Concrete Patios in Norfolk, VA

Laying out a patio

Layout deserves the most time, because a patio is sized for furniture and people rather than vehicles. A shape that looks generous marked out on the grass often feels tight once a table and chairs are on it and someone needs to walk behind a seat. Stand in the space with the outline marked and the furniture placed before anything is formed.

Shape is more open than on a driveway. Squares and rectangles are the simplest to form and the lowest in cost, while curves, angles and stepped edges take more forming time. That makes shape a trade between the look you want and the labor it takes to build.

Where the patio meets the house is the detail that matters most. The slab slopes away from the building, always, and it sits below any door threshold and below the siding line. A patio that drains back toward the house, or is poured too high against the wall, puts water exactly where it does the most damage.

Base, thickness and jointing

A patio carries far less weight than a driveway, so the slab is usually thinner. The base still matters. A corner that settles on a patio is more obvious than on a drive, because a table with one leg off the ground announces it immediately.

Excavation, removal of soft material and a compacted base go in the same way they do on any slab. On low ground, or a yard where water collects after storms, the subgrade can be wet when it is dug, and that gets corrected rather than covered.

Joints on a patio are seen up close, so the pattern is part of the design. NRMCA joint guidance recommends panels that are square or nearly so, no more than 1.5 times as long as they are wide, and warns against L shaped panels. Laying joints out to the shape of the patio keeps the pattern looking deliberate instead of cut in afterward.

Finishes

A broom finish is standard, and NRMCA's finishing guide describes brooming after floating as the way to give exterior concrete a non slip surface. A lighter broom texture feels softer underfoot. A steel trowel finish is smooth and slick when wet, which makes it a poor fit outdoors.

Decorative finishes are offered, including stamped and textured work and colored concrete. They are a different scope and a different price, and they should be settled at layout rather than after the forms are set, since some of them change how the slab is placed and finished.

Patios often connect to other flatwork. A pool deck that runs into a patio, or steps down from a back door, has to share one drainage plan so water is not passed from one slab to the next until it ends up at the house.

Pouring in warm weather

Many patios go in during the warm months, and heat changes the day. NRMCA's hot weather guide notes that concrete sets faster at higher temperatures, so finishing has to keep pace, and it recommends dampening the subgrade before placing on hot days without letting water pond. Early starts help on a summer pour.

Curing starts as soon as finishing is done. Keeping a new patio from drying out too fast in sun and wind protects the surface you will be walking on for years, and it is one of the least visible parts of the job.

Extending or replacing an existing patio

Extending a patio means tying new concrete to old, and the new section will not match the color of the existing one. Concrete cures to a shade that depends on the mix, the weather that week and its age. An extension meant to look seamless rarely does, so plan the layout as if the seam will show, for example by placing it at a step or a border.

Where an existing slab has settled or broken up, replacement often makes more sense than blending into it, and removal and replacement starts with finding out why it moved. Most patios that settled did so because of what was underneath, so the correction happens below the surface.

After the first year, a breathable sealer can help a patio shed water and stains; the NRMCA scaling guide lists sealing among the ways to protect exterior concrete. Patio work is offered in Norfolk and across the Hampton Roads service area.