Stone patio vs pressed concrete

[temery]

How do they compare cost vs durability?

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Stone will be more expensive and look better. Pressed concrete will be less expensive, but you can do some very different things to close the gap on the appearance vs. stone. I believe both will have similar lifespan, or not much difference. Pressed concrete depending on how you finish it may need touch ups over the lifespan.

 

[Get a Job]

My understanding is that the biggest enemy of concrete is a frost heave. As long as it maintains its integrity, concrete will look great. If the freeze/thaw cycle wreaks its havoc, however, you will be left with one or more cracks in the concrete and no good way to repair it. If frost heaves damage stone work, the pavers/stones can just be dug up and reset.

If I lived where the temperature never drops below 32°F, I would go concrete all day. Being in CT, though, I went with pavers for my recently built patio.

 

[Exodus]

Just installed a a small 4' wide stamped concrete walkway and coping around my pool, and installed larger, wider paver patio areas beyond the concrete. The concrete contractor was very honest and told me he would have done the same thing. I live in Northeastern CT an no matter how much reinforcement or how many expansion joints you install, the earth will always move with the annual freeze/thaw cycle ultimately leading to cracked concrete. The different materials look really good together as they can dye the concrete to either blend or accent the design and color of the pavers. Pavers are going to cost about $5.00-$6.00 more per square foot, but I think it's worth it in the long run.

 

[HuskyHawk]

How do they compare cost vs durability?

By pressed concrete do you mean pavers? Or do you mean a poured concrete surface, with pressed designs to make it look like individual stones/pavers?

Pavers and stone require more upkeep (moss is a problem for me) but look better than poured concrete in most use cases. Around a pool or something like @Exodus mentioned, you'd want poured concrete for a consistent, dirt (and moss) free surface.

 

[Kajik]

Pavers way to go where stuff freezes,last thing you want to look at is a crack running down the middle of your patio that gets bigger and wider every year.weedkill and a bucket of stone dust a year is all you need for paver maintence