Concrete Patios near you

Start with how the space will be used. A dining table with the chairs pulled out, a barbecue kept clear of the siding and room to walk around furniture take more space than a sketch suggests, so mark the outline on the ground with paint or a garden hose and live with it for a few days. Curves are easy to form in concrete, but narrow strips and sharp corners are where cracks like to start, so simple shapes that divide neatly into panels age best.

The finish is worked into fresh concrete, so it's chosen before the pour. It affects grip underfoot, how easily the surface cleans and how it ages through freeze-thaw and salt.

A patio is only as stable as the ground beneath it. Topsoil and organic material are dug out, soft spots replaced, and crushed stone compacted in layers to form an even, free-draining bed. Pay special attention next to the house: the backfill placed against the foundation during construction can keep settling long afterwards, which is why patios beside newer homes sometimes sink or tilt toward the wall. A careful contractor digs down to firm material there or compacts the backfill thoroughly.

Frost is the other enemy. Soils that hold water, clay especially, expand as they freeze and can lift a slab unevenly before letting it drop in spring. A patio at grade is usually built as a slab floating on a draining base rather than on footings, and good drainage limits how much water is there to freeze. If a roof, wall or structure will rest on the patio, the design changes and footings may be needed, which usually brings a permit into play.

Every slab cracks as it shrinks; control joints make it crack in straight lines where you chose. On a patio, the joint layout matters as much as the joints themselves, since it's part of what you look at every day.

A sealer slows the water and salt behind scaling, and on a patio it also resists barbecue grease, rust marks from planters and furniture, and stains from leaves and berries. Decorative patios are usually sealed to keep their colour vivid, ideally with an anti-slip additive in the sealer, while broom-finished patios often get a penetrating sealer that leaves the texture unchanged. The label says when new concrete can be sealed and how often to reapply.

All three make good outdoor living spaces; the lot, the height of the back door and how much upkeep you want usually decide.

Whether a ground-level patio needs a permit depends on your municipality, and the bigger risk is often where its water goes. A large paved area sheds rain much faster than lawn, and grading that sends that water into a neighbour's yard or against their foundation is a common source of disputes. Keep runoff on your own lot, toward lawn, a garden bed or approved drainage, and ask the municipality about limits on paved area, distances from lot lines and anything planned on top, such as a roof or an enclosure.

Digging for the base can reach buried cables, gas lines and irrigation. In Quebec, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec asks contractors to request a free locate from Info-Excavation at least 4 business days before work begins; in Ontario, Ontario One Call locates are free and legally required at least 5 business days ahead. Private lines, such as power to a shed or a gas line to a barbecue, aren't covered by public locates and must be found separately.

Hairline cracks along control joints are normal. Surface scaling, chipped edges and small spalls can often be patched or resurfaced if the concrete underneath is sound, and a section that has sunk in one piece can sometimes be raised. A patio that heaves, has broken into many pieces or now slopes toward the house is usually better replaced, with the base and drainage corrected this time. The concrete repair page explains each option.