What Drives the Cost of a Concrete Patio?
Break the job into five lines
| Line | What it covers | How it scales |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Excavation and base | Digging out, hauling spoil, gravel, compaction | Per square foot; worse with poor access or clay |
| 2. Forming | Lumber, stakes, setting and stripping | Per linear foot of edge — small or curved slabs cost more per sq ft |
| 3. Concrete | Cubic yards delivered, or bags | Per cubic yard, plus a short-load fee under 3–4 yd |
| 4. Reinforcement and joints | Mesh or fibre, rebar, joint cutting | Per square foot |
| 5. Finishing | Screed, float, broom, edge, cure — or stamp, colour, seal | Per square foot; the biggest swing factor |
Why the concrete is the small part
Take a 12 × 16 ft patio at 4 in: 192 sq ft, 2.37 cubic yards, about 107 bags of 80 lb mix. Whatever your local yard charges for two and a half yards is, for most people, well under half the cost of a finished patio — often under a third once base work and finishing labour are counted.
The consequence worth acting on: saving money by thinning the slab or skipping the base is the wrong economy. An extra inch of concrete over 192 sq ft is 0.6 cubic yards. Replacing a cracked, settled patio is the entire job again.
The finish is where quotes diverge
| Finish | Relative cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Broom finish, plain grey | Baseline | Durable, non-slip, the default |
| Exposed aggregate | Moderate premium | Extra washing and sealing labour |
| Integral colour | Moderate premium | Mixed in, colours all the way through |
| Stamped and coloured | Large premium | Skilled, time-critical work; needs periodic resealing |
| Polished or acid-stained | Large premium | Usually interior work |
Two quotes that both say "12x16 concrete patio" can differ by a factor of two purely on finish and base assumptions. Ask every bidder to itemise the five lines above and the gap usually explains itself.
Site factors that add cost quietly
- Access. If the truck cannot reach the forms, someone is wheeling every yard by barrow — hours of labour, and it may cap the size of a single pour.
- Spoil removal. Excavating 192 sq ft by 8 in produces about 5 cubic yards of soil, and it has to go somewhere.
- Drainage and grading. A patio must shed water away from the house, which sometimes means regrading or adding a drain.
- Frost and soil. Expansive clay or a deep frost line means more base, a thicker slab, or footings.
- Small or complex shapes. Cost per square foot rises with the edge-to-area ratio, and curves cost more than straight runs.
- Permits and inspection where they are required.
How to build your own estimate
- Get the volume from the concrete calculator — length, width, thickness, 10% waste.
- Phone the ready-mix supplier for a price per cubic yard and the short-load fee. That is line 3, firm.
- Price gravel by the cubic yard the same way, using the mulch and soil calculator for the volume at your base depth.
- Get two or three itemised contractor quotes and compare them line by line against your own material numbers. Any bid where material plus base does not roughly reconcile deserves a question.
Doing it yourself removes lines 2 and 5 from the bill and replaces them with your weekend, a mixer rental and the risk of a finish you are not happy with. That is a fair trade on a small utility pad and a harder call on a large, visible patio.
Work out how much concrete a pour needs in cubic yards — then see the same volume as 80, 60, 50 and 40 lb bags so you can compare bagged mix against a ready-mix delivery before you order.
Frequently asked questions
Is concrete cheaper than pavers?
Poured concrete is usually cheaper per square foot to install, while pavers are easier to repair and to lift for access underneath. The gap narrows quickly if you choose a stamped or coloured concrete finish.
How much of a patio bill is the concrete itself?
For a plain broom-finished slab, typically well under half the total and often under a third. Excavation, base preparation, forming and finishing labour make up the rest, which is why thinning the slab to save money is a poor trade.
Why do patio quotes vary so much?
Mostly because of assumptions the quote does not spell out: base depth, slab thickness, reinforcement, joint cutting, finish type and spoil removal. Ask each bidder to itemise those lines and the differences become obvious.
- How Many Bags of Concrete Are in a Cubic Yard?
- How Thick Should a Concrete Slab Be?
- How Many Bags of Concrete per Fence Post?
- How Long Does Concrete Take to Cure?