Concrete patio construction in Petaluma CA - a slab that sheds rain and wears well
Cracked, sinking or puddled patio out back? We build a new slab on packed ground that drains away from your house.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What does it take to build a concrete patio in Petaluma?
Concrete patio construction in Petaluma is the work of forming, pouring and finishing a flat slab beside your house. You end up with a hard, even surface for chairs, a grill and everyday foot traffic.
Most people call us because the old patio has cracked, sunk at one corner or holds water after every rain, or because there's bare dirt out back and they'd like somewhere to sit. The price mostly comes down to the patio's size, how much old concrete or soil has to come out, how easily we can get concrete back to your yard and the finish you pick. The schedule turns on the weather, any city steps and curing, the days the slab is left alone to harden and gain strength. My written estimate lists what's included, so you can see what you're paying for.
How can you tell your patio needs replacing?
Water sitting after rain
Puddles that linger on the patio usually mean the slab has settled flat or was poured without enough fall. Left alone, the water keeps soaking the ground under it and can run back toward your house, so the low spot tends to get worse.
Cracks or a sunken corner
A crack that keeps widening or a corner that's dropped usually means the ground under it wasn't dug out and packed before the pour. The longer it goes, the more the edges lift into a trip hazard and the more of the slab has to come out.
Flaking, dusty surface
When the top scales off or leaves grit on your shoes, the surface was usually weakened by a hot-day pour or poor curing. It won't heal, and the flaking spreads as weather and foot traffic wear through the soft layer.
How we handle concrete patio construction
I start by asking how you'll use the patio, then I look at where it will meet the house and where rain will run once it's down, because a slab that tips toward your wall sends water right where you don't want it. Our crew digs out to firm subgrade, the soil the slab sits on, and packs a base in layers instead of raking loose dirt level, since loose fill settles and takes the concrete with it. We set the forms with a slight fall away from the house, add rebar, the steel that holds the slab together if it cracks, where the job calls for it, and pour away from the midday heat that can leave a weak, dusty top. After finishing we cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a straight line to crack along instead of a random one, and I tell you ahead of time how we'll cure the slab, because that shapes how well the surface wears. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather you go plainer on the finish than cheaper on the base, because the base is buried on day one and it's what decides whether the patio stays flat.
A patio rarely stands alone. If you'd like a pattern or color pressed into the surface, our stamped concrete services work on the same kind of slab, and if you need a path from the driveway or gate to the new patio, we also do concrete sidewalk building and can plan it with the patio so the two meet cleanly.
Get a written estimate for your new patio
We'll reply within one business day to set a time for me to come out, look at your yard and write up a free on-site estimate. There's no pressure to book.
- support@petalumaconcretecontractor.com
- Based in
- Petaluma, CA 94952
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 8 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 6 AM–9 PM
What happens when you call about a patio in Petaluma?
Here's how a patio job runs from your first call to the final walk-through, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send the form
Reach us at (707) 283-3110 or through the form and tell us roughly what you have in mind. We'll set a time for me to come out to your place.
I visit and write it up
I look at the yard, ask how you'll use the space and check where the patio will meet the house. You get a written estimate that lists what's included, so you know what you're paying for before you decide anything.
We set a date and pour
Once you're ready, we sort out any city steps and set a date. Our crew forms, pours and finishes the slab.
We walk the job together
Before we pack up, I walk the finished patio with you and go over how to treat it while it cures. If anything looks off to you, that's the time to say so.
Why Petaluma homeowners call Allied Petaluma Concrete for patios
What matters most on a patio is the part you won't see once it's poured. Ask for your estimate or call (707) 283-3110, and I'll come take a look at your yard.
The owner comes out, not a salesman
I come out myself to look at your yard and write the estimate, and our own crew does the forming, pouring and finishing. That way nothing gets lost between the person you talked to and the people doing the work.
In the concrete business since 2013
I learned the trade on a flatwork crew, the kind that pours flat slabs like patios, walks and driveways, and came back to start this business in 2013, so we're 13 years in. Every patio we build is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Licensed and fully insured in California
We're licensed and fully insured. The state contractor license board describes a concrete contractor as one who forms, pours, places and finishes flat concrete work, which covers every step of building your patio.
Concrete patios and the work around them in Petaluma
The city's Building Division lists concrete patios at one- and two-family dwellings "not serving a door" among the work that needs no permit. If your new patio sits outside a back door or slider, that line doesn't cover it, so ask the division before we set a date. Permit or not, the city says all work has to follow the California Building Standards Code and city ordinances, and it asks owners to check with other city departments for their own requirements. Blocking off a sidewalk during the job counts as using the public right-of-way, the city's streets and walks, so if our trucks or forms would need the sidewalk out front, we plan for that too. When a job needs a city permit, we help with the application and plan our start around the city's approval and inspections.
We're based in Petaluma and work in the cities around it across the North Bay, and the same patio problems come up again and again: old slabs poured tight against the house, back yards reached only through a narrow side gate, and dirt raked flat under a slab that later sank. We plan for each of those at the estimate, and we see the same jobs in Novato and Rohnert Park.
Questions about concrete patios in Petaluma
How much does a concrete patio cost in Petaluma?
A 4-inch concrete slab installed with labor and materials in California usually costs about $9 to $18 per square foot, which is the going rate in the state, not our price. One industry checklist sets 4 inches as the minimum thickness on ideal subgrade, so ask what thickness each quote assumes and you'll be comparing like with like.
How soon can we walk on a new concrete patio?
One industry checklist from another region gives one day as the minimum wait before foot traffic on new flatwork. That's the earliest, not the point the slab is fully hard, since it keeps curing after that, so plan the first few days of use around it.
How much do I have to pay up front for a patio in California?
California's contractor board caps a down payment at $1,000 or 10 percent of the total contract price, whichever is less. It's a state rule, so it applies to any contractor you hire for the patio.
What is the best way to cure a concrete patio?
Ask each contractor how they'll cure your slab, because how new concrete is cured as it hardens has a big effect on its strength, how well it resists wear and whether it cracks early. Sealing comes later, since one supplier's guide from another region says to wait at least 28 days after the pour and seal in dry weather.
How do I keep water from pooling on a new concrete patio?
Build it with a slight slope, since one concrete industry checklist from another region calls for flatwork to fall a little, with a steeper slope preferred to keep water from standing. A patio with enough fall sheds rain instead of holding the shallow puddles the trade calls birdbaths.
Should a concrete patio be attached to the house foundation?
Usually not, according to one ready-mix supplier's guide from another region, which says exterior slabs other than stoops should stay untied to the foundation, with an isolation joint, a strip that lets the two move separately, wherever a slab meets another structure. Ask any contractor how your patio will meet the house and any stoop, because that edge is where a lot of patio trouble starts.
Related concrete work for your yard
Stamped concrete services
Pick this when a plain gray slab feels too bare and you'd like the look of stone or brick pressed right into the patio surface.
Concrete sidewalk building
Worth adding when you're crossing wet grass to reach the patio, or the walk from the driveway has cracked, lifted or started to trip guests.
Service areas for patio work around Petaluma
Allied Petaluma Concrete is based in Petaluma, CA, and builds patios in the cities around it across the North Bay. The 12 cities listed here each have their own page, Santa Rosa and Sonoma among them, and they're not the only places we work.
Petaluma, CA
Send your patio size and yard photos
A rough size, a few photos of the yard and one of where the patio will meet the house let me show up with the right questions.