Paving blocks are inexpensive, durable, and available in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and textures. They can as a result of these characteristics, be employed for many different purposes. Pavers can be used to create driveways, patios and walkways. Retaining walls, raised beds, and other yard features can be built using paving blocks. The aesthetic appeal of outdoor spaces can also be enhanced through the careful use of pavers to accentuate positive features and disguise minor blemishes, such as metal window wells.
The durability of paving blocks makes them an excellent material choice for the construction of patios and other flat outdoor spaces. The installation of patios built out of pavers is a relatively simple process, involving a fair bit of labor, but little specialized equipment. For the price of a weekend spend digging a setting bed, lining it with compacted gravel and sand and carefully aligning and setting pavers, a homeowner will be rewarded with a visually pleasing and very resilient surface.
Pavers can also be used to build additional enhancements for patios and walkways. A patio built out of paving stones can be transformed into an elegant outdoor courtyard by the addition of a low ornamental wall built using pavers held together with adhesive cement. Ambitious homeowners can construct outdoor grills as part of a paver wall, or even special bricks equipped with low-voltage outdoor lighting to further enhance the visual appeal and comfort of a patio.
Other outdoor structures can also be built using paving blocks, sometimes with the assistance of special inserts to lock rows of pavers together for stability. A low retaining wall can be constructed using pavers, and can be visually connected to a patio through the use of identical blacks. Similarly, raised garden beds can be built using a border of paving blocks. Alternatively, a fire pit built of pavers can serve as the focal point of an outdoor space.
The uniform, pleasing appearance of paving blocks means that they are very well-suited for use in disguising imperfections in an outdoor space or adding visual accents to a yard. Galvanized metal window wells are not beautiful to look at, but are necessary. A border of pavers can be employed to surround such a window well, and improve its appearance. Flower beds, or mulch at the base of trees can be set off from the rest of a yard by the use of a border made up of paving blocks, and can be tied in with the other elements of an outdoor space in this fashion.