How Much Does It Cost to Install a Concrete Patio? (2026 Guide)

Last updated: June 2026

A concrete patio is one of the most popular backyard projects in the US — and one where the price gap between the cheapest and most expensive option is genuinely enormous. A basic poured concrete patio runs $6–$10 per square foot. Stamped concrete costs $12–$22 per square foot. A paver patio hits $15–$30 per square foot. For a standard 400 square foot patio, that’s the difference between a $2,400 project and a $12,000 project — and the right choice depends on factors most homeowners haven’t fully thought through before getting their first quote.

What contractors rarely explain before you commit: the material is often not the biggest cost variable. Site preparation, grading, base work, and existing concrete removal can add $1,500–$5,000 to any patio project regardless of surface material. Understanding total project cost — not just the per-square-foot material price — is what separates homeowners who stay on budget from those who don’t.

Concrete Patio Cost by Type

Patio Type	Cost per Sq Ft	400 sq ft Total	Lifespan
Plain concrete (broom finish)	$6–$10	$2,400–$4,000	25–50 years
Exposed aggregate concrete	$8–$14	$3,200–$5,600	25–40 years
Stamped concrete	$12–$22	$4,800–$8,800	20–40 years
Concrete pavers	$12–$20	$4,800–$8,000	30–50 years
Brick pavers	$15–$30	$6,000–$12,000	50–100 years

Use Our Free Concrete Patio Cost Calculator

Enter your patio dimensions, surface type, and site conditions to get an instant estimate. This calculator accounts for the full project cost — not just materials.

Plain Concrete vs. Stamped vs. Pavers — The Honest Comparison

Every contractor has a preferred product, and most will give you reasons why their specialty is the best choice. Here’s the unbiased comparison based on long-term performance data and homeowner experience.

Plain Concrete — The Underrated Choice

Plain concrete with a broom finish is consistently underestimated by homeowners who associate it with driveways and sidewalks rather than patios. At $6–$10 per square foot, it delivers a clean, permanent, low-maintenance surface that lasts 25–50 years with minimal upkeep. A properly finished broom-texture concrete patio actually provides better traction than many stamped surfaces when wet.

The aesthetic knock on plain concrete is fair — it’s utilitarian. But paired with good landscaping, outdoor furniture, and string lights, a plain concrete patio looks completely appropriate and lets the space itself be the design statement rather than the floor. For homeowners focused on maximizing outdoor living space per dollar, plain concrete is almost always the right call.

The maintenance requirement: sealing every 2–3 years with a concrete sealer ($50–$150 DIY) protects against staining and water infiltration. Skip sealing and concrete eventually absorbs oil, grease, and mineral deposits that are difficult to remove.

Stamped Concrete — Beautiful When New, Requires Commitment

Stamped concrete is pressed with patterns while wet — mimicking stone, brick, slate, or wood planking — and colored with integral pigment or surface hardener. The result, when done well by an experienced contractor, is genuinely beautiful and creates far more visual interest than plain concrete at roughly double the price ($12–$22 per square foot).

The honest maintenance reality that many stamped concrete contractors underemphasize: stamped concrete requires resealing every 1–3 years at a cost of $300–$700 for a 400 sq ft patio by a professional. Without regular resealing, the color fades, the pattern loses definition, and the surface becomes slippery when wet. Homeowners who seal consistently are happy with stamped concrete for 15–25 years. Those who don’t often find themselves with a patio that looks shabby within 5–7 years.

Repairs are the other consideration. Unlike pavers where individual units can be replaced identically, stamped concrete repairs are always visible — new concrete doesn’t match weathered concrete in color or texture. A crack in a stamped patio is repaired, not made invisible. If your ground has significant settlement history or expansive soils, the unforgiving nature of stamped concrete repairs is worth factoring into your decision.

Concrete Pavers — The Practical Premium Option

Concrete pavers cost $12–$20 per square foot installed — comparable to stamped concrete — but offer a fundamentally different value proposition. Individual pavers can be removed and replaced identically, making repairs invisible. Pavers flex with ground movement rather than cracking. Permeable paver systems allow water to drain through the surface rather than run off — increasingly valued for stormwater management and in jurisdictions with impervious surface restrictions.

The installation quality variable is more significant with pavers than with poured concrete. A properly installed paver patio — with adequate compacted gravel base, proper edge restraints, and correctly jointed sand — performs excellently for 30–50 years. A poorly installed paver patio develops settlement, shifting, and weed growth within 3–5 years. Ask any paver contractor specifically about base depth (4–6 inches of compacted gravel minimum), edge restraint system, and jointing sand type (polymeric sand dramatically reduces weed growth versus regular sand).

