The 3 Biggest Mistakes Made When Designing a Patio

I started in the landscape business back in 1985, so I’ve been involved in the design/build process for a lot of patios.  Thousands, I’d imagine.

In those 30+ years since I first put a shovel into the earth for hire, I’ve spoken with thousands of clients, too.  Clients of ours, clients of our competitors.  Clients that we/they built something for years earlier.  In those conversations there’ve been some common themes when it comes to their patios and how they’ve used and enjoyed them, and regrets they may have had in the design stage that affected their level of enjoyment.

In the hopes of allowing you to learn from previous clients’ wisdom, here are the 3 biggest mistakes (or regrets) paver patio owners have reported back to me…

1.  “We should’ve made the patio bigger. ”  To date, I’ve never had a client wish they’d made a patio smaller.  At Stonehenge we’re always trying to provide our clients with a space that fits their functional needs, is beautiful and within budget, but sometimes today’s budget has a louder voice than tomorrow’s functional space needs.  Make sure you’re getting a design that will fill all of your needs, now and into the future.  If the design you want is going to put a strain on your finances, you can always hold off for a year, or pay for a portion of the patio with a credit card.  We accept most major ones.
2. “We should’ve had the patio pre-wired.”  The hardscapes of today are not just flat surfaces to put your stuff.  With seat walls and grill islands, bars and dining areas, these outdoor gathering spaces can be as complex as their interior counterparts.  If your ideas are grand but today’s budget won’t allow for each of the bells and whistles, consider some “pre” work now, to prepare for the enhancements later.  Pre-wiring steps, a seat wall or arbor gives you the chance to spend a little extra now in order to save on bigger expenses later when we have to tear up re-work a project after it’s already been built to accommodate the new wire runs.
3. “We should’ve called you first.”  This one’s easy.  If you’ve looked through our portfolio and read some of our information and like what you see, call us first.