IllustrativeBroom finish
Clean, textured, and slip-resistant. The classic patio surface.
Patios & Pool Decks · Joliet & Chicagoland
Patios made for summer evenings.
New patios and pool decks for homes across Joliet and Chicagoland, sloped away from the house and finished to your style. One crew from excavation to the final finish.
- Covers
- Patios · Pool decks
- Finish
- Broom or stamped
- Permit
- Joliet requires one for patios, with or without a roof, plus a plat of survey.
Source: City of Joliet
What's included
The space between the house and the yard.
Backyard concrete planned around how you use it.
Patios
New patios and full replacements, sized for the table, the grill, and the people around them.
Pool decks
The concrete around your pool, planned with the pool's edge and the barrier in mind.
Finish
Start with the look.
Every patio starts on the same base. The finish is where it becomes yours.
Illustrative
How we build it
Six stages. One crew.
A patio lives or dies by what happens to water. Here's how it's built to move it.
- 01
Excavate & grade
Dug to depth and shaped so water runs away from the house.
Illustrative - 02
Compacted base
Soft spots come out; compacted gravel goes in for an even bed.
Source: Concrete Network
Illustrative - 03
Forms & isolation joints
Forms set the shape. Isolation joints separate the new slab from the garage, walks, and existing paving so each can move on its own.
Source: Concrete Network
Illustrative - 04
Reinforcement & control joints
Reinforcement adds strength, and control joints are planned before the pour.
Illustrative - 05
Pour & finish
Poured, leveled, and finished to your choice, broom or stamped, by the same crew that prepped it.
Illustrative - 06
Cure
Cured properly before it takes furniture and foot traffic.
Illustrative
IllustrativeStep 1 of 6 · Excavate & grade
One crew from the first shovel to the first cookout.
The standard
Four numbers behind a patio that lasts.
General guidance from concrete industry and code sources. Ask any contractor for theirs.
1/8 in.
Slope per foot
The minimum pitch away from the house, so rain runs off instead of toward your foundation.
Source: Concrete Network (PCA)
10 ft
Joint spacing
Control joints about every 10 ft on a 4 in. slab, cut a quarter of the depth, so cracks form where they're planned.
Source: Concrete Network
5–7%
Air entrainment
Tiny air pockets that give freeze-thaw somewhere to go. Standard for outdoor concrete in Illinois.
Source: PACA
48 in.
Pool barrier
The pool code many Illinois towns adopt sets barriers at least 48 in. high. The deck layout has to leave room for it.
Source: City of Naperville (2018 ISPSC)
Recent work
Patios we've poured.
Real projects from Joliet and Chicagoland.
After the pour
Keep it looking new.
No deicers this winter
None in the first year, and never ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate. Use sand for traction.
Source: PACA
Seal it
Penetrating silane or siloxane sealers hold up best against salt and freeze-thaw.
Source: PACA
Keep water moving
Point downspouts off the slab and keep soil graded below its edge, so water keeps running away from the house.
Those lines are on purpose
Control joints guide cracking, so a crack in a joint means the plan is working.
Yes. Installing, replacing, or adding to a patio, with or without a roof, needs a permit with an accurate plat of survey. Other towns set their own rules.
Source: City of Joliet
The slab is pitched at least 1/8 in. per foot away from the house, so rain runs off toward the yard.
Source: Concrete Network
Yes. Stamped concrete gives you the pattern in one solid surface. See Stamped & Decorative for patterns.
All concrete can develop hairline cracks. A compacted base, reinforcement, and joints at the right spacing keep them small and in planned places.
Under the ISPSC, which many Illinois towns adopt:
- Barriers are at least 48 in. high.
- Gates are self-closing and self-latching, and open away from the pool.
- The gap under a barrier on a solid surface is no more than 4 in.
- A 36 in. clear zone keeps climbable objects away from the barrier.
Check your town's adopted code, and plan the deck and barrier together.
Source: City of Naperville (2018 ISPSC)
Not in the first year, and never ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate.
Source: PACA
Get started
Let's build your patio.
Request a free quote and we'll measure the space, check drainage, and walk you through finishes and timeline. Prefer to talk? Call 815-836-1828, 7 days a week.
Free quotes, 7 days a week.