeah.
Used for a different function, right? It was like, you're going to put your
fire table and seating and all that stuff down there up tops, like eating.
Certainly. That's how I envision that.
Number three is dealing with uneven train. Again, I'm not sure that I would
have thought of this one by myself, but it's a completely valid one.
But imagine you were in like a rocky area potentially, or just like you're on
(14:00):
the side of a valley, like many of the lake in cottage country is here is on
the side of the valley. It's like a huge slope.
Yeah. To do a patio would be a ton of excavation. And if you're in a place that
has rocky soils or bedrock six inches below the soil line and you're on a slope,
well, a patio may be next to impossible.
Yeah. Out on the, like on the coast, right? Where it's all. Sure. Rock. Yeah.
(14:21):
You can't do anything. You can build a deck over any type of elevation because
you're not requiring any unearthing or grading or whatever of the ground.
You just build above and floated above what's going on down or uh yeah
down below so that's exactly what this
says is where the ground is uneven rocky sloped or sloped
constructing a deck can be less invasive and more cost effective than excavating
for a patio totally less ground prep
(14:43):
required and can be sorted with posts to level the outdoor living space see
such a that's such a great point and number four i don't know if i like this
one but we're going to read it anyway temporary solution so because they're
less invasive to landscape they might be preferred in situations where permanent
solution is not desirable so the The only thing I can think of with this is like,
we often will sell them to like seasonal campsites where you're wanting to put
(15:05):
a deck in for maybe six months and then take it out again.
That's what I was thinking of too. Could I suppose do a patio,
but it's a lot of, like that's a lot more work.
Absolutely. And yeah, with the, with the campsites, like sometimes you would
want to pack that whole thing up, like.
Fold up the deck, like break it into the five by 10 sections and stand it up and then.
(15:26):
Yeah. You know, it doesn't sit in all the snow and rot and.
Another one where maybe this is a good answer is for like home builders where
they're just putting on kind of a builder deck in the backyard and it's just
kind of meant to be either like a safety thing where they just got to,
they have to build something there. Lots of them do those little temp stairs, right?
Or a little bit eight by eight deck they're doing it just so it can,
the house can be sold with a deck on it, but you know damn well that it's coming
(15:46):
off and they're going to do something more appropriate there.
Yeah. Like I suppose that could be a scenario too where that comes into play. Certainly. Yeah.
And the final one I'm going to read, because I, again, this is a little bit
odd, but easier to navigate.
For homes with accessibility considerations, decks can be customized more easily
with ramps instead of stairs, providing a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors.
This can be especially important to those with mobility issues.
(16:08):
So that's a fairly good point, I guess. Not that you can't do a slope with a
patio, but certainly if your door is coming out four feet up.
Yeah, I was going to say three, but regardless. Four feet up above grade,
then it's a lot easier to build a ramp.
Yeah. Then it's all retaining walls and tons of fill. And yeah,
that's not, that's not the best. Yeah. Not impossible with patio, but easier.
(16:29):
So that's what it says. It says easier. So yeah, it's a good point.
What would it be? Some that you'd add yourself to that.
That's, that's five as per jet chat, GPT's input.
But are there situations where you're like, Oh no, deck would for sure me a wiser idea with that.
No, I think that covers all of it. The one I think about all the time is just
the, just like the height. So here we have basements under all of our houses.
(16:53):
That's not common in every, every place in the world, right? Yeah.
And so a lot of our, like our door thresholds, it's pretty common for that to be three feet in the air.
Yeah. And so like we address decks because of an elevation.
Yeah. You get into the Southern US and it's just like on slab a lot. Yeah.
And so it makes very little sense to build a deck there. And there isn't many
(17:15):
decks down there. It's like a lot of patios.
Yeah. In Arizona and Texas, it's usually just on So I guess that's, there you go.
There's a reason if your door threshold is super low to the ground.
Well, this is the reasons why to build a deck. Yeah. Why to build a deck.
We'll get to that with the patio section.
Yeah. The other one I would say is because like aesthetically it may give different options.
(17:35):
I was thinking of the word texture, but sure. Yeah.
But I mean, there's more color options and composite decking and wood materials
are just softer than concrete.
Yeah. Like I know it sounds stupid because they're both hard,
but there's a difference between walking and sitting and playing on,
you know, plastic or wood than there is concrete.
(17:56):
Yeah, definitely. No, they're both hard. If you're. Yeah. If your little boy's
running across the deck and trips and falls and lands on your composite deck, he's fine.
Yeah. He's going to, he might be a little bit sore, but if he turfs it on hardscape,
he scratched something.
