How Much Does a Concrete Patio Cost?

Most residential quotes bundle four buckets: materials (ready-mix or bagged concrete, gravel sub-base, mesh or rebar, forms), labour (dig, compact, form, pour, finish, strip), equipment (truck access, pump, saw), and finish (broom, stamped, exposed aggregate, colour, sealer).

Labour is often the line that moves most between markets and crews. When two quotes differ widely on the same drawing, ask whether one includes spoil haul-away, a thicker base, or a decorative finish the other left out.

Delivery minimums matter on small slabs. A short pour can still trigger a full truck fee or a bagged-mix workaround that changes the materials line without changing the patio size on paper.

A patio people walk on is commonly planned at about 4 inches (100 mm). Slabs that take a hot tub, heavy planters, or occasional vehicle load are often thicker. Going from 4 inches to 6 inches is a 50% jump in concrete volume for the same footprint — that shows up immediately on the materials line.

Run length, width, and depth through the Concrete Calculator before you compare quotes. If one contractor proposes 4 inches and another proposes 5 inches, their material totals should not match even when the patio outline looks identical.

US takeoffs usually talk in cubic yards; UK takeoffs in cubic metres. Stay in one unit from calculator to quote. Mixing systems mid-conversation is how homeowners think they are comparing like-for-like when they are not.

Concrete sits on compacted gravel more often than on raw soil. Soft clay, old fill, or a slope that needs cut-and-fill can double the prep work before anyone opens a chute — cost that never appears in a simple per-square-foot rule of thumb.

Estimate the gravel layer with the Gravel Calculator once you know area and compacted depth. Ask each quote whether base thickness is included and whether spoil leaves the site.

Poor drainage under a slab shows up later as settlement and cracks. If the yard holds water after rain, fix drainage before you argue about stamp patterns.

A plain broom finish is the baseline. Stamping, colour, exposed aggregate, and similar finishes each add labour steps and materials. Those premiums scale with pattern complexity and hand work before the mix sets — not a fixed percentage of a broom slab.

Control joints are not optional decoration. Spacing and depth should match slab thickness. Good quotes mention joint layout; vague quotes often fight about cracks later.

Sealer is sometimes in the pour price and sometimes a follow-up visit. Ask. A sealed stamped patio and an unsealed one are not the same product at the same price.

If a ready-mix truck cannot reach the forms, you pay for a pump or wheelbarrow labour. Narrow side yards and parking limits show up as line items. Walk the access path with the bidder before you accept a lump sum.

Hot weather shortens finishing time; cold weather slows set. Rain on an open pour ruins surface finish. Ask what schedule risk is included in busy seasons.

Reinforcement (mesh, rebar, or fibre) changes materials a little; it does not replace thickness or base quality. Do not thin the slab because fibre was added.

Materials-only DIY looks cheap until you price forms, tools, a helper, and the risk of a bad finish. Small, simple rectangles with good access are the realistic DIY candidates. Large stamped jobs and pump pours are usually false economy for first-timers.

Bagged concrete can make sense when a truck minimum would dominate a tiny pad. Once volume climbs, ready-mix usually wins — check yardage in the Concrete Calculator first.

If you DIY the slab and hire finishing help, clarify who owns the mix, who signs for the truck, and who is responsible if the surface needs grinding.

Start with concrete and gravel volumes from the calculators, then price those lines with local rates. Fold them into the Cost Estimator with labour and finish as separate rows. Keep contingency visible — do not bury it inside a single patio total you cannot explain.

Get at least two or three local quotes for anything beyond a tiny pad. Ready-mix and labour are regional. Ask each quote to split materials, labour, base, and finish.

Worked sketch: a 12 by 14 ft patio at 4 inches is about 56 cubic feet — roughly 2.1 cubic yards before waste. Add a 4-inch gravel base and you have a second volume to price. Those two material lines plus labour and finish are the skeleton of a real estimate.