If you’re comparing a paver patio with a wood or composite deck, pavers have a meaningful advantage in cold climates — freeze-thaw cycles that degrade wood don’t affect concrete or brick pavers, and there’s no refinishing or staining requirement.

Exposed Aggregate — The Often-Overlooked Middle Ground

Exposed aggregate concrete is poured like standard concrete but finished by washing away the surface paste before it sets, exposing the decorative aggregate (stones, pebbles, or glass) beneath. The result is a textured, naturally non-slip surface with visual interest at $8–$14 per square foot — more than plain concrete but less than stamped.

Exposed aggregate is genuinely popular in California and the Pacific Northwest where the aesthetic fits well with natural landscaping. It’s more durable than stamped concrete in terms of surface wear — the aggregate is part of the concrete mix rather than a surface treatment — and repairs, while still visible, blend better than stamped concrete repairs because the variation in the aggregate helps disguise patching.

What Drives Patio Costs Beyond Material Selection

Site Preparation — The Variable That Blows Budgets

A flat backyard with easy equipment access and no existing hardscape is the ideal scenario — contractors can set forms, bring in a concrete truck, and pour without complications. Add any of the following and costs increase:

Significant grading to create a level surface costs $500–$2,500 depending on how much soil needs to be moved. Removing existing concrete — an old patio, sidewalk, or deteriorated driveway apron — costs $2–$4 per square foot for breaking, removal, and disposal. Limited equipment access — a backyard only accessible through a gate or narrow side yard — requires wheelbarrow or hand-pour methods that add $1–$3 per square foot to labor cost. Rocky soil or tree roots requiring excavation before base work adds variable cost depending on extent.

Get your site assessed before committing to a budget. A contractor who quotes without visiting your property is giving you a number that doesn’t account for your specific conditions.

Drainage — Critical and Often Underspecified

A patio that doesn’t drain properly channels water toward your house foundation or creates standing water that makes the space unusable after rain. Proper patio slope — a minimum of 1/8 inch per foot away from the house — is required. In low-lying areas or lots that slope toward the house, this may require additional drainage solutions.

A channel drain (linear drain) at the edge of a patio collects runoff and redirects it to a discharge point, costing $400–$1,200 installed. French drain systems that capture subsurface water cost $1,000–$3,000 depending on length and complexity. Don’t skip drainage planning — a patio that floods after every rain is a project failure regardless of how beautiful the surface looks.

Thickness and Reinforcement

Residential patio concrete should be 4 inches thick minimum — 3.5 inches is sometimes quoted as equivalent but leaves less margin. If the patio will see vehicle traffic at any point (garage approach, RV storage), specify 6 inches. Fiber reinforcement or welded wire mesh adds $0.50–$1 per square foot and significantly reduces cracking — worth doing on any patio over 200 square feet.

Control joints — the grooves cut into the surface every 8–10 feet — direct cracking to predictable locations. They’re standard practice on quality installations. A concrete contractor who doesn’t mention control joints is cutting corners that will show up in 5 years as random surface cracks.

Concrete Patio vs. Wood Deck — Which Is Right for You?

This comparison drives a lot of homeowner decision-making, and the honest answer is that they’re different products suited to different situations.

A pressure treated wood deck costs $15–$25 per square foot installed — more than plain concrete but competitive with stamped concrete and pavers. Wood decks work well on slopes where building a level concrete surface would require extensive grading or retaining walls. They’re warmer underfoot in spring and fall, easier to attach railings and pergola structures to, and can be built over uneven terrain that would be expensive to grade for concrete.

Concrete patios win on maintenance — they require far less annual upkeep than wood, which needs staining or sealing every 2–3 years. Concrete also has a longer lifespan and better resistance to weather in wet climates where wood rot is a concern. For flat backyards with good drainage, a concrete patio often makes more practical and financial sense than a wood deck at comparable cost.

Composite decking eliminates wood’s maintenance requirements but at a higher cost — $30–$45 per square foot for composite versus $6–$22 per square foot for concrete options. If you’re comparing a stamped concrete patio to a composite deck, the composite costs 50–100% more for a similar surface area.

