Old slab out back cracked, sinking or holding water? We build a new patio graded to shed rain and cured for the day it's poured.
Concrete patio construction in Riverview means preparing the ground, setting forms, pouring and finishing the slab, then curing it. You end up with a firm patio surface beside your house that sends rain away from it.
Most calls start with an old slab that has cracked, dropped at one corner or holds a puddle against the wall after a hard rain. Sometimes it's bare grass that turns to mud every summer. Either way, a new patio is only as good as what it sits on, so most of our time goes into the ground before any concrete shows up.
The price moves with the size, whether an old slab has to be broken out and hauled off, how much grading the ground needs, how easy it is to get concrete to the back of the house and the finish you pick. The schedule turns on the weather, the permit side for your address, which we check and handle, and the cure. The written estimate lists what's included.
Once the concrete is down, nobody looks at the ground under it, the boards that shaped it or the grooves cut into it. Those are the parts that decide how it holds up.
The subgrade is the ground the slab sits on, and if it's only raked smooth, it settles and the slab settles with it. We dig out the soft dirt and pack the base firm. It's hidden on day one and it's the first thing people want to cut from a budget, but I'd rather trim the finish than the base.
Forms are the boards that hold the wet concrete and set its edges and its fall. We set them to string lines and check them again before the truck comes, because a form that's off by a little turns into a crooked edge or a low spot where water sits.
Concrete shrinks as it dries, and some cracking comes with it. Control joints are shallow grooves cut into the slab so a crack forms down in the groove instead of across the middle. We cut them on time, because a joint cut late or skipped leaves the slab to crack wherever it wants.
From the first call to the day we pack up, here's who does what and what you'll have in hand before any work starts.
Call (813) 471-5890 or send the form with the patio's rough size, where it sits against the house and any plans to reshape the yard. We get back to you to set a time.
I come out myself, measure, look over the site and how we'll get concrete back there, and ask what the patio needs to carry. Then you get a written estimate that shows what's included.
Once you say go, we sort out the permit side for your address, dig out and pack the base, set the forms to the grades we planned, then pour and finish the slab.
Before we pack up, I walk you through the curing method we used and what it means for you, like when the patio is ready for foot traffic and for furniture.
A patio next to the house has to shed water away from it, so we work out the grades before we set a single form. That means checking where water runs across your yard now, where the downspouts empty and how high the slab can sit at the door. Then we set the fall so rain heads for the yard and not the wall.
We pick a curing method that fits the day it's poured, and I tell you which one we're using and what it asks of you. Curing is the wait while the concrete hardens slowly enough to gain its strength, and it shows up later in how the top wears. Kids, pets and furniture stay off until I say it's ready.
A lot of patios connect to something else. If you want a path from the patio to the driveway or the side gate, our concrete sidewalk building work can be planned with it so the two meet at the same height. If you'd like a pattern that looks like stone or brick, that falls under our stamped concrete services.
A broom finish is a light texture dragged across the wet surface so it grips when it's wet from rain or a hose. It's the plainest finish, and it keeps more of the budget in the base.
A stamped surface is pressed with a pattern while the concrete is still soft. It takes more labor and tighter timing on pour day, so it costs more, and it makes sense when the patio is the part of the yard you look at most.
Send the patio's rough size in square feet, where it sits against the house and any plans to reshape the yard, and we'll reply within one business day. I'll come out to measure for a free estimate at your property, written out so you can see what's included, with no obligation. If the form isn't handy, email projects@riverviewconcretecompany.com.
(813) 471-5890We check whether your address falls under Hillsborough County or a city, since that decides which office issues the permit. For most construction in the county, that's Hillsborough County Building Services. Whether a given patio needs one isn't something I'll guess at, so I check it for your address, and when it does, we pull the permit and handle the paperwork.
The county also requires the right permit for work that changes a yard's existing contours, unless an exemption applies. No grading, digging or piling of dirt may change drainage in a way that hurts the neighbors, permit or not. If a patio was started without a permit, the county asks you to stop and email permitting@hcfl.gov about an After-The-Fact permit, since carrying on can bring a citation of up to $500 per violation.
Most patio calls we get are for the back of the house, off a slider or a screened lanai, where an old slab has dropped at a corner or water sits against the wall. We see the same jobs in Brandon and Apollo Beach, and we build them the same way.
I come out myself to look over the job and measure, and our own crew does the work with me running it. I learned concrete as a helper on a small crew, hauling and setting forms long before I ran a job. I started this business in Riverview in 2013, and we've been at it 13 years.
We're fully licensed and insured. That matters here because Hillsborough County requires a valid contractor license for work that needs a permit. Your satisfaction, guaranteed. When you're ready, call (813) 471-5890 or send the form and I'll set a time to come out.
If you need a way to reach the new patio from the driveway, the side gate or the front yard, a walk poured to meet it keeps the path even underfoot.
If a plain gray slab isn't what you want out back, a pattern pressed into the surface can give the patio the look of stone, brick or tile.
We're based in Riverview and work across Hillsborough County and the cities around it, including the ones listed here and others nearby. If you don't see yours, call and ask.
A concrete patio with materials and labor usually costs about $4 to $12 per square foot in the Tampa area. Where yours lands depends on the size, tearing out an old slab, how much base work the ground needs, access and the finish. I'll give you your own figure in a written estimate after I measure.
Most likely, unless the work is on the county's list of work exempt from permits. The county lets homeowners pull their own permits when they do the work themselves, but when you hire a contractor, the contractor gets them, so that part is on us.
Yes. National building guidance says patio slabs within 10 feet of the foundation should slope down and away from it at a 2% grade. That fall sets how high the patio starts at the house and where its outer edge ends up, so it's worth knowing before you settle on a door or step height.
Yes, with precautions. Hot-weather problems usually come in summer but can happen any time of year, and a windy, sunny day needs stricter care than a calm, humid one at the same temperature. Even a cooler day dries concrete fast when it's dry and breezy, so ask any contractor what they do on those days.
Concrete can crack, so the aim is to control where and avoid the causes we can. Poor curing can lead to shrinkage cracks, scaling and flaking, and the main methods are keeping the slab wet or using a curing compound. One maker also warns that adding water to the mix to cool it or make it easier to work hurts its strength and durability.
Clear the area of furniture, pots and plants you want to keep, and tell us about sprinkler lines, buried wires or anything else near the spot. On pour day, keep cars clear of the truck's path and pets inside. I'll go over anything else your yard needs when I come out.
Send the rough size and where it meets the house, and I'll arrive knowing which doors, downspouts and grades to check, or call (813) 471-5890.
