Add a Natural Stone Outdoor Patio to Your Montreal Home

Renovating their home is something a lot of Montreal residents are thinking about right now. Whether you choose partial renovations or full renovations, or even stick to cosmetic changes and new paint, I'm sure you want to add new life to your home, create a beautiful and comfortable living environment and increase the value of your property.

This is great for the inside of your home, but what about the outside?

If you live in or around the Montreal and Laval area, then you know that the exterior appearance of your home and yard can say a tremendous amount about you. We all glean information about who our neighbors are and how they live their lives, from the general cleanliness and appeal of our houses.

Landscaping is an important consideration, but can be very expensive. However, there are ways of improving the look of your home that doesn't rely on a special knowledge of plants. Also, if you're willing to put some effort and into the project, then you can save some money too!

One great, relatively easy and cost efficient way of adding beauty and value to your Montreal property is adding an outdoor patio made from natural stone. It's preferable to install natural stone to the exterior of a property since it's very difficult to create a man-made product durable enough to withstand the elements over time. Natural stone is made for it. As long as the stone is installed correctly at the outset, it should last for the life of the house and beyond.

First of all, you want to acquire the natural stone. Make sure the slabs are neither too thick nor too thin, as two inches from end to end seems to be about the right width. This thickness will allow for solid footing without cracking, splitting or lifting up at the edges over time. Additionally, if the stones are any thicker, you may not be able to physically put them in place. This type of project takes more brawn than brains. Remember too to find natural stones that are as flat as you possibly can.

Assuming the natural stone is for an outdoor patio that will not have vehicles on it, you can place the stones from 1.5 to 2.5 inches apart and your patio will last forever. There are a number of places where you can find natural stone. You can try your local garden center or big box home renovation retailer. They often sell landscaping equipment along with plants, so either store should be able to help you to find natural stone tiles for your outdoor patio. In theMontreal area, most natural stone will go for about $5.00 a sq. ft.

Now once you have all the stones you need, then you must concern yourself with proper drainage. This component of your outdoor patio is absolutely essential for durability. Without proper drainage, water can get backed up and create cracks and shifting in the patio, not to mention a host of other landscaping dilemmas. This may be the part of your outdoor patio building journey where you bring in a consultant to make sure your base is set up correctly. Once that's done, you can place your stones, fill in the gaps with grass or cement and enjoy your new outdoor patio!