Concrete Patios in Kenosha, WI

Concrete patios give you a flat, solid place to sit, grill and eat outside, and they ask for little care once they are in. In Kenosha the summer is short. Average highs reach the upper 70s only in July and August, according to the NOAA normals on the city's Wikipedia page. A good patio makes the most of those months, and it has to come through the winter in between without heaving or cracking.

Size and layout first

The most common patio mistake is pouring it too small. A table and six chairs need roughly 12 by 12 feet, and a grill, a seating area and room to walk between them need more. We look at where the back door is, where the sun lands in the afternoon, where the downspouts drain and how you want to move between the house, the garage and the yard. Then we mark it out so you can see the shape before anything is dug.

Slope and drainage

Pitch the slab away from the house and rain and snowmelt drain to the grass instead of your foundation wall. Water that sits against a foundation wall can find its way into a basement or crawlspace, so this matters. We set forms for a gentle slope, keep the patio below door thresholds and check where downspouts empty. If a downspout lands on the patio, we plan an extension or a different route.

Signs an old patio needs replacing

• Panels that have dropped or lean back toward the house
• Cracks that let weeds grow through or trip people
• A surface that has flaked and pitted
• Water that stands on the slab after a rain
• A patio poured so thin that it has broken into pieces

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Finish choices

• Broom finish: the most affordable and the most slip resistant when wet. HomeGuide lists broom patios at $6 to $13 per square foot.
• Colored concrete: pigment mixed into the concrete gives a warm tan, gray or brown that does not wear off.
• Exposed aggregate: the surface paste is rinsed away so the stone shows. It is textured, hides dirt and costs $7 to $18 per square foot in HomeGuide's guide.
• Stamped: pattern and color that look like stone or brick. See our stamped concrete page for details.

A contrasting band or a curved outline can be added to any of them.

Building it to last

HomeGuide's patio guide sets 4 inches as the standard thickness and 6 inches with extra reinforcement for hot tubs and outdoor kitchens. We dig out topsoil, compact a stone base and place reinforcement. Control joints are cut so the slab breaks into neat panels as it shrinks rather than cracking at random. The mix is air entrained, like all our exterior concrete.

Patio care

Sweep off leaves and rinse the surface a few times a season. Seal the patio every few years to slow staining and water absorption. Keep salt off it in winter, use sand if you need traction, and do not chip ice with a metal tool. With regular maintenance HomeGuide expects a patio to last 30 to 50 years.