As more and more people search for maintenance-free options for their backyard projects, people are turning towards stone decks. A stone deck system is a cost-effective way to build a new stone deck or even transform your existing wood or composite deck. In this blog we will discuss the stone deck cost calculator and materials to give you a better understanding of what is involved.
Thanks to the many innovative products on the market today, such as SilcaGrate, Paverdeck and Paverdeck Plank, creating that perfect stone deck has never been easier. Building a stone deck can be basically divided into 3 parts; the base, the framing and the cladding material. For any of you that have built a wood deck before you would be very familiar with these three stages.
When looking at stone deck cost calculator and materials the first thing to decide is the style of stone to be used. This is important as it will affect the cost, as well as the build of the framing and base. For example, porcelain pavers, which are 20 mm (3/4″) thick, weigh approximately 9 lbs per sq ft and cost in the range of $10-12 per sq ft. Compare this to a 60 mm (2-3/8″) stone paver that weighs 30 lbs per sq ft and costs in the range of $5-6 per sq ft.
Now that you have decided on the style of stone you can start to plan your base for the stone deck cost calculator and materials. Regardless of which innovative stone deck system you use the base will pretty well be the same. Your choice will be to either have the deck floating or sitting on concrete or mechanical screw pile footings. This blog would be way to long and boring if we tried to cover every build scenario so we will keep it general and within normal building parameters. This means on average you will need a base footing every 8-10 ft of distance on both axis; along the beam line and distance between beams. Whether you float the deck using base pads or choose to use footings will be decided by your soil conditions and the freeze thaw cycles for where you live. It is impossible to speak to contractor labour costs as there are way too many factors to consider, so we will simply look at it from material costs for the DIY project when it comes to stone deck cost calculator and materials.
For creating floating base pads, the most common would be to use a larger 2″ x 24″ patio stone ($5-10 each) with a deck block ($6-8 each) sitting on top of it. This method will require some base preparation to support and stabilize the stone and usually results in needing more floating base pads then you would need footings. The other method would be to create your own 24″ x 24″ x 4″ concrete footing pad which would require four 50lbs bags of concrete mix ($5-6 per bag) and more of your time and energy.
For concrete footings there is a considerable amount of labour involved as you have to excavate down below the frost line which typically means going down 4 ft and wide enough to allow you to install a footing form ($25 each). These are plastic, pre-engineered, concrete footing forms used with sonotubes ($8-15 each depending on size). After these are in place they need to be backfilled and filled with concrete which could take eight to twelve 50 lb bags. A cement truck will cost you typically around $150 per cubic meter plus delivery.
The other alternative, and by far the best choice in our opinion, is to use mechanical screw piles such as Techno Metal Post. The average cost is $250 to $450 each but is worth every penny considering what you get. Each screw pile is engineered and can be driven into place were needed to the exact depth and torque required based on your build specifications, and an engineering report can be obtained. They come with a warranty and once installed you can start your build right away without having to wait for concrete to cure.
The next step in the stone deck cost calculator and materials is the framing materials. When using products such as SilcaGrate or Paverdeck Plank ($8-9 per sq ft) you will need to build your framing using pressure treated wood, which will run you $3-5 per sq ft depending on design. If you are using Paverdeck, which is the framing and subfloor together, this system will run you $12-15 per sq ft depending on design.
If you are converting an existing wood deck into a stone deck your stone deck cost calculator and materials will be slightly less since the framing and base will already be in place and may only need to be beefed up depending on the thickness of stone.
The nice thing about using these innovative stone deck products is that you will find helpful engineering tools and will be able to design and load tables to help you with the stone deck cost calculator and materials. These will allow you to create a beautiful maintenance-free stone deck that will last a lifetime.