Yeah. Band-aids are coming out. Yeah.
For sure. And I think there's also a maintenance component. There's more maintenance
with the brick than there would be like, if you want true maintenance free,
(18:20):
like not having to oil stain or seal or anything, then composite decking plus
aluminum railing can give that to you as well.
Yeah. But I don't think many people are actually sealing their pavers.
Like I feel like a lot of people treat that like.
Yeah, maybe not. But then you, so then, so then benefit to composite decking
would be staining and fading. No staining and fading. No staining or fading. So you get that as well.
(18:42):
Yeah. The warranties, of course, too, would be longer than they would be in brick. Absolutely.
So there are certainly more than five, but. Yeah, I think, I think there's an
opportunity to have a deck board that complements your house and you know that
in 10 years from now, that's still the one. Yeah. Still the same color.
I would argue that these are easier, like a deck is easier to build as well
(19:04):
for the average Joe with, with typical tools.
So most people could build a deck with a skill saw and a drill and you might
not need much else than that. Correct.
But as soon as you start doing patio, like you've probably get,
you're probably gonna need some equipment that the average Joe doesn't have sitting in the garage.
(19:24):
The excavation and the prep work process or even cutting it, cutting the brick.
You know, like if you want to DIY the, the excavation. Yeah.
That's a lot of digging. Right. That's a lot of work. Yeah.
So depending on where you are, maybe it's not that easy to dig the piles for
the deck either, I guess, but regardless. Yeah.
Anyways, we'll get onto the five reasons now why to build a patio instead of
(19:47):
a deck. These are five like reasons or scenarios. So number one is ground level integration.
Who knew? Hey, all you have to do is wait to get there. Yeah.
Patios are ideal for homes that emphasize ground level living spaces.
They offer seamless extension of your home's indoor space to the outdoors,
particularly when the backyard is flat.
Patios can blend naturally with the landscape, creating a cohesive look between
the home and its surroundings. I think this is the most obvious one.
(20:10):
It's like, this is where decks don't work that great because like you said,
well, I mean, there's scenarios, there's materials you can use that are different,
but most decks are built with treated lumber and putting that in the ground
is like, unless you're going to get some, you know, some critically treated
lumber that's. But even that.
Yeah. Like even that, the stuff that's like a PWS. Steel or aluminum or something.
Right. But then it's going to cost you infinitely more.
(20:31):
Yeah. To do that. But so like, as from a cost perspective, a a ground level,
the patio wins every time.
From a cost perspective, patios always- If you combine cost with longevity. Yep.
Always less. Yep. If you're going to do a full treated deck in the ground,
deck boards and everything, probably less money, but longevity would become an issue. Yep.
Number two is durability and longevity. Look at you and your foreshadowing.
(20:54):
Patios, particularly those made from concrete pavers or stone,
can last for decades with minimal maintenance.
They're not susceptible to wood rot or termite damage, which can affect decks
over time. This makes patios a more durable option in many climates.
There you go. I always forget about the termites.
It's not an issue here. It's not an issue here. You get the odd carpenter ant
here, but not even that, like, not that it causes like structural concern for
(21:18):
buildings in this. Yeah. Market. Yep.
But certainly in some areas that is absolutely. Oh yeah. Right?
Yeah. Very much reality.
Number three is cost effective for large areas. If you're looking to cover a
large area, patios can be more cost effective than decks.
Materials like concrete or pavers can be less less expensive than wood or composite
materials typically used for decks, especially when considering larger foundation
requirements for decks. Yep.
(21:41):
There's no doubt that like some, if you start talking about base and stuff too,
but if you're talking about just the, just the pavers, you can get some of those
things and we're talking Canadian dollars here, but you could get some for six
bucks a square foot, five, six bucks a square foot.
Of course you can go off on that, but composite decking is like,
I guess it starts not too much above that and would be, would be cheaper,
but that's just for the decking.
(22:01):
If you can include the whole project where it's like the excavation,
the fill and the base prep and the pavers, it's generally going to be less money
than a deck that requires the piles and and the framing and the deck and the railing.
Correct. Whatever else. Generally, it can be lower cost.
So that's definitely a pro. Heat resistance in very hot climates. Stone is number four.
Stone or concrete patio can be cooler to the touch compared to wood or composite deck.
(22:22):
Materials like concrete and stone do not retain as much heat,
making patios a more comfortable option during peak summer months.
Yeah. And the other part is they may not reflect back as much heat, right?
Like there's always that, like the heat that hits the decking then gets bounced
back up. I feel like the concrete absorbs a lot of that, right? Yeah.
It's a more porous surface. So I think that would probably help a little bit.
