Concrete Patios in St. Louis, MO
Expand Your Living Space with a Durable Outdoor Oasis
St. Louis Concrete Works specializes in creating beautiful backyard spaces through custom-designed concrete patios, which allow homeowners to turn their backyards into multi-functional outdoor living areas. We design each patio with both the harsh St. Louis weather in mind and the need for an attractive, low-maintenance area where family and friends can gather to relax and socialize. We focus on making both your new concrete patio structurally durable and aesthetically pleasing as well as expanding your indoor area permanently into your backyard; perfect for summer BBQs, winter fire-pit nights, and quiet mornings sipping coffee.
We have developed our installation procedures to handle the extreme freeze-thaw cycles (more than 50) and excessive humidity present throughout the state of Missouri. We utilize high-quality, air-entrained concrete mixes that contain small pockets to relieve water expansion, which decreases the chances of scaling or cracking of the surface of the patio. Whether you want to install a clean, modern slab with a broom finish to prevent slipping or a decorative stamped finish to mimic the look of real stone, such as flagstone or slate, we will properly grade and drain your patio to ensure your foundation is protected and create a level, attractive outdoor sanctuary that will greatly increase the value of your property.
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Why Choose a Concrete Patio?
Choosing a concrete patio means investing in a foundation for your outdoor life that is engineered to handle the specific stressors of the Midwest. At St. Louis Concrete Works, we believe that a patio should be more than just a surface; it should be a durable, high-performing extension of your home.
- Long Lasting: Endures St. Louis’s freeze-thaw cycles and hot summers. We use air-entrained mixes that contain billions of microscopic pockets of air to allow the internal moisture within the concrete to expand and contract without causing surface scaling or cracking when the weather goes from very cold to very warm during our volatile winter months.
- Plenty of Options: Almost unlimited design options to match your house’s style. Since concrete is essentially a liquid stone, we are able to pour custom shapes, including modern sharp angles and organically shaped curves that follow the natural lines of your St. Louis landscape.
- Low Maintenance: Easy to clean and requires minimal upkeep. Wood decks require annual staining, and pavers allow weeds to grow through their joints; however, once installed, a solid concrete slab remains unified. Simply wash it seasonally, and apply a new coat of sealer every few years to keep it looking like new.
- Budget-Friendly: Affordable compared to natural stone with similar visuals. At a fraction of the cost, you can achieve the premium look of slate, flagstone, or even wooden-plank textures. On average, in the St. Louis market, concrete costs between $10-$18 per square foot, while natural stone typically exceeds $30 per square foot.
- Customizable: May be stamped, stained, or textured for unique looks. By using advanced integral colors and liquid release agents, we are able to replicate high-end textures while ensuring that the color is baked directly into the mix to prevent the common fading of poor-quality outdoor surfaces.
- Increases Property Value: Creates a functional outdoor living space. As long as a patio is professionally installed in the Gateway City, it will create a significant return on investment and recoup 30%-60% of its initial cost through increased property value by expanding the usable square footage of your home for entertaining.
Our Concrete Patio Services
We offer a diverse range of patio solutions designed to thrive in the Gateway City’s unique environment. Whether you are looking for a simple space for morning coffee or a sprawling multi-level area for neighborhood gatherings, we combine technical precision with local design expertise.
Classic Concrete Patios
A classic and well-defined option, classic concrete patios are perfect for people looking for a clean and modern look. They also have the functionality of being able to be used as a seating area, and can be made very durable and safe for long-term use due to the broom finish, which helps prevent slipping on the wet or icy surfaces that Missouri has during its humid summer months and cold winter months. A broom finish is a textured finish that creates a non-slip surface while creating an understated surface that allows your landscaping to take center stage.
Stamped Concrete Patios
The most versatile and customizable option, stamped concrete patios allow homeowners to choose from many different pattern options that will mimic the look of brick, stone, or tile. In addition to the numerous patterns available (such as Ashlar Slate, London Cobble, and European Fan), stamped concrete patios are popular among homeowners in the St. Louis area because they combine the elegance of natural stone with the durability of a single concrete pour. The result is a surface that prevents weeds from growing and shifting commonly found when using individual pavers.
Colored Concrete Patios
Adding both warmth and personality to your patio, colored concrete patios use either integral color or surface stains to achieve this. Earth-tone colors such as Sedona, Sandstone, and Charcoal are recommended for homeowners who want their colored concrete to match the brick and stone exterior of their homes, which is common in St. Louis architecture. When using integral pigments, the color is incorporated throughout the entire slab; thus, the color will never peel or fade regardless of how much direct sunlight your patio receives in the Midwest.
Textured Concrete Patios
Providing enhanced safety and beauty, textured concrete patios increase the slip resistance of your patio by offering various textures beyond the standard broom finish. In addition to the standard broom finish, we also offer exposed aggregate and salt finishes. These textured finishes are especially beneficial for homeowners in the St. Louis area who have pools and/or hot tubs adjacent to their patios, as they provide a rugged and high-grip surface that is still comfortable to walk on barefoot.
Multi-Level Patios
Allowing you to create separate areas of your patio for dining, lounging, and entertaining, multi-level patios are the ultimate solution for homeowners with sloping yards in St. Louis. Using reinforced retaining walls and wide, shallow steps to transition between levels, we help you get the most out of your usable square footage, regardless of how steep your yard may be.
Concrete Patio Extensions
Expanding your existing patio to meet your evolving outdoor living needs, concrete patio extensions are ideal for homeowners who want to expand their patio without compromising the quality and integrity of their original patio. Our experts specialize in creating seamless transitions by using dowelled reinforcement in your original slab. Hiding the seam between your original and new slabs, we typically recommend installing a decorative overlay, or border of contrasting color, to make your entire space appear to be designed as one piece.
The St. Louis Concrete Works Patio Process
In St. Louis, a patio is more than just a surface; it’s a structural element that must withstand shifting clay and aggressive freeze-thaw cycles. We follow a specialized installation process to ensure your outdoor space remains beautiful and level for decades.
- Design Consultation: Here, you’ll meet with us to discuss your ideas, budget, and space constraints. Our professionals will assist you in determining whether you want to create an indoor-outdoor continuation of space using the 2026 trend of combining both spaces seamlessly, or whether you prefer a curved, organic layout that allows the lines of your new patio to flow with the lines of your neighborhood.
- Site Evaluation: Here, we evaluate your property to determine its unique characteristics. We take particular note of the type of clay soil composition found in many West County yards and/or the limestone karst features that are typically found near the city center.
- Custom Design: We provide a patio design customized specifically to meet your needs. We will incorporate contemporary options such as built-in fire-pit pads, integrated seating, and the correct pitch (slope) so water will run away from your home’s foundation during those heavy spring rains common in Missouri.
- Material Selection: We have a vast selection of colors, textures, and patterns to choose from. The warm, natural color palettes like beige and limestone are all great choices for St. Louis neighborhoods, which feature historic brickwork.
- Site Preparation: Before we pour concrete, we make sure the area is properly graded and soil is compacted. Grading is perhaps the most important part of creating a patio in St. Louis. We typically excavate 6–8 inches of organic material and then fill the voids with a compacted layer of gravel. By doing this, it prevents uneven slab settling when the local clay soil shifts.
- Concrete Pouring and Finishing: Our experienced team of contractors brings your patio to life. We use a high-strength mix of 4000-5000 PSI with air-entrainment for a modern look. We often use light broom finishes on our