Concrete Patios in Binghamton, NY

Concrete patios give Binghamton families a solid, low-upkeep place to eat and relax outdoors once the snow is gone. Summers here are mild, with July highs averaging 78.4 degrees on Wikipedia's climate table, so most of the year's outdoor living is packed into a few months. Concrete is a practical fit: HomeGuide's patio guide lists plain concrete patios at $4 to $12 a square foot installed, the surface can be broom finished, colored, exposed or stamped, and care comes down to sweeping and sealing.

Sizing it right

The most common regret is a patio that is too small. A table for six with chairs pulled out fills roughly a 12-foot square by itself. Add a grill with room to work, a path to walk around the table and a couple of lounge chairs, and you are near 16 by 16 feet or more. At the estimate we mark the outline on the ground so you can stand in it before anything is dug. Curves, a step down to the lawn and a path to the driveway or side door can all be poured in the same job.

Slope, water and the foundation

A patio is a large hard surface right against your house, so how it sheds water matters more than how it looks. We generally pitch the slab about a quarter inch per foot away from the foundation. On older Binghamton lots, many backyard slabs were poured flat or have since settled toward the house, sending snowmelt straight at the basement wall. Before forming a new one we look at where water runs now, where downspouts empty and whether a downspout needs to be extended past the slab. On hillside lots we also look at where water comes from uphill and how to steer it around the patio.

Finish options

• Broom: fine ridges for traction; the most economical surface.
• Integral color: pigment mixed in at the plant so color runs through the slab.
• Exposed aggregate: the top paste washed off to show the stone, with good grip.
• Stamped: slate, flagstone or brick patterns, covered on its own page.
• Decorative saw cuts: a grid or diamond pattern that also works as control joints.

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How we build it

Sod and topsoil come out, the subgrade is shaped to the planned slope, and crushed stone is compacted so the slab is evenly supported and drains. Forms set the shape. HomeGuide notes that standard residential patios are at least 4 inches thick, and that patios carrying heavy items like hot tubs or outdoor kitchens need about 6 inches with added reinforcement. We pour air-entrained concrete, finish, edge and joint it, and place an isolation joint where the patio meets the house so the two can move separately.

When an old patio should go

• It slopes toward the house
• Cracks have opened into trip edges
• The surface has scaled down to loose sand and stone
• The step from the back door has grown as the slab sank

If the slab is sound but has settled, lifting it may be enough, and we will price that option.

Care

Sweep and hose it off. Set planters on feet so water can drain out from under them. Reseal broom and exposed-aggregate patios every few years and colored or stamped ones on the schedule we leave you. Do not salt a patio; if you keep a winter path across it, use sand.