DAE think gravel patios are worse than concrete, even after my neighbor in Tucson set me straight?
I have always told people to skip gravel and just pour concrete, because I thought gravel was cheap, messy, and bad with dogs. Then my neighbor Frank came over last spring and said something plain that stuck with me: "You built a sun room, not a patio." He meant my 12 by 16 slab on the south side of my house in Tucson gets so hot by 2 pm that nobody can stand on it barefoot, and the glare bounces right into my kitchen window. So I tore out a 6 foot strip along the edge and put in 3 inches of crushed rock over a weed barrier, cost about $180 with the delivery fee. My two dogs stopped sliding on it, the surface stays about 15 degrees cooler when I check it with my hand, and the rain soaks in instead of running to the fence. I still think the slab part is fine for a table and chairs. But I was wrong that gravel is only for people who cannot afford anything better. Now I am thinking about taking out another 4 feet, and I want to hear from folks who did a full gravel yard: how do you keep weeds out of the corners and keep the rock from drifting into the grass?