Old patio cracked, sinking or holding puddles? We build a new one on a packed base, sloped to carry rain away from your house.
Concrete patio construction in Portsmouth means digging out the soft ground, packing a firm base and pouring a flat slab outside your back door, so you have a solid, level place to sit, grill or set a table.
Most people call us when the space out back is bare dirt, soggy grass or an old slab that has cracked, sunk or started holding water after every rain. We're based in Portsmouth and work in many of the cities around it, from Norfolk and Chesapeake to Smithfield and Moyock, NC. If you'd like a walk leading to the patio or a patterned surface, we also offer concrete sidewalk building and stamped concrete services.
The price mostly follows the patio's size and shape, how much soft ground has to come out, whether an old slab must be broken up and hauled away, and how easily we can reach the spot. The schedule turns on the weather for the pour, any permit the job needs and curing, the wait while concrete hardens before it can take weight. I'll give you a price for your own patio at the estimate.
Please call (757) 731-7248 or use the form, and we'll get back to you to set a time to see your yard. A rough idea of the size you have in mind helps us plan the visit.
I come out myself, check the ground and where the water runs, and ask how you plan to use the patio. You leave with an estimate for your own patio, so you know the price before you decide anything.
If you go ahead, I run the job alongside our own crew and take care of any permits and inspections. We dig out, pack the base and pour on a day we've checked against the forecast.
When the work is done, I walk the patio with you and explain when it's ready for foot traffic and furniture. Please give it that curing time, because that is when the concrete gains its strength.
A patio is only as good as its subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, so we dig out the topsoil and soft spots and pack the soil or gravel fill by rolling, vibrating or tamping until it's firm. A base that's just raked level settles with the dirt. Then we set a slope you won't notice standing on it, but steep enough to move rain off quickly and away from your house.
Concrete moves a little as it warms, cools, wets and dries, so we cut control joints, planned lines in the slab, at the right time to give that movement somewhere to go. Cut late or skipped, they leave cracks wherever the slab chooses. Please feel free to ask any contractor, us included, when they'll cut the joints, because the answer tells you a good deal.
What our patio work covers:
A few hairline cracks in a patio that's still level and draining usually aren't a reason to tear it out, and I'll say so at the estimate. When the slab has sunk, tipped toward the house or broken into pieces that rock underfoot, the trouble is usually the base underneath, and patching the top won't fix that. In those cases, breaking it out and rebuilding on packed ground is usually the better use of your money.
Two patios of the same size can cost quite differently once we see the ground, because soft or low spots mean more digging and more fill. Thickness matters too, since a slab that carries heavier loads takes more concrete. When a budget is tight, people often want to trim the base work first because nobody sees it on day one. I'd rather you make the patio a little smaller, because a thin base shows up later as sinking and cracks.
I learned concrete on a municipal crew pouring sidewalks, curbs and steps, where we explained the work to any resident who asked, and I started this business in 2013 to bring that same habit to people's homes. I'd rather explain a step twice than have you surprised later, so please ask me anything, at the estimate or on pour day.
We park and stage equipment where we've agreed with you, protect the lawn around the work as well as we can, clean up before we leave and keep you posted on the schedule. Your satisfaction, guaranteed. Thank you for considering us.
Call (757) 731-7248 so we can see your yard, settle any permit questions and plan a good pour day ahead of time.
Tell us the patio size and how you'll use it, and keep a yard photo handy. We reply within one business day, and I come out for a free estimate with no obligation.
A concrete patio in nearby Virginia Beach usually costs about $7 to $15 per square foot. Where yours lands depends mostly on how much ground has to be dug out and packed, how thick the slab needs to be and how easy the spot is to reach. I'll price your own patio when I come out to see it.
A new patio cracks mostly because concrete shrinks and moves with temperature and moisture, and no reinforcement can stop that completely. Wire mesh or rebar, steel set inside the slab, can keep cracks narrower when it's placed at the right depth. The packed base and on-time joints described above are what keep cracks small and in the places we planned.
A calm, humid day is kinder to fresh concrete than a sunny, windy one at the same temperature, because sun and wind pull water out of the surface too fast and can leave a weak, dusty top. That trouble is most common in summer, though a dry, breezy day can cause it even when it's cool, and in winter we pour only on ground that's cleared and not frozen. I'd rather move the pour than go ahead in poor conditions.
A typical concrete patio is about 4 inches thick. Flatwork, the flat concrete in patios and walks, is often 6 inches where it has to carry heavier loads. If you plan to set a hot tub or park something heavy on it, please tell me at the estimate so we plan the right thickness.
Some patios do, and the city's Building Inspection Division is the office that decides, since it regulates home construction in Portsmouth. Exterior changes in the city's Historic Preservation and Downtown Design Districts need advance approval or a building permit application, and yards near tidal water may sit in a Resource Protection Area under Virginia's Chesapeake Bay rules, a buffer at least 100 feet wide inland of tidal wetlands and shores that the city can add land to. When a permit is needed, we pull it and schedule the inspections, and if it isn't clear, we check with the city before work starts.
Virginia's Board for Contractors licenses contractors by job size, and a single contract or project over $1,000 but under $30,000 falls in Class C. Before you sign with anyone, it's fair to ask which license they hold. We're licensed and insured, and I'm glad to talk it through at the estimate.
We're based in Portsmouth and build patios in many of the cities around it, including Virginia Beach and Suffolk. Please choose your area below, or call if yours isn't listed.
