Pavers vs. Concrete: Which Actually Belongs in Your LA Backyard

Poured concrete used to be the default for LA patios and driveways. In the last decade, interlocking pavers have taken over more and more of that work — and for good reasons that go beyond the way they look.

Concrete fails by cracking, and once it cracks it stays cracked. Pavers fail by settling, and a settled paver can be lifted, releveled, and reset in an afternoon.

That single difference is why more insurers, HOAs, and property managers now prefer pavers on shared or high-traffic surfaces.

Permeable paver systems let stormwater percolate through the joints instead of sheeting off into the street. That satisfies most LA and county low-impact development requirements without the retention basins concrete usually forces you to build.

Installed pavers run roughly 30 to 60 percent more than a comparable poured concrete slab of the same size. Over a 25-year lifespan, the maintenance cost difference usually flips the number the other way, but if the budget is tight in year one, concrete is still the cheaper start.

Modern architectural homes where a single, continuous, seamless slab is part of the design. Utility slabs. Garage floors. Anywhere the visual language of joints and interlocking units would fight the architecture.