Ideas for Designing your Backyard Patio

Adding a backyard patio for your home provides a great place for you to relax and unwind, as well as to entertain friends and families outdoors. To ensure you get the most benefit from your patio, some planning and forethought will help towards your long-term enjoyment of your backyard. In this article, we outline some of the key considerations when planning to install a patio for your backyard.

Type of Material for your Patio

You can choose to have a concrete patio or interlock patio – each have their benefits – and the right decision is based on your personal style preferences and budget.  There are many pictures online to get ideas of what you like, you you can also check out our gallery page to see pictures of the many backyard patios we’ve done, both concrete and interlock patios.  In addition, below are some articles and featured projects that we recommend:

• Grass Free Alternatives for Front and Back Yards
• Best Places to Use Interlocking Stone Around Your Home
• Visual Illustration of How We Installed a Concrete Patio

Size of the Patio

Look at your backyard and decide on a general size for the patio based on how you plan to use it and your personal preferences.  Are you looking to cover your entire backyard or are you looking to keep some grass/gardens?  If you plan on just having a table and a barbecue, a simple 12’ x 12’ patio is suitable.  If you plan on also having a seating area, play area or fire pit, then you will want to go much wider.  If your house has steps or window wells, then you may want to go deeper than 12’ as you are losing a lot of usable space.

Shape of the Patio

Next is to decide on the shape of your patio, and whether you want to keep it simple or achieve a more intricate design. Some popular backyard patio styles would be:

• keeping everything modern with straight lines and 90 degree corners;
• having it in the shape of a circle or kidney; or
• going with a random shaped patio.

Bear in mind that curved patios can cost more on the labour and wasted material as everything will need to be cut manually.  Also, where there are curved cuts, you will notice more imperfections.

Type of Pavers for the Patio

If you decide to go with an interlock patio, you then have to choose the paver stone and pattern. There are small and large pavers, simple one size patterns or intricate 4 size patterns, and dark borders or contrasting accent pavers. There are many different options to choose from, so the best is to work with your contractor and let them know your preferences.

Contact us for a quote

If you’re thinking about adding a patio to your backyard, contact Markstone Landscaping and we will be happy to drop by and talk to you about the various options and provide a quote for your patio.