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All design considerations

Paver Patio Inspiration

More and more families are opting to spend time at home, and so naturally you’ll want a beautiful paver patio that feels like an organic addition to the home. It’s important to choose the appropriate patio paver and retaining wall materials that will make your area stand out above the rest. Whether you are designing a front outdoor patio with a retaining wall or a backyard patio with an outdoor kitchen or magnificent fire feature, Unilock has got you covered.

Define your patio space

Defining what “is” an outdoor patio sounds like a broad concept. Is your outdoor patio primarily in the backyard, or does it include a front yard patio area? Think about how you want to utilize your outdoor patio space. Do you want a small seating space outside your front door where you can enjoy a morning coffee and watch the cars go by? Will you be entertaining friends and family? Choose a set of pavers or other vertical elements to help complement the space you have available in order to better realize your usage requirements and overall vision.

Building UP your outdoor patio

If you feel you don’t have enough space to build out your outdoor paver patio, consider building up. Step treads as well as retaining walls can help account for changes in elevation, and create outdoor “rooms” to serve different purposes. For example, an elevated patio can be the perfect space to build a multi-purpose outdoor kitchen and grill island, with an adjacent seating area for evening meals. Add a fire pit to your lower deck with outdoor patio chairs to create a cozy gathering space at night to unwind with toasted marshmallows.

Design with safety as a priority

Designing a kid-friendly backyard will ensure that your entire family can enjoy the outdoor space safely. If you’re designing a pool deck on your patio, consider installing a glass fence around the perimeter of the deck for an added barrier of safety to keep children from wandering into the pool. Additionally, choose barefoot friendly, non-slip pavers to avoid slips, trips and falls. A luscious garden or retaining wall can help delineate the borders of play areas.

Choosing the right patio paver for the job

Choosing the right paver for your outdoor project may be daunting. While choosing colors should be done with harmony in mind, it's crucial to consider what function the pavers will serve. An outdoor patio created with Unilock products will help enhance your home's current qualities. Speak with a Unilock Authorized Contractor to determine the appropriate colors you would like to use for your outdoor project's design.

Elevate your patio design with ultra-modern products

Whether brick or wood, the architecture of your home can help visually guide your patio paver design. Take our Elegance line of pavers, including Courtstone and Copthorne in a Basalt tone, which have proven to be an excellent choice as a patio paver accent border. Check out our Products page to determine which pavers are designed for outdoor patios.

Customize paver designs to make your patio stand out

The variety of choices we offer is what makes Unilock attractive. Create a unique look for your outdoor patio by adding accent pavers or bright colors. To help accentuate the elegance of your patio, try adding vertical elements like planters, pillars, and garden walls.

Choose a laying pattern for your paver patio design

Utilize a number of different paving textures in distinct laying patterns to create eye-catching works of art. Not only does a laying pattern help elevate your home’s curb appeal, but can be used to define standing and seating spaces throughout your outdoor space. The long, rectangular shape of Unilock Town Hall or Mattoni pavers can be used to create the perfect paver rug when laid in a traditional herringbone pattern, with an interlocking design that helps to resist paver shifting.

Go green with permeable paving

Permeable patio pavers are a viable option for homeowners seeking a green substitute. In order to prevent surface flooding, these pavers are designed with a larger gap between the stones. This allows rainfall to naturally drain back into the subsoil. Unilock is the first in North America to introduce and provide a broad range of permeable pavers. Permeable pavers can offer beauty to any outdoor design project.

Illuminating your outdoor space at night

Often considered an afterthought, landscape lighting is essential when it comes to safety and wayfinding. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, lighting has practical applications, especially when properly installed into patio pavers or vertical applications. Other forms of landscape lighting include tiki torches, pot lights, fairy lights and LED lights.

Secure your patio floor with edge restraints

Some of the most essential materials are the ones that are hiding in plain sight. For any patio installation, edge restraints are vital to preventing shifting due to weather changes or foot traffic. If not restrained properly, pavers will slowly creep into the softer surrounding materials, creating large gaps around the perimeter of the area. Consider a simple technique that can help you optimize your design: an invisible edge system spiked into the base.

How to maintain your Unilock patio with care

Choosing a Unilock product is an investment in quality. With the best of both worlds in terms of aesthetic beauty and functionality, our pavers now offer a greater level of quality than ever thanks to our proprietary range of product technologies. Care and maintenance for your pavers is paramount, so there are a few things you need to keep in mind when it comes to maintaining your pavers for a lifetime.

Cleaning pesky seasonal stains from your patio

In the spring and fall, dirt and leaves can be a hassle, especially if they taint your pavers. A stiff broom with soft bristles, dish soap and a power washer on a low setting can be used to remove troublesome stains. Never use wire brushes since they will damage the pavers and leave unsightly scratch marks on the surface.

Winter Maintenance

Maintaining pavers during the winter can be challenging. Use caution when working with ice and make sure the right de-icing solutions are being applied. A common and commonly available de-icing salt is sodium chloride (sometimes known as rock salt). An alternative solution is installing permeable pavers on your outdoor patio, as they absorb all rainwater back into the subsoil, ensuring no liquid settles and freeze on the surface.

Protect your outdoor patio with the proper sealing solution

It’s virtually impossible to avoid staining or minor spills at some point in your patio’s lifespan, but there are ways to maintain your patio when events like these occur. For instance, after the installation of a new patio, a white powdery substance known as efflorescence may occasionally occur on the surface. This usually goes away over time but you can try a simple soap-and-water solution to clean the surface. Other times you may need an efflorescence remover to remove the haze.

Additionally, sealing offers the best defense for your Unilock patio. Applying a sealer, which is normally done every three to five years, can help preserve the stone's natural beauty by avoiding algae growth, acid erosion, and salt damage. The optimum sealing products to use for your chosen paver should be determined by speaking with your Authorized Contractor. Note that some of our products come with EasyClean Technology built into the paver, which is a special factory applied coating that ensures efficient stain protection.

Choose the best paver, not the cheapest

It’s important to keep in mind that regardless of which products you choose, the cost of pavers is typically only 20% of the overall project budget, so choose the paver you like best. Even the more expensive pavers do not affect the project price dramatically. The rest of the cost of the project is mostly labor. Work with your Authorized Contractor to choose a range of products, colors and styles you’ll love for the long haul. We recommend choosing a product from either our EnduraColor or Elegance lines for higher durability, color retention and aesthetic beauty benefits. One of the major benefits in working with pavers as opposed to traditional poured concrete is that if one stone is stained or damaged, it’s easy to replace.

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