How to Get the Best Price on a Concrete Patio

• Get 3 quotes with identical specifications — same surface type, same square footage, same thickness, same drainage scope. Concrete patio quotes without specifications are meaningless for comparison.
• Ask specifically about base preparation — how deep are they excavating, how thick is the gravel base, are they using fiber reinforcement or wire mesh. The answers reveal whether you’re getting a 10-year patio or a 30-year patio.
• Install in fall — concrete contractors are typically slower September through November. Spring and summer are peak seasons with higher demand and less willingness to negotiate.
• Do your own demolition — if you have an old concrete patio or pavers to remove, renting a jackhammer and dumpster to do it yourself saves $800–$2,000 on a typical project.
• Consider doing your own sealing — buy concrete sealer from Home Depot and apply it yourself after the patio cures. Saves $200–$400 versus having the contractor seal it, and it’s not a difficult DIY task.

Frequently Asked Questions About Concrete Patio Cost

How long does it take to install a concrete patio?

Site preparation and forming takes 1 day. The actual concrete pour for a 400 sq ft patio takes 3–6 hours. Concrete must cure for 24–48 hours before foot traffic and 7 days before heavy furniture. Stamped concrete requires a sealer application 24–48 hours after pouring, adding another day. Total project timeline from start to usable patio: 3–5 days including cure time.

How long does a concrete patio last?

A properly installed plain or exposed aggregate concrete patio lasts 25–50 years. Stamped concrete lasts 20–40 years with regular resealing — the surface treatment is more wear-sensitive than the concrete itself. Pavers last 30–100 years depending on material — concrete pavers 30–50 years, brick pavers 50–100 years. The biggest variable in any patio’s lifespan is installation quality, particularly base preparation and drainage.

Can concrete be poured over existing concrete?

Yes — a concrete overlay over existing concrete is possible and costs less than full removal and replacement. However, it only works if the existing concrete is structurally sound with no significant cracking, heaving, or settlement. The overlay must be at least 1.5–2 inches thick and requires proper bonding agent between old and new concrete. The height increase affects door thresholds and transitions. For patios with significant deterioration or drainage issues, full removal and replacement is usually the better long-term solution.

How much does it cost to remove an old concrete patio?

Concrete removal costs $2–$4 per square foot including breaking, loading, and disposal. A 400 sq ft patio costs $800–$1,600 to remove professionally. DIY removal — renting a jackhammer at $100–$150/day and a dumpster at $300–$500 — can reduce this to $400–$650 for the motivated homeowner. Concrete is heavy — a 4-inch thick 400 sq ft patio weighs approximately 8,000 pounds.

Does a concrete patio add value to a home?

A well-designed concrete patio adds outdoor living space that buyers value — particularly in markets with favorable outdoor weather. A patio doesn’t add dollar-for-dollar value at appraisal, but it improves lifestyle and makes the home more attractive to buyers. A deteriorated or nonexistent patio can be a negative in showings where buyers expect outdoor entertaining space. For a 400 sq ft patio costing $4,000–$8,000, expect to recover 50–70% in home value improvement.

Can I build a concrete patio myself?

Small patios under 100 square feet are realistic DIY projects for experienced homeowners — mixing and pouring concrete in small batches, setting forms, and finishing the surface are learnable skills. Patios over 200 square feet typically require a concrete truck delivery and multiple workers to finish before the concrete sets — coordinating this as a DIY project is challenging. The finishing window for concrete is narrow (30–90 minutes depending on temperature), and mistakes are permanent. Most homeowners are better served hiring a professional for patio concrete work and saving DIY energy for projects with more forgiving timelines.

What maintenance does a concrete patio require?

Plain concrete: seal every 2–3 years with a penetrating concrete sealer ($50–$150 DIY), clean oil and grease stains promptly, avoid deicing salts in winter. Stamped concrete: reseal every 1–3 years ($300–$700 professional), keep surface clean, avoid pressure washing that strips the sealer. Pavers: sweep polymeric sand into joints as needed, seal every 3–5 years, replace any individual pavers that crack or settle. All patio surfaces benefit from prompt crack repair — small cracks filled immediately prevent water infiltration that accelerates deterioration.

What’s the best size for a backyard patio?

A functional small patio for a table and four chairs requires at least 10×12 feet (120 sq ft). A comfortable entertaining patio for a table, chairs, grill, and some circulation space needs 16×20 feet (320 sq ft) minimum. A large outdoor living area with multiple seating zones, outdoor kitchen, and fire pit area typically runs 400–600 square feet. The most common homeowner regret in patio projects: building too small. The incremental cost of adding 4 feet to each dimension during construction is far less than expanding later.