By Gene and Katie Hamilton

You can save 60 percent by building a patio of stone pavers, an attractive addition to any home, with rugged good looks and durable surface that enhance the yard as well. Stone pavers offer a nice contrast and transition to a manicured lawn and provide years of outdoor living. Whether you decide to lay the material yourself or hire a contractor, you'll find the best selection of stonework at a landscaping service or lawn and garden center.

A landscaping service will charge $1,112 to lay stone pavers in a 10-foot-by-12-foot patio, which includes labor and material. You can buy the materials for $470, which include the pavers, gravel and sand, and do the job yourself, saving 57 percent. This is not a job for the faint of heart, as the weight of the pavers makes this a very physical and time-consuming job. The first phase of the project involves removing any sod or lawn, then laying out the design of the pavers and installing guide boards to mark the layout. Then a layer of gravel is laid and leveled and compacted with a plate compactor (you can rent one at a rental center) to provide a firm and level base. Next, a layer of sand is added and compacted and the pavers are set in place following the layout design. When the pavers are aligned and even, spread sand between the joints to act as grout and secure them.

Follow this link to Grandview Landscape Design Studio to see Types of Paving Stones.

Now you know the average cost to install stone patio pavers, which includes the labor and material, and what’s involved, so you can decide to do it yourself or hire a contractor. Don’t forget to adjust the cost to where you live by adding your ZIP Code.

Cost updated 2018

The cost and time data is generated by averaging labor and material data from annually updated cost books used by contractors and refined by the authors' experience remodeling 13 houses. They are authors of 20 home improvement books and Do It Yourself or Not, a weekly column syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. The national cost can be adjusted by ZIP Code.