Concrete Patios in Arlington, TX and the DFW Metroplex

North Texas sits on clay that swells when it rains and shrinks when it bakes. A patio poured straight on that clay rides up and down with it. We strip the topsoil, compact the subgrade, and set the slab on a compacted base so the concrete has something stable to bear on. That base is the part you never see and the part that decides whether the slab is flat in ten years.

The slab itself is 4 inches thick, the residential standard for a patio that carries people, furniture and a grill. Reinforcement is rebar on chairs so it sits in the middle of the slab where it does its job, not lying on the dirt. Rebar adds roughly $0.60 to $1.10 per sq ft and is money well spent on clay.

Slope matters more than most people think. The residential code Arlington has adopted (2021 IRC, section R401.3) requires hard surfaces within 10 feet of the foundation to fall at least 2 percent away from the house, about a quarter inch per foot. We set forms to that pitch so rain leaves the slab instead of pooling against your slab foundation or running under the door.

New concrete does not bond to old concrete on its own. If you just pour against the edge of the existing slab you get a cold joint, and the two pieces move independently, so the new section settles or lifts and a lip shows up at the seam. That is the most common complaint we get called to fix on extensions somebody else poured.

We handle it one of two ways. Where the old slab is sound, we drill and epoxy rebar dowels into its edge so the new pour is pinned to it and the two move together. Where the old slab is cracked or heaving, we tell you straight that it is better to tear it out and pour the whole thing as one slab. Demo runs about $2.50 to $4.50 per sq ft on top of the new concrete.

Matching finish and color on an extension is honest work, not magic. Fresh concrete is lighter than a slab that has weathered ten summers, and the color evens out over a year or so. If a seamless look matters, a saw-cut joint placed on purpose at the seam reads as a design line instead of a patch.

An outdoor kitchen is heavy and concentrated: a masonry island with a built-in grill, a counter and a fridge can put more load on a few square feet than the rest of the patio carries in total. We thicken the slab under the island and run extra steel there so the counter does not tilt and crack the tile. Tell us where the island and any sleeves for gas, water or electrical go before we pour, because cutting them in later is the expensive way.

Pergola posts need a footing, not just a slab. We pour the pad and set post footings or anchor points where the steel lands. Our sister shop CJM Metals builds steel pergolas and we pour the pad they sit on, so the layout, anchor spacing and slab edges are worked out between the two crews instead of guessed at.

Electrical and gas runs to an outdoor kitchen need their own trade permits in Arlington, and a patio cover needs a City building permit. An uncovered slab at grade usually does not need one. We confirm what your project needs with the City of Arlington before we dig.

Broom finish is the workhorse. The texture gives traction when the slab is wet and hides minor surface variation. It is the lowest cost option at $8 to $14 per sq ft and it is what we recommend for most back patios and pool decks. Smooth trowel looks clean but gets slick when wet, so we steer it toward covered areas.

Exposed aggregate washes the cream off the surface to show the stone in the mix, $11 to $18 per sq ft. It is tough, it hides dirt, and it is barefoot-friendly once sealed. Salt finish presses rock salt into the surface and washes it out for a pitted, old-world texture at $9 to $15 per sq ft.

Stamped concrete is pressed with patterned mats and colored to read as flagstone, slate or wood plank, at $14 to $24 per sq ft. It is the most labor on pour day and needs a sealer every two to three years to hold color. We break down stamped versus broom on its own page.

Concrete shrinks as it cures and it will crack. Control joints decide where. On a 4 in. slab we cut joints every 8 to 10 feet, within the first day, so the crack happens in the groove instead of across your patio. Patios are shaped around houses and planters, so we lay joints out to hit inside corners, which is where uncontrolled cracks start. More on that in why concrete cracks.

You can walk on the slab after 24 hours, set furniture on it after about 3 days, and it reaches design strength at 28 days. Sealer, if you want it, goes on after that. Texas heat pulls the surface dry fast, so in summer we wet-cure or spray a curing compound to slow it down; a slab that dries too quickly is weaker and dusts. The full schedule is on our curing time page.

A 12 by 20 patio is 240 sq ft, about 3.3 cubic yards with waste. That is under a short load, which most DFW plants charge extra for, and it is why our job minimum is $1,800. If you are also thinking about a walkway or steps, pouring them the same day spreads the truck cost across more concrete.