What Outdoor Living Costs in Charleston
Real Numbers, From Our Own Projects
Here is what outdoor living actually costs in Charleston, using our own completed projects rather than national averages. Every figure below is what we quote from.
Structures
| Pergola | $6,000 – $30,000 |
|---|---|
| Pavilion | $30,000 – $90,000+ |
| Outdoor kitchen | $8,000 – $20,000+ |
| Outdoor fireplace | $8,000 kit, $20,000+ custom |
| Fire pit | $1,000 kit, $2,500+ custom |
| Outdoor shower | $6,000 – $15,000 |
At $6,000 a pergola is simple: no post and beam trim, no ceiling, maybe no roof. At $30,000 it has trim, a ceiling, a roof, electrical and possibly a kitchen under it. A pavilion at $30,000 is small and bare bones; at $80,000 and up you are looking at something like our West Ashley cabana, with full trim detailing, speakers, accent lighting and a storage room at the back.
Hardscape
| Patios and pavers | from $18 per sq ft |
|---|---|
| Poured concrete | $12 per sq ft |
| Retaining walls | from $50 per sq ft of wall face (CMU with stucco) |
Material is the biggest lever. Natural stone — travertine, bluestone, marble — looks best and lasts longest, and costs the most. Concrete pavers run cheap to pricey. Poured concrete is the most affordable, and salt-void or tabby finishes look good doing it.
Walls are priced by the face — the part you see — and height drives the number more than length does, because a taller wall needs a bigger footing and more steel behind it. Which material costs what is below.
Landscape
| Plant beds | $1,000 – $2,000 |
|---|---|
| Front yard | $5,000 – $10,000 |
| Full house landscape | $20,000+ in plants |
| Sod | $750 a pallet installed |
| Artificial turf | from $13 per sq ft, including base prep |
| Irrigation | $1,000 a zone, about 5 zones on an average lot, plus $1,500 for backflow and timer |
| Landscape lighting | about $200 a light, plus a transformer |
| Mulch | $105 a yard |
| Fountains | $1,000 kit, up to $30,000 custom |
Sod does not include digging out the old grass or regrading. Drainage and grading are quoted after we walk the property, because the cost depends entirely on what is causing the water.
On a large property the landscaping is not the cheap part. A full design and installation can cost as much as the hardscape or the structure going in beside it.
How the Small Things Add Up
Most budgets are not broken by one big item. They are broken by a list of reasonable, simple add-ons, each of which looks small on its own. Here is one modest backyard, priced line by line from the published numbers on this page, every one at the low end.
| Paver patio, 20 by 20 feet, pavers on sand400 sq ft at $18 | $7,200 |
|---|---|
| Simple pergola over part of itno trim, no ceiling | $6,000 |
| Fire pit kit | $1,000 |
| Landscape lighting6 lights at $200, plus a transformer | $1,200 |
| Plant beds around the patiolow end of $1,000 to $2,000 | $1,000 |
| Mulch5 yards at $105 | $525 |
| Before the transformer, any grading or drainage | $16,925 |
Nothing on that list is a luxury, and it is already past $16,000. Now add the things people call simple: a roof on the pergola, a ceiling under it, a fan, an outlet, trim on the posts, a second zone of lighting, irrigation for the new beds at about $1,000 a zone plus $1,500 for the backflow and timer. Each is a reasonable request, and each moves the total.
That is why we would rather know your number early. We can design to it, choose where the money shows, and phase the rest across a year or two instead of cutting the parts you never see.
An illustration built from our published starting prices, not a quote. Every yard is priced after we walk it.
What Moves the Price, Option by Option
The basic structure and the foundation are what they are. What moves a number up or down is the amenities and the finish details, and here is where those choices sit for each option.
Pergolas and Pavilions
| Least | Slatted, open roof |
|---|---|
| A little more | Clear polycarbonate, shingles, or exposed-fastener metal. More than slats, but not by much. |
| Premium | Standing seam metal, cedar shakes or tile |
| Least | Shed roof, a single slope. The easiest to build. |
|---|---|
| A little more | A-frame (gable) |
| Most | Hip, gambrel or domed |
| Fairly cheap | Beaded plywood |
|---|---|
| A good bump | Tongue and groove. Noticeable, but not a huge jump. |
Leaving the rafters open instead is not much of a saving. The roof deck on top of them is tongue-and-groove boards or T1-11 either way, and that is what you see from below.
Freestanding or attached? Either can come out cheaper, depending on the project. A freestanding structure uses a little more material. Attaching one to the house usually means more permitting and careful work to tie it in and flash it into the house, so it keeps water out where the two meet. For a simple pergola, freestanding is generally the easier route.
