Concrete Patios in Lafayette, IN

Concrete Patios are usually the first big outdoor project on a Lafayette home, and the ones that disappoint tend to fail in the same ways: too small, sloped toward the house, or poured on loose fill next to the foundation that settles a year later. Lafayette gets close to 40 inches of rain and melted snow a year, and in a wet spring the ground around many homes stays soft for weeks. A patio here has to move water off and away, and it has to sit on ground that will not sink.

Start with how you will use it

A table for six with chairs pulled back needs roughly a 12 by 12 foot space at the least. A grill station, a fire pit set back from the seating, or a path from the back door to the garage all change the shape. We walk the yard with you, mark the outline, and talk about sun and shade, how the back door swings, where the downspouts drain and where the patio meets the lawn. Doing this on paper first is much cheaper than finding out after the pour that the table does not fit.

Getting the base and slope right

Soil next to a house is often backfill that was pushed in after the basement or crawlspace was built. It looks solid and then settles, which is why so many older patios tilt toward the house. We dig out soft material, compact a gravel base in layers, and set the slab with a gentle fall away from the foundation so rain runs to the yard. HomeGuide notes that a standard patio is about 4 inches thick and that patios carrying a hot tub or outdoor kitchen should be about 6 inches with extra reinforcement. Where the patio meets the house we place an isolation joint so the slab can move on its own.

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Finish options

• Broom finish: the standard. Good grip when wet and the lowest cost.
• Smooth or light trowel: cleaner look, but slicker when wet or frosty, so we use it carefully outdoors.
• Exposed aggregate: the top paste is washed off to show the stone. Very good traction and hides dirt.
• Colored or stained: integral color in the mix or a stain after curing.
• Stamped: patterned to look like stone, brick or slate; see our Stamped Concrete page.
• Borders: a contrasting border or saw-cut pattern that breaks up a large plain slab.

Signs an old patio should go

Tilting toward the house, water pooling against the foundation, big cracks with one side raised, or a surface that has scaled down to the stone are all signs the patio is past repair. If it has only sunk evenly and the concrete is still sound, leveling may be cheaper. We will tell you which.

Care

Wait about 28 days before sealing. Reseal every few years, and more often near a pool or where snow from the roof piles up. Keep winter salt off the patio entirely; there is rarely a need to salt a backyard slab. Do not set a fire pit directly on the concrete without a heat-proof base, since high heat can crack and spall the surface.