(22:43):
You know, like when they, when guys walk on lava rock that's been sitting in
the fire and they can, and the reason is because there's lots of air pockets in it.
So like it doesn't, the surface temperature isn't as high.
And I wonder if that like concrete being a little bit more porous than a plastic
slab, you know, might play into that for sure. So yeah, certainly can be.
(23:04):
And then local regulations and permits. So this is a good one I probably wouldn't
have really considered or thought of either, but you may be in an area where
this deck requires a permit.
And if it does require a permit that you may be in an area that has a really
stringent, long drawn out process, or it can be pricey, like we're not too bad
here, but some markets are tougher.
It can certainly be tough. And you almost never need a permit for a patio.
(23:26):
You may need to like, depending on some areas or like,
I don't know if you're close to like a wildlife area or something like that,
you may need an excavation permit or something potentially or a disturbance or permit or something,
but for the most part, much less often are you going to need a permit for a
patio hardscape area than you would a deck. Yeah. And some of the reasons, you know.
That you might get shut down on, on, you know, when you build on a site as they
(23:50):
want to make sure that your site allows enough water on there, right?
You're allowed to retain a
certain amount of water on that area and can't pave it to have it run off.
But a patio is, patio still works for that because you can just guide it to
the one side or to the edge of.
Yeah. And if you do have drainage requirements, you can get permeable pavers as well.
(24:11):
Absolutely. Because some places do have, have restrictions or requirements around
that as well. So you have that option.
Of course, like the deck's going to pass water as well, but any reasons that
weren't mentioned here that you would say pro patio versus a deck?
Yeah. And so again, probably that elevation thing.
So when we see it the most is that people are trying to get off of a deck down
(24:31):
below, because you, we have so many houses that are just row houses.
So everybody's out at the same height and everybody's deck is up above the fence
line. And so, yeah, that's it.
Different textures. Like I think there's, I think when you start to look at
the whole backyard and you can, and you can envision and mix different textures,
(24:52):
I think you can actually really, really liven up a whole backyard.
Yeah. And so. I also think that patios and, and brick and stone and concrete
do blend well with nature a little bit better than a deck does.
Sure. You can integrate, maybe, maybe it doesn't look like it was naturally
there, but you can integrate it with the greenery and the shrubbery and the
grasses and whatever else.
(25:13):
Integrated a little bit more cleanly or tightly than a deck that's built above all that stuff.
It just interfaces with nature a little bit easier or better or more naturally.
So I do like that as well. I think they're. Better around fire tables.
So if you're going to have an actual fire table as opposed to the propane one.
Fire ratings at all. If you're in an area, I guess it'd be a big pro patio, right?
(25:35):
Yeah. An area that requires like, you know, class A fire rated decking and framing,
whatever, that can get pretty pricey. Certainly.
It's not a concern for concrete blocks. Yep. So that's definitely a big one.
I think like my perfect backyard has a blend of both. Absolutely.
Yeah. So it doesn't have to be either or, but you like the best projects out there have both.
(25:55):
Yeah. Yeah. So, and they've come a long ways, right?
You know, the pavers used to be like, they weren't as good as they are now.
It used to be kind of like tumbled pavers that were quite porous.
And now they're, you know, between bell guard and tackle block,
they all have a, like a, basically a sealed surface and it's smooth and like it. Yeah.
(26:16):
It's a polished finish. More vibrant colors. Better colors. Dirt fusion top, whatever.
So yeah, and that can be said for decking as well.
Composite's come a long way in the last 10, 20 years as well.
Like both have made some good advancements. Yeah, and so they work well together.
Like you can tell that some paving companies are working with decking companies.
Not like maybe they're not working super closely, but they're definitely looking
(26:38):
at each other's palettes.
Yeah, and they're blending the yard nice. Yeah.
So that's that. But a good conversation. Maybe we, you know, we assist.
I mean, there's some guys out there like F Dex. What's his, it was Paver King. Patio.
Paver King, I think his name is. Oh yeah, Paver King in Ontario.
Does t-shirts. It's like F Dex. He's so funny. We don't have to be offended
anymore. No. We can be like, yeah.
(27:01):
Yeah, F that. Well, not all of them. F the patios too. F both of them.
So anyways, that's, that's it for that. If you have any feedback or comments,
just reply or send us a message and like, we won't read it, but we can all pretend we care.
Right. until next week folks I hope you have a wonderful week.
Hey thank you for listening to the ultimate deck podcast now you know what we're
(27:24):
about check the site come and shop ultimate deck shops dot com hit us right
away for sponsorships so tell us if you want to collaborate let's go check us out on internet.
Music.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.