• Building with used wood can help cut your patio costs.Deck de madeira image by CarlosNeto from Fotolia.com
  
  Decks and patios are a great way to expand the area of your home, and a great place to enjoy the warmer seasons. However, putting in a patio or deck is not a cheap undertaking and may not fit in your budget. However, there are some ways to shave some of the cost of building a porch or deck cheaply.
  
  

Reuse Wood

• Cut the costs of building a deck by finding wood that has already been used. Used wood runs a fraction of the price of new lumber and can sometimes even be found free. Places to look for reused and inexpensive wood include lumber yards, yard sales, local dumps and construction sites. Always ask permission before you take the wood, because if the company is not willing to give you the wood, you are stealing.
  
  

Overstock and Imperfections

• Another option for cutting the cost of your new deck is to check with your local landscaping store for mis-orders or "scratch-n-dent" paving stones. Many times, an order gone wrong can end with the entire order being available or some left over stone. Also, many times stones are jostled during transportation and cannot be sold at full price, although to someone who is unaware they are damaged, pavers will look as good as anything else you can buy.
  
  

Use Cement

• Cement porches, once only available in a sidewalk gray color, are gaining in popularity because of colored concrete stains that are readily available. The permanent stains transform the plain gray block into a backyard showpiece at a fraction of the price of natural stones.