Concrete patio cost factors

Access is often the surprise

Patios are frequently in back gardens, behind fences, down steps, or otherwise somewhere a concrete truck cannot go. Concrete then has to be pumped or barrowed, and demolition debris has to come back out the same way.

This can move a patio price substantially relative to an identical slab in an accessible location, and it is the most common reason two contractors quote very differently for what looks like the same job.

Finish and decorative work

A broom-finished patio and a stamped, coloured patio are different products at different prices. Decorative treatments also come with maintenance implications — some need periodic resealing — which is a running cost worth asking about rather than discovering.

Resurfacing versus replacing

Where the slab is sound and unmoved, resurfacing costs a fraction of replacement and can transform the appearance. Where it has settled or is cracking widely, resurfacing is the wrong job at any price.

The honest comparison is not resurfacing price against replacement price. It is resurfacing price against replacement price given how long each will actually last on your slab — which requires somebody to assess the slab.

Where patio quotes usually diverge

Beyond access, the largest swings tend to come from what is being done to the ground and what is being done at the edges. A patio laid on a properly prepared base costs more than one laid on whatever was there, and the difference is invisible on the day and decisive five years later.

Edges matter more on a patio than elsewhere because they are visible from every angle and because they are where a patio meets soil, planting and often a building. Ask what happens at each edge and what the finished level is relative to the ground beside it.

Where a patio meets the house, ask specifically what the detail is at that junction and how water is kept from running down it.

Maintenance is part of the price

Some finishes carry an ongoing cost that never appears in a quote. Decorative treatments and film-forming sealers typically need reapplying on a cycle, and that cycle is a real recurring expense on a large patio.

Ask what maintenance the finish being proposed requires, how often, and roughly what that involves. A slightly more expensive finish that needs nothing may be cheaper across a decade than a cheaper one that needs attention every few years.

What moves the price

We do not publish national dollar figures. A single average applied across every site, method and market gives you a confident-looking benchmark that is wrong for your job in an unknown direction. What does transfer between jobs is the structure of the price:

• Square footage.
• Access — the largest swing factor on many patios.
• Resurfacing versus replacement.
• Finish and decorative treatment.
• Demolition and disposal, and how it gets out of the garden.
• Base preparation and any drainage correction.

Local quotes decide actual pricing. If you want to compare two of them properly, the quote comparison guide covers how.

Common questions