Concrete Patios & Flatwork
Concrete Patios
Patios, porches, driveways, sidewalks and every kind of concrete flatwork, poured to hold up under Austin heat and Central Texas clay.
Chapter 01
Most patio problems start below the slab
Every homeowner who calls us about a cracked patio or a driveway that pools water after a storm has the same root cause: the ground underneath was never prepared right in the first place. Central Texas clay expands and contracts hard through the year, and a slab poured straight onto unprepped soil is going to move with it, whether that shows up as a hairline crack the first summer or a slab that heaves at one corner two years in.
We see it a lot on patios that were an afterthought, poured after the deck or pergola was already up, with no thought given to how water needs to move off the property. That is the opposite of how we build. The slab gets planned first, because everything else, the pergola posts, the outdoor kitchen counter, the step down from the back door, has to sit on ground that was actually engineered to hold it.
Dark stained cedar pergola standing on a new concrete patio slab in a suburban backyard
We Build Concrete Patios, Driveways, Sidewalks & More!
We start with excavation and sub-grade prep, compacting the base so the slab has something stable to sit on instead of loose fill. Forms get set to the fall we need, usually a slight pitch away from the house, so rainwater sheds off the patio instead of sitting against your foundation. Where drainage is a real concern we grade for it before a single yard of concrete shows up on site.
From there it is rebar or wire mesh reinforcement, then the pour itself, screeded, floated and finished to the texture you want, whether that is a broom finish for grip around a pool or a smoother stamped or exposed-aggregate look for a front walk. Control joints get cut at the right spacing so any cracking that does happen over time happens along a joint we planned, not across the middle of your patio. We handle the City of Austin and HOA permitting on your behalf, so you are not the one standing in line at the permit office.
One of our customers, Ron B, put it simply after we finished his patio: "I'm very pleased with the service at Austin Deck's. They assisted with the permit process and stayed in constant contact with me throughout the whole project. The concrete guys and the carpenter's did quality work and we're very happy with the completed patio."
It is not only patios. Driveways, Sidewalks, Concrete Paths and All Concrete Flatwork come off the same trucks and the same crew, mixed and finished to withstand the Central Texas climate rather than a milder one.
Chapter 03
What holds up after we leave
A properly poured slab with the right sub-grade and drainage is built to last for decades, not just look good the first year. Every project we build carries a five year structural warranty, and if you are pairing the patio with a deck, pergola or outdoor kitchen on top of it, that same crew stays on the job from the concrete up through the finish carpentry, so nothing gets split between two contractors pointing fingers at each other.
Design consultations are free, and quotes usually come back in five days or less. If you already have a bid in hand from another builder, bring it. We can usually meet or beat it by five to ten percent. Give us a call at (512) 467-4923 or request a design consultation and we will come look at the ground you are working with.
Austin's Decks Unlimited, locally and family owned, serving Austin, TX. Call (512) 467-4923.