Concrete Pavers Guide

One of the advantages of paving slabs is that they are larger and thus easier to install than smaller paving bricks like concrete pavers and their ilk. This means that the installation costs for concrete paving slabs are much lower than their smaller hardscape brethren. But how do the prices of the paving slabs themselves compare?

Before we go into a discussion about the prices of paving slabs, a note about where they can be used. You can use paving slabs almost anywhere, and there is no real difference between the slabs regardless of where they will be used aside from differences in colors, thicknesses, textures, finishes, sizes, etc. Patio paving slabs are largely the same as garden paving slabs, though they may be put towards different uses. This is just like it is for concrete pavers – patio pavers are the same as driveway pavers which are the same as pool pavers and so on. If you want a more in depth discussion of the types of concrete paving slabs, where to use and install them, and other factoids, click the link.

Paving Slabs Prices Range

In general, due to their larger size, paving slabs (or ‘flags’) are more cheap than concrete pavers, paving stones, brick pavers, natural stone products (such as flagstone pavers), and others. While you can expect to pay around $8 to $12 per square foot for the pavers, just for the material alone, you will probably pay about $4 to $10 for your concrete paving slabs prices. They in fact take a middle position in the scale between the cheapest concrete (poured slabs) and the most expensive (concrete paving stones).

What Price Will I Pay? Some of the Factors

The exact point you’ll be on this range between four and ten dollars will depend on a large number of factors. We can’t lay out all the many factors, as some of them may be specific to your situation and project, but we can chart out some of the big differences. Of course, the price you’ll pay will depend on how much you order, that is, how many ‘square feet’ you purchase. Your price per square foot will decrease as you order more, as ordering large amounts of the material is far more efficient than ordering smaller amounts multiple times. This translates into lower costs for everyone involved.

Obvious, the quality of the material you use will have a large factor – the better the concrete, and the more fancy the texture, color, and finish, the more you’ll pay. This of course applies to any outdoor home material you use.

The price will also depend on the thickness of the slab. The thickness you select will depend on the particular project you are installing – if you need a more heavy duty slab, such as for new driveways, this translates into a thicker and thus more expensive slab.

In general, as well, the price of the slab will decrease as its surface area increases. This is because it is more efficient to make larger slabs and transport them on site than to make smaller brick and do the same. Installation costs should also be cheaper as the slab size increases (if you hire a contractor), though this will depend on the weight of the slab and other tricky issues that might come up during the project. Note, however, that as the size increases, you sacrifice the benefits of the ‘interlocking’ nature of the material. As the slabs turn more and more into a full-on poured ‘slab,’ the more chance you have of dealing with cracking and chipping concrete. The smaller the material, such as with interlocking pavers as the smallest case, the better chance you’ll have of avoiding the tyranny of freeze-thaw cycles and the havoc that can come about.

The Verdict

Note that you can save a ton of money by creating your own slabs. You can do this in two ways – first, pouring a normal concrete slab and then separating it off into different slab ‘sections.’ The second is to get concrete block molds or other concrete molds for sale and make your own slabs, just as if you made your own pavers with paver molds. This all requires a deft touch with concrete, though, so you may want to settle with buying the slabs pre-made from a home improvement store or mason supply yard.

In the end, the price you pay will need to be determined when you actually go out and buy the material yourself (or have a pavers contractor do it for you). It is possible to look for cheap paving slabs as long as you know where to find them, so don’t automatically buy the first kind of slabs you see.