Then the amenities. A roof, post and beam trim, a finished ceiling, electrical, fans, speakers, lighting, and on a pavilion storage or a bathroom, are what take a pergola from $6,000 toward $30,000 and a pavilion from $30,000 toward $90,000. On the largest builds the structure itself grows too: the engineered beams on our Mount Pleasant pool pavilion were about $10,000 in materials alone.
Outdoor Kitchens
| About $8,000 | The basics: a grill, cabinets and a fridge |
|---|---|
| $20,000 and up | Everything: a sink, a flat top, an island and more. Appliances move this budget more than anything else. |
| Fairly cheap | Shiplap or acrylic stucco |
|---|---|
| More expensive | Natural stone, brick, microcement or lime plaster |
| Least | Concrete and granite. Depending on the size, granite can be the cheaper of the two. |
|---|---|
| Most | Quartzite and marble |
Within each of those there are specific granites, marbles and concrete mixes that cost more or less, so the material name alone does not set the price. The framing under a kitchen is what it is and is not the expensive part; the appliances and finishes are.
Gas, water and electric can add a significant cost. The farther the kitchen sits from the house, the longer the runs, the more trenching, and the more yard to put back afterwards. That is also why we run them before a patio goes down: an empty sleeve under a new patio costs very little, and getting one under an existing patio means cutting it up.
Patios
| Around $18 / sq ft | Concrete pavers set on sand |
|---|---|
| Middle | Mortar-set on a compacted ROC (crushed stone) base |
| $30+ / sq ft | Marble, travertine or bluestone mortar-set on a concrete slab. Choosing a less expensive material on the same slab brings the number down. |
Each step up adds price. The base underneath is the part you never see, and it is usually where a cheaper quote saves its money.
Retaining Walls
| Least | Stackable block. It stacks without mortar or stucco. |
|---|---|
| More | CMU block finished in stucco, from about $50 per square foot of wall face, or natural stone |
Fireplaces and Fire Pits
The low end is a quick, stackable block kit: about $8,000 for a fireplace and $1,000 for a fire pit. At $20,000 you get something like this Summerville fireplace: stone, a sapele mantle, firewood storage built in on both sides, and granite tops. Custom fire pits start around $2,500.
Outdoor Showers
From one outdoor shower to the next, the structure is usually very similar. What sets the price between $6,000 and $15,000 is mainly the material: pressure-treated lumber at the lower end, a hardwood like sapele at the top.
What Moves Any Quote
- Trim and finish detail. This is usually the whole difference between two quotes for the same structure.
- Plant size. A 30-gallon tree and a 3-gallon shrub are not the same job. Buying smaller and waiting two seasons is a legitimate way to hit a budget.
- Site access and prep. A level lot with easy access is a different build from one needing grading, drainage or demolition first.
- What is underneath. Base preparation, footings and drainage do not photograph, and they decide whether the work is still right in ten years.
Permitting adds four to six weeks before work starts, and we handle it. Projects usually begin within one to two months of signing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an outdoor living space cost in Charleston?
Pergolas run $6,000 to $30,000, pavilions $30,000 to $90,000 or more, outdoor kitchens $8,000 to $20,000 or more, and patios start around $18 per square foot. Planting runs from $1,000 for beds to $20,000 or more for a full landscape.
Why are two quotes for the same project so different?
Usually because they are for different things: cheaper materials, less trim or no trim, and less work below the surface. Base preparation, footings and drainage never show in a photo.
What makes a pergola or pavilion cost more?
Mostly the roof and the finish. A slatted open roof is the least expensive; polycarbonate, shingles and exposed-fastener metal cost a little more; standing seam, cedar shakes and tile are premium. A shed roof is the simplest shape, an A-frame costs a little more, and hip, gambrel and domed roofs cost more again. Then a ceiling, trim, electrical, fans and lighting add up from there.
Why does an outdoor kitchen range from $8,000 to $20,000 or more?
An $8,000 kitchen has the basics: a grill, cabinets and a fridge. At $20,000 and up it has everything, such as a sink, a flat top and an island. Appliances move the budget most, then the finish: shiplap and acrylic stucco are fairly cheap, while natural stone, brick, microcement and lime plaster cost more. Long gas, water and electrical runs add a significant amount too.
Can you design to a fixed budget?
Yes. Tell us the number early and we design to it, including phasing the project across a couple of years if that is what it takes to do it properly.
How much does irrigation cost?
About $1,000 per zone, with an average lot needing five zones, plus $1,500 for the backflow preventer and timer.
What does drainage cost?
It depends on what is causing the water and which fixes are possible on the site, so we quote it after walking the property rather than from a price list.
See It Built
Projects where we put this into practice.
Planning a Project of Your Own?
See everything we design and build, or get in touch to talk through your ideas with Doug and Zach.