Concrete patio construction in Medford MA - a slab built on solid, packed ground

Most people call me because an old patio has cracked and sunk, a paver patio has heaved, or there's a patch of mud by the back door they're tired of. The price mostly turns on the size, how much digging and base work the ground needs, whether an old patio has to come out first and the finish you pick, since a stamped finish costs more than a plain one. The schedule turns on the weather, on lining up the truck and crew, and on checking with the city whether your job needs a permit, which we do before we set a date. My written estimate spells out what's included and what isn't, so you see your own number before anything starts.

A patio is only as good as the ground under it, so I walk the spot and check for soft pockets before we form anything. We dig out the old patio or the sod, then pack the subgrade, the soil the slab sits on, and a gravel base until it's firm and even, because soft spots let a slab settle unevenly. We set the forms so the slab falls away from your house, and before the pour I talk with you about where that water will go and what you'll honestly see after a hard rain. Where the job calls for it we lay in rebar, steel rod that holds the slab together if it cracks, then we pour, finish the top and cut control joints, grooves that give the slab a planned place to crack. After that it cures, which is the time it needs to harden before you walk on it, and we clean up. If the budget gets tight, I'll trim the finish before I trim the base, because the base is buried on day one and it's the part you can't fix later without tearing the patio out.

Patios rarely stand alone. If you want the slab to look like stone or slate, our stamped concrete services press a pattern in while the concrete is still wet. If you need a way to get to the patio from the driveway or the side gate, we can pour a matching walk through our concrete sidewalk building work and set both on the same base.

Whether a patio needs a permit in Medford is up to the building official, who issues permits to build a building or structure. The city's list of exempt work names sheds, retaining walls and ordinary repairs but not patios, so it doesn't settle the question for your job. That's why I check with the Medford Building Department before your job goes on the schedule, and if a permit is needed, we file it and tell you up front that we're the ones pulling it. A homeowner's permit is only for the owner of a single or two family home who lives there, so a landlord can't go that route. When you compare quotes, know that the state lists ground-level patio installers among the home improvement work that doesn't need its contractor registration, so that registration won't tell you much about a patio crew, and you're better off asking how they handle the base, the mix and a cold-weather pour.

On jobs here we see a lot of older houses with tight backyards, old paver patios that have heaved, and downspouts that empty right beside the back door. When the truck can't reach the yard, we plan how the concrete gets back there before pour day, and we sort out where the roof water goes before we set the slope. We run into the same narrow lots on jobs in Somerville and Malden.