Concrete Patios in Lakewood, CO

A concrete patio turns a Lakewood backyard into usable space for much of the year. July highs average around 86 degrees and the air is dry, so evenings outside run from late spring well into fall. Many houses built from the 1950s through the 1980s came with a small slab at the back door. By now a lot of those have cracked, sunk toward the foundation, or simply never fit a table, a grill and a few chairs.

Sizing it right

Start with the furniture. A table that seats six needs room for chairs to slide back, which works out to something near 12 by 12 feet. Add a grill, two loungers or a fire table and you are looking at 16 by 16 or bigger. Before any digging we mark the outline with paint or stakes so you can stand in it. Curved edges, a step down to the lawn and a connecting path to the gate or driveway are easy to fold in at this stage.

Pitch and runoff

A patio has to fall away from the house, typically about a quarter inch per foot, so rain and snowmelt head out into the yard. On Front Range lots with clay, that matters even more: the Colorado Geological Survey lists poor surface drainage among the things that make swelling-soil damage worse. We also check where the downspouts dump and regrade where water would otherwise pool along the slab edge.

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Surface choices

• Broom: a light texture that gives grip and costs the least
• Smooth trowel: clean and sleek, best under a roof because it gets slippery when wet
• Integral color: pigment mixed through the concrete for tan, buff, gray or charcoal tones
• Exposed aggregate: the surface paste is rinsed off to reveal the stone, which adds texture and traction
• Stamped: stone, slate or plank patterns, covered on the stamped concrete page

Made for freeze-thaw

Outdoor slabs get air-entrained concrete, which holds up when water in the pores freezes. Most patios are 4 inches thick on compacted gravel, with control joints placed so any cracks run straight between sections. The slab is cured instead of left to dry out fast, and a sealer is worth adding once it is about a month old.

Swapping out an old patio

When a patio has dropped toward the house, broken into pieces, or left a tall step at the back door, replacing it is usually the better spend. It comes out, the reason it failed gets found (a downspout, loose backfill, a leak) and fixed, and a fresh slab goes in. A sound patio can also be extended, with dowels tying new to old.