Bluestone pavers spread across a patio to create beautiful flooring. This rock comes in colours such as purple, blue, green and grey, which will show subtle colour shifts across the deck. To blend the paving with the environment, consider the shades of your home's external walls, other hardscape features and plants. You may wonder what factors will affect the cost of the installation. Read on to discover several things that come into play.

Undertaking Prep Work

The pavers will need to be set on a prepared base. You could use thinner pavers and put them on a concrete slab or thicker pavers and set them on a compacted base of crushed stone and sand. Your contractor can advise on the options and relative costs for your patio. They can suggest whether the money saved by laying thinner pavers will offset the cost of pouring a concrete slab.

Another relevant aspect is the patio terrain. You may decide to level a sloped patio, leaving a slight incline for rainwater runoff, which can add to labour costs. You can, of course, pave over a slanted deck, but this may add to the job difficulty and cost, depending on the steepness.

Laying the Pavers

After the base is prepared, gorgeous bluestone pavers can be laid on top. You'll need to select the size and shape pavers you want and choose a pattern. A simple design using square pavers will be quicker than a more intricate design. For example, an Ashlar pattern combines square and rectangle pavers of varying sizes, so the process is more complicated. If you want a border for your patio, pavers may need to be cut to size, which will add an extra step to the job. Of course, bigger pavers are quicker to lay than many small pavers as well.

To add a natural feel to a patio that abuts a garden bed, you may decide to set an irregular edge rather than a straight one. For example, some pavers could extend into the garden bed area while others sit further back, creating a stair-step effect. Such unique effects take more planning and work than a simple edge.

Thus, several factors affect the cost of a bluestone paving installation. How much preparation is required and what the slope of the ground is will affect how long the installation takes and how much it costs. Additionally, the pavers' sizes and the complexity of the design are also crucial influencing factors.