Planning a Concrete Patio: Cost, Slope, and Common Mistakes
A patio is the one slab people actually sit on. Drainage and finish matter more here than on anything else we pour — and both are decided before the concrete arrives.
Slope is not optional
A patio has to shed water away from the house. Get that wrong and you've built a basin against your foundation, which is a far more expensive problem than the patio. Slope is set at the forming stage — it cannot be corrected after the pour without removing the slab.
What it costs
Patio concrete is priced similarly to other flatwork, generally in the same $6–$11 per square foot range for a plain finish, with stamped or colored work costing more. Steps, curved edges, and multiple levels add forming labor, which is usually the real driver on a patio rather than the square footage itself.
Size it for furniture, not for the drawing
The most common regret is a patio that's too small once actual furniture is on it. A table with chairs pulled out needs meaningfully more room than the table's footprint. It's worth chalking the outline and setting real chairs in it before the forms go in — that hour is free, and widening a slab afterward is not.
Plan the transitions
Where the patio meets a door, a walk, or an existing slab, the transition needs to be flush and the two slabs need an expansion joint between them so they can move independently. Skipping that joint is how a new patio cracks an existing one.
Decide on finish before the pour
Broom finish is the durable default. Stamped and colored options need to be planned in advance because they change the mix, the schedule, and the crew size on pour day. It's not a decision that can be made once the truck is on site.
Need this done?
Snell Concrete & Construction handles patio installation across Missouri, based in Fulton. Free on-site estimates, and a straight answer on what the job actually needs.
Related guides
Answers before you call.
How thick should a concrete patio be?
Four inches is standard for a patio carrying foot traffic and furniture. Thickness goes up if vehicles or heavy loads will ever be on it, or if the base is questionable.
Can you pour a patio over an existing one?
Only in specific circumstances, and it raises the finished height — which often creates problems at doors and thresholds. If the existing slab is stable and the height works, an overlay is possible; if it's settled, it needs to come out.
How long does a concrete patio take to build?
Most residential patios are a few days of work — prep and forming, the pour, then finishing and cleanup. Cure time before you can put furniture and traffic on it is separate from build time.
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