Concrete Patios in Spring Hill, TN

Most backyards in Spring Hill came with a small concrete pad off the back door and nothing else. We pour concrete patios for homeowners here, new pours, extensions to a pad too small to hold a table, and replacements for slabs that have cracked or settled toward the house, and the result is a level, properly drained outdoor floor that holds furniture flat and does not turn into a puddle after a summer thunderstorm.

What Goes Into a Poured Patio

The work follows the same order as any good flatwork job. We mark the footprint with you on site, because a patio drawn on paper almost always needs adjusting once you stand in the yard and see where the door swings and where the sun lands in the afternoon. Sod and topsoil come off, stone base goes in and gets compacted, and forms are set with a deliberate pitch away from the house.

Patios are usually four inches thick with wire reinforcement, which is plenty for furniture, a grill and foot traffic. The finish is your choice. A broom finish gives texture that stays grippy when wet, which matters more here than people expect, because Middle Tennessee summers are humid and a smooth patio in the shade grows a slick film. A smooth trowel finish looks cleaner and works better under a covered porch. Exposed aggregate hides dirt well.

If you want pattern and color instead of a plain gray surface, that decision gets made before the pour, not after.

When a Patio Needs Replacing

Old patio slabs fail in ways that are easy to read:

• The slab has tipped back toward the house, so water now runs at the foundation instead of away from it. This one is worth acting on quickly.
• Corners or one whole side have settled, and furniture no longer sits level.
• A wide crack has split the pad in two and the halves have moved independently.
• The surface has scaled and is shedding a gritty layer every spring.
• It is simply too small. Many builder pads here are eight by ten, which does not hold a table and chairs.

Why Patio Slabs Move in This Soil

Patios sit on the part of a lot that was disturbed most. When a house goes in, the ground around the foundation gets excavated and then backfilled, and that backfill keeps settling for years. A patio poured on top of it settles with it. That is why so many older patios around Spring Hill have pulled away from the house or dropped at the outside corner.

The clay in this area makes it worse. It expands through wet spells and contracts in dry ones, so the slab is being lifted and dropped through the year. Add freeze-thaw cycling through the winter and any crack that opens gets wider each season. Gutters make or break the whole thing. A downspout emptying next to a patio keeps that base saturated, and saturated clay has almost no bearing strength.

A new patio poured on compacted stone with the right pitch, tied into where the water actually goes, avoids nearly all of this. If the same downspout is still dumping at the corner, the new slab will eventually do what the old one did.

What Affects the Cost

• Size. The main driver, and worth thinking through once. Going from ten by twelve to fourteen by sixteen at the time of the pour costs far less than adding on later.
• Removing the old pad. Tear-out and haul-off if there is an existing slab.
• Access to the back yard. This is the big one for patios. If a truck can reach the site, the pour is fast. If concrete has to be wheeled through a gate one load at a time, the labor climbs.
• Grade work. Sloped yards need more excavation, and sometimes a low retaining edge.
• Finish. Broom is standard. Stamping, coloring, exposed aggregate and sealing each add cost.
• Tie-ins. Steps down to the yard, a walkway to the side gate, or a connection to the existing driveway apron.

Patio Questions We Get Asked

Thinking about a patio this season? Call (931) 378-6491 and we will come out, walk the yard with you and price it.