Concrete
Concrete Patios in Aurora, IL
A patio is a room without walls, so it gets laid out like one. The table needs clearance, the grill needs a landing, the door needs to swing, and the whole surface needs to drain away from the house. Decide the furniture first and the dimensions usually set themselves.
Lux Landscaping Construction places concrete patios over a compacted stone base, with reinforcement and a joint layout planned around the shape rather than cut as an afterthought. Estimates are free and written, and they name the base depth, the slab thickness and the finish so you know what you are getting.
Who this is for
- You have a back door opening onto grass, or onto a stoop too small to hold a table.
- An existing patio has settled toward the house, cracked through its panels, or lost its surface.
- You want one continuous surface for a dining set, a grill and a fire feature instead of separate pads.
- A pool, hot tub or outdoor kitchen needs a flat, stable surface around it.
Scope
What the work covers
- Layout marked on the ground, with furniture clearances and door swings checked before anything is dug.
- Removal of sod, old slab or pavers, and excavation to depth across the full footprint.
- Compacted crushed stone base, with the subgrade shaped to carry water away from the foundation.
- Forms set for a slope that drains the surface without reading as tilted underfoot.
- Wire or bar reinforcement, isolation joints at the house wall and any post or column, and control joints laid out to the shape of the patio.
- Placing and finishing in the chosen texture, with tooled or formed edges.
- Curing, form stripping, backfill and perimeter restoration, plus sleeves for gas, electric or lighting where you want them run under the slab.
Options
What you can choose
Shape and edges
A rectangle is the cheapest shape to form and the easiest to furnish, but curves, chamfered corners and a bump-out for a grill or a bench are all straightforward with bent forms. Edges can be left square, radiused with an edging tool, or finished with a contrasting band.
Finishes
Broom texture is the most practical for a surface that gets wet. Exposed aggregate wears well and hides dirt. A smooth-troweled area looks sharp under a covered roof but is slick in the open. A stamped or saw-cut pattern can be used as a border while the main field stays broomed.
Transitions and features
Where the patio meets a door, the finished surface sits low enough to keep water out of the house and flashing intact. Steps down to the lawn, a landing at a gate, and a thickened section under a fire table or a pergola post are all decided in the layout, not after the pour.
Concrete or pavers here
A concrete patio is one continuous surface with very few joints, cleans up with a hose, and usually costs less per square foot to install than a paver field of the same size. Pavers move with the ground instead of cracking, can be lifted and reset individually, and give color and pattern without sealing. In clay soil both need the same base work, so the choice comes down to appearance and how you want the surface to age.
How we do it
The sequence on site
Design the footprint
At the walkthrough we measure the yard and the door, talk through what goes on the patio, and set a size that leaves walking room around the furniture. Grade, roof runoff, downspouts and the sump discharge all feed into the shape.
Excavate and build the base
Sod and topsoil come off, soft material is removed, and crushed stone is placed and compacted in lifts. The subgrade is shaped so water under the slab moves outward, away from the foundation.
Form, reinforce, place
Forms are set with the fall checked in both directions, isolation material goes against the house and any fixed element, and reinforcement is supported off the base before the pour. Concrete is placed, consolidated and screeded flat to the forms.
Finish and joint
The surface is floated, textured and edged, then jointed in a layout that follows the shape of the slab. Panels are kept close to square where the geometry allows, because long thin panels crack across the middle.
Cure, seal and hand over
We cure the slab, strip forms, restore the perimeter and clean up. If the patio is colored or stamped, sealing comes once the concrete is ready to take it, and we go through the schedule for keeping it up.
Local conditions
What northern Illinois changes about this job
Draining away from the foundation
In clay, water that lands on a patio and runs toward the house has nowhere to go but down beside the foundation. Patios get a consistent fall away from the building, and where a yard slopes back toward the house, a slab edge, a swale or a drain is used to intercept it. Downspout discharge is routed past the patio, not under it.
Shade, algae and winter
North-facing patios in the western suburbs stay damp and grow algae on a smooth finish. A broomed or exposed surface keeps grip where that happens, and a periodic wash keeps it from getting slick. Snow can be shoveled off concrete with a plastic-edged shovel. Keep de-icer off a new or decorative surface and use sand instead.
Freeze-thaw and joint layout
Ground movement through the winter is what turns a crack into something you notice. Jointed panels sized to the slab thickness, placed where the shape naturally wants to break, give that movement a line to follow so it still reads as a joint rather than a failure.
FAQ
Concrete Patios questions
How big should a patio be?
Start with the furniture. A round table for four needs clearance on all sides for chairs to pull out, and a grill needs standing room in front of it that nobody has to walk through. We lay the footprint out on the ground at the walkthrough so you can stand in it before it is built.
Can a new patio go over my old one?
Only if the old slab is sound, drains correctly, and sits low enough that an overlay will not bridge a door threshold or a step. An overlay on a cracked or settled slab reflects those cracks fairly quickly. We check the existing slab and tell you whether it is a candidate.
Do patios need a permit?
It varies by municipality, and some require one for any impervious surface over a certain size. North Aurora has a patio permit application of its own. We confirm what applies at your address with the local building department before work begins.
Can I put a fire pit or a pergola on it?
Yes, as long as that is decided before the pour. A pergola post wants a footing and an isolation detail, and a gas fire feature wants a sleeve run under the slab while the base is still open. Retrofitting either means cutting the finished surface.
How do I keep it looking new?
Sweep and rinse it, keep glides on furniture feet so chairs do not score the finish, and keep de-icing salt off it. Colored and decorative patios need resealing periodically, and we tell you which product class fits your finish at handover.
Free estimate
Ask about concrete patios
Send the address and a short description. We will arrange a time to walk the site, then put the scope and the price in writing.