With the correct tools and directions, you can create a DIY concrete patio and save money on your next home remodeling project.
What is a Concrete Patio?
A concrete patio is one that is formed from a concrete slab that has been poured. Patios can be built from multitude of materials such as pavers, tiles, bricks, or sandstone, but concrete is a popular choice since it is adaptable, inexpensive, and can survive a variety of adverse weather conditions. Concrete can bear the weight of many big backyard hardscaping constructions, such as outdoor kitchens or gazebos when appropriately reinforced.
What Are the Materials Required for a Concrete Patio?
Here’s a rundown of what you’ll need if you plan to create a concrete patio.
- Measurement tape, a spade or shovel, a handsaw, sand, wire mesh, sufficient wooden 2x4s to structure your deck, wooden posts, and thread are some of the tools you’ll need to prepare your patio space. These things will enable you to dig and prepare your location, as well as build a frame into which you may pour your concrete.
- Concrete pouring materials: If you’re covering a space smaller than a square yard, you can blend your concrete at home. Purchase enough concrete mix to match your area and blend it using a wheelbarrow. Consider renting a concrete mixer with enough pre-mixed concrete to cover your dug-out area in case you’re filling a larger space.
- To smoothen, level, and seal your concrete, you’ll need a screed, a bull float, a plastic tarpaulin, and an edger once you’ve poured it into your framing.
How to Get Your Backyard Ready for a Concrete Patio?
When you’re going the DIY route, here’s how to prepare and excavate your yard for a concrete patio.
1. Choose a location
Choose a location with level ground. Because you want your concrete patio to be leveled, it must be poured on a smooth and flat surface.
2. Calculate the size of your site
Measure the size of your concrete patio with a meter stick. Before you start digging, double-check your state regulations to ensure that you don’t need a license or special authorization to construct your own patio. Also, make sure you’re not going to hit any subterranean water or septic lines when you’re excavating.
3. Place a stake in the ground
To map out the space that you will be digging, drive pegs into the edges of your patio section. Tie a bit of string between the stakes to use as a line level. Excavate your site:
4. Rid your space of vegetation, topsoil, and roots with a spade or trowel
To build a ground-level patio, excavate a hole that is eight inches deeper, but make sure there is enough area for at least four inches of sand. Only dig down approximately half as deep as you would for a ground-level patio if you want an elevated concrete patio. To guarantee that water and other components may flow off effectively, make sure the patio slopes away from the house in compliance with your local code’s rate.
What is the Best Way to Make a Concrete Patio?
After you’ve prepared your patio area, it’s time when you may begin installing your concrete patio.
1. Begin by laying the foundation
To start off, you’ll need to lay a foundation on which to pour your concrete. In order to provide stability and drainage, compress the soil inside your roped-off zone, then add a four-inch layer of sand on the top.
2. Shape your concrete
Place new pegs around the periphery of your dig site, somewhat outside of where you’ll put the patio forming boards. To make a shape for your concrete and help support the base, line your excavated section with 2x4s immediately under your boundary string. Make sure the wood you pick for your form boards is substantial and stable enough to support the weight of wet cement. The form boards should be nailed or screwed into the perimeter stakes.
3. Remove the stakes’ tops using a saw
You want the pegs to stay in place while you pour the concrete, but you don’t want them to be visible afterward. To level off the tops of the stakes, make use of your handsaw.
4. Coating forms
Coat your wooden forms with a releasing agent or veg oil to prevent them from sticking once the concrete has been poured and hardened.
5. Put your mesh reinforcement in place
A wire mesh structure, in conjunction with your gravel base, is a wonderful option to sustain any weight on top of your patio, preventing it from splitting. Use ten-gauge metal in six-inch squares. Place the mesh at the center of the slab’s thickness.
6. Make your concrete blend
The size of your space will dictate if you should hand-mix your concrete or utilise a ready-mix from an industrial blender. If you’re hand-mixing the concrete, prepare as per the manufacturer’s directions before combining and pouring it using your wheelbarrow. Make a ratchet up to your form using a wooden board, and make use of that to get your wheelbarrow up to the frame’s perimeter.
7. Pour in the concrete
Pour the whole concrete mix into your excavation site after it’s finished. Push the damp cement into the form’s borders with a shovel or other suitable tool, ensuring to fill any low spots. To smooth out any extra concrete, run a screed—which can be any type of straightedge, such as a 2×4—across the top of it in a side-to-side or sawing movement. To further level out your surface, use a bull float to go over it. Water will emerge on the surface of the concrete as you work with it. Allow it to dry before continuing your process.
8. Give enough time to cure
Allow two to three days for your fresh concrete patio to cure (or dry). As it hardens, top it with a wooden tarpaulin to keep debris from getting stuck in your concrete. Lift the tarp and gradually slide the wooden 2×4 forms out from the perimeter of your patio once the concrete has cured. To flatten the soil, fill any gaps left by your patio form boards with topsoil.
To know more about concrete patio building and seek professional guidance, visit https://www.xcelentconcrete.com/
Article Submitted By Community Writer
