Backyard Concrete Patios in Thunder Bay, ON

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Two to four days of on-site work for most backyard patios. Sod stripping and excavation come first, then base and forms, then the pour and finish in a single day. Curing runs longer than the work. You can be on it on foot after about a day, and furniture goes back once it has had time to gain strength. If your patio is replacing an old deck or slab, add a day for removal.

We quote each patio after seeing the yard, because access and shape move the number as much as size does. A rectangle on an open lot with truck access is the cheapest version. A curved patio behind a fenced backyard where the concrete has to be moved by hand is the most expensive version of the same square footage. The estimate itemises excavation, base, concrete, the isolation joint, finish, and jointing. The consultation costs nothing.

Mark it out before you commit, which is what we do free on the consultation. The reliable test is furniture: put the actual table and chairs you plan to use inside the marked outline, pull a chair back as if you were standing up from dinner, and see whether someone can still walk behind it. Most patios that people regret are not badly built. They are 600 mm too small in one direction, and that is a decision made on paper rather than on the ground.

The schedule fills through the summer, so early is better. On the season, cold weather concreting is governed by the code rather than preference: once air temperature is likely to drop below 5 C within 24 hours of the pour, the concrete has to be placed at 10 C minimum and held there for 72 hours, and it cannot go on frozen ground. New concrete also wants about a month of air drying before it faces freeze-thaw. We assess late-season patios individually rather than promising them.

Usually not for a patio poured at grade, but it depends on what else is going on. A patio that is raised, that carries a structure, or that changes drainage on the property can change the answer, and requirements are set by the municipality rather than by us. We will tell you during the consultation if we think your project needs a permit, and we would rather raise it early than have it come up partway through.

Yes, but tell us before we pour, not after. A filled hot tub with people in it is a concentrated load well beyond what a standard patio slab is built for, and the fix is to thicken and reinforce that section of the slab while it is still a drawing. Retrofitting support under an existing patio means cutting it out. This is the single most common thing customers mention six months too late, so if a hot tub is even a possibility, say so at the consultation.

Broom is the standard exterior texture, gives reliable grip when wet or icy, and costs less. Exposed aggregate shows the stone in the mix and gives a coarser, more textured surface that many people prefer the look of. What we will not do is trowel a patio smooth, because troweling air-entrained concrete pulls the air out of the surface layer and it eventually peels. We would rather walk you around a finished example of each than have you choose from a photo.

They solve different problems. A deck suits a raised door threshold and a sloped yard. A patio suits a walkout at or near grade and lasts a great deal longer with far less attention, since there is nothing to stain, sand, or replace board by board. Concrete costs more up front in most cases and less over twenty years. If your back door sits well above grade, a deck may still be the right call, and we will say so.

Sweep it and wash it down with water and a stiff brush. Most stains lift with dish soap and warm water before you need anything stronger, and a pressure washer used too close will etch the surface, so keep the tip moving and back off it. No de-icer of any kind the first winter, sand for traction instead. Sealing after the slab has had at least a month to air dry is optional and helps with staining.