Cheap Outdoor Flooring Solutions You Can Get for Your House

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When we think about the flooring in homes, we usually imagine the common trends. Tile floors in the bathroom and kitchen and hardwood in the den often come to mind. But what if you’re a fan of the great outdoors and want a low-cost flooring for all the spaces outside the house?

Some people look at hardwood and just stop. But there are so many other cheap outdoor flooring solutions out there! And if you’re planning to lay down something new in your backyard, front porch, or patio, then you should know how many options you have.

And don’t worry, we understand that price is a big concern for people. We all want to decorate our space without breaking the bank! For that we can recommend some of the best choices for inexpensive outdoor flooring. We know that you can find a lot of options for cheap outdoor flooring out there. So, in this article, we’re going to keep things short and show our very favorites.

Cheap Outdoor Flooring Solutions

Rubber Pavers

Image source: Liquidscapes

Your first question is probably – what are rubber pavers? You’ve definitely seen them already in plenty of  comfortable outdoor flooring without even realizing it. Rubber pavers imitate the classic look of stone or brick, but are made of rubber. Using rubber instead of harder materials makes this flooring option more resilient as well as comfortable.

This level of versatility is especially great if you have children. Because rubber is a lot softer than stone, you can feel at ease with your kids playing on it and not getting hurt. Not only that, rubber is an excellent material for when your floors get wet. Unlike stone, it only gets more slip-resistant as it gets wet. That makes the perfect flooring option if you have a pool or live somewhere with a climate that is particularly wet, rainy or humid. And best of all, rubber pavers are a much cheaper flooring option than other hard materials like stone, brick or concrete.

Advantages

Image source: Bagnato Architecture & Interiors

• Easy to clean
• Safe for kids
• Minimal Maintenance

Price – You can get rubber pavers for under $2/sqft

Artificial Grass

If you’ve watched any sports in the last twenty years, then you’ve seen this solution to outdoor flooring. You might also know it as Astroturf. And it’s the perfect solution if you want that classic look of a grassy lawn.

So why go with artificial grass? If you don’t have the time or the money to put into lawn maintenance, then artificial grass might be perfect for you. Other than the initial cost of installation, you don’t have to worry about mowing the lawn, setting up sprinkles or buying mulch. Even better, with artificial grass, you can choose the exact look of your lawn. That means that you have the chance to make sure that your exterior perfectly matches the aesthetics you have in mind.

Of course, you don’t have to install artificial grass everywhere. Today, a lot of people are keeping their lawns while keeping patches of Astroturf as flooring for the places that have the most foot traffic. Because it’s so easy to maintain and clean, artificial grass is an ideal low cost option for flooring around patios, gazebos and other outdoor areas.

Advantages

Image source: EasyTurf Florida

• Easy to clean
• One time installment
• Hypoallergenic

Price – $1.80 per sq. ft.

Reclaimed Wood – For the Cozy and Cheap Patio Flooring

Image source: MossCreek

Wooden flooring has always appealed to a certain aesthetic. We all recognize wood as something that can make an indoor space look more cozy and welcoming. The same principle works for patio flooring in just the same way. This is why we’re recommending wood as a cheaper option for outdoor or patio flooring if you want to keep that cozy feeling.

Overall, wood flooring has something classic to it that provides a certain ambiance to the setting. And you can get that same effect with reclaimed wood. When properly treated, this cheaper kind of wood flooring can offer a great aesthetic while holding up well to wind, rain, humidity and heat.

Using reclaimed wood offers you a lot of different options. Reclaimed wood can come from several different places like old houses, barns, factories and other structures. For you, that means you have a lot of choice in what kind of wood you can use and how it will look. Alongside brick, this option for cheap outdoor flooring is a bit more costly than the others as you might have to take labor costs into account.

Advantages

Image source: Richard Bubnowski Design LLC

• Unique
• Environmentally Friendly
• Classic

Price – minimum cost: $8 per square foot.
maximum price: $10 per square foot

Brick – A Long Lasting and Cheap Outdoor Flooring Solution

Image source: Phillip Smith General Contractor, LLC

Now we come to a classic option for outdoor flooring that is unfortunately often overlooked – brick. As a material for outdoor flooring, brick gives that nice rustic look to your veranda, porch or patio.

Aside from the traditional red-brown, brick comes in a lot of different colors. With that in mind, you have a lot of choices available for color schemes, designs, and patterns. That means you can lay out a design that is as simple or imaginative as you want.

We have to be honest here. On a list of cheap outdoor flooring solutions, brick is the most expensive option. However, that’s only when you think about it in the short term. Instead you should look at brick flooring outdoors as a long term investment. Brick is a very durable material so if you put in correctly, you can rely on it until you take it out yourself.

Advantages

Image source: Torre Construction & Development

• Easy to clean
• One time installment
• Long lasting

Price – approximately $15 per square foot, including the base

Painted Concrete – Less Common Flooring For the Bold

Image source: Braitman Design Studio

You’re sure to have seen concrete used for outdoor flooring, but what about painted concrete? If you want to give your patio, veranda or courtyard more character and color, then consider painting the concrete. It may sound odd, but it’s a great way to make a cheaper outdoor flooring that really stands out.

As strange as it may sound, the actual process of painting concrete is pretty straightforward. Really, it’s not much different than painting the walls in your living room. The key thing to painting concrete is making sure you choose the right type of paint so it looks right.

The great thing about painting concrete is that you have a lot of room to turn it into your personal vision. You can paint the ground in one solid color of course. You can also get as creative as you like and paint your concrete in a wide range of designs and patterns. That means that your outdoor patio or terrace will have a unique flooring that really shows character. And when you want to change the design, you can easily change it with a fresh coat of paint.

Advantages

Image source: Delineations, Inc.

• Easy to clean
• Perfect for personalizing
• Simple to change

Price – $4-6 per square foot for basic concrete
$12 per square foot for stamped or acid-etched concrete

Gravel Flooring – Simple and Inexpensive Flooring

Image source: Regal Construction & Remodeling Inc.

When you think about inexpensive outdoor and patio flooring, gravel might not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, using gravel as your patio floor comes with a lot of advantages. For one, the material is perfect if you live somewhere that’s hot, dry or prone to drought. In fact, unlike keeping a grass lawn, gravel as outdoor flooring requires little to no maintenance on your part. This makes it ideal if you don’t have the time to invest in maintaining your patio flooring.

At the same time, using pebbles or pea gravel for your outdoor flooring can give your space a distinct look. Unless you have plans for a particularly massive patio, the loose materials for gravel flooring outdoors are also cheap. Moreover, these materials are also easy to work if you have a DIY mindset. The only thing that you really need is a wheelbarrow to transport and spread the gravel with and lots of time. This means that you can set your own outdoor flooring solution on the cheap with zero labor costs. The main challenge is creating a border for your gravel to give it some shape.

Advantages

Image source: Miriam’s River House Designs, LLC

• Easy to maintain
• Easy installment
• Potentially no labor cost

Price – approximately $6-$10 per square foot

Pallet Floor – The Ideal Cheap Flooring for DIY-ers

Image source: Feil Inc. Wood Flooring & Stairs

The pallet floor is probably the newest flooring option out there today. These days, people are building all sorts of furniture from pallets. This includes beds, desks and even using it as a cheaper outdoor flooring solution. In the same way that reclaimed wood can give your interior a certain aesthetic of coziness, so can a pallet floor.

To be clear though, a pallet floor is for someone with a do-it-yourself mindset. To find pallets, you need to look no further than Craigslist or spend some time around loading areas at larger stores. The great thing about pallets is how versatile they are as a DIY material.

And by their very nature, a pallet floor is easy to customize to specific aesthetics you’re aiming for. You can easily arrange them according to your needs and paint them any color you want. Likewise, you can also make tables and chairs from pallets to match that cozy, self-made aesthetic.

Advantages

Image source: Stackable + Mracek Designgroup

• Easy to install
• Easy to customize
• More personal

Ending thoughts on cheap outdoor flooring solutions

Now you’ve got an idea of some of the cheap and inexpensive outdoor flooring solutions available. Just remember that each of these requires their own installation, materials, and maintenance. You should make sure to do your research and find out what you need.

At the end of the day, you should choose the flooring that matches what you want. Our space is important to us and reflects who we are and what we want to say. So while cheap flooring material is good, make sure that it matches your needs.

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