Pavers are the granite countertop for your driveway, pool, or patio. They are the best hardscaping product available to homeowners today. Their durability and aesthetic qualities are unmatched by any other product. On a residential scale, pavers can cost between three dollars a square foot all of the way to twelve dollars a square foot.
Cost per square foot is dependent on the number of square feet you have to cover. The rule of thumb is the smaller the area, the higher the cost per square foot. Homeowners are often surprised to learn that transforming a ten by ten area of their backyard from grass to pavers can cost them upwards of fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars. There are fixed costs associated with small jobs, as well as large jobs, which do not change. These costs are delivery charges. Everyone knows that the cost of fuel has sky rocketed over the past five years. Unfortunately, if you want pavers, that is something that you are going to pay for. Normal delivery fees from the manufacturers range from two to three hundred dollars. Not to mention the cost of bringing the base material to the jobsite or hauling away the excavated, dirt, grass, and jobsite debris. Without paying for any labor, material, or company profit, the initial fixed costs to install one hundred square feet or one thousand square feet can be upwards of five hundred dollars.
Typically small jobs are left up to the homeowners as do it yourself projects. Paving companies are happy to install the small job, but the client must be prepared to pay for the service that the paving company is providing. The reason for prices well above five or six dollars a square foot for the small job can be justified by the fixed cost overhead.
As you increase the size of the paver project, the cost per square foot decreases, but the bottom line cost increases. The type of paver you choose can have a minor impact in the cost of the job. Some paving companies have pricing from their vendors that allow them to encourage their clients to choose whatever color and shape paver they like. Whereas other vendors have price points on varying styles and colors that are fifty cents to a dollar a square foot different.
Geographical location of your job will also play a part in the cost of the project. In the southern states, pavers have become more main stream. Therefore, there is higher demand for the product, a larger supply of qualified contractors, and more vendor options. In these areas, pavers are going to cost less than in other parts of the country where paver vendors and installers aren't as numerous.
Finally, the type of project you plan to undertake will have the most significant effect on the bottom cost. If you are going to remodel an existing patio or pool, thin pavers can be used with do not require excavation or base material. Driveways can easily be accessed by large equipment and the concrete or asphalt that is removed can be taken to recycling plants and disposed of for free. The most costly project to undertake, on a per square foot basis, is the new patio in the backyard. Typically grass and dirt has to be excavated. In most cases, it has to be removed by hand due to the inaccessibility of machinery to the back yard. The grass that is removed cannot be disposed for free either. Your contractor will have to pay to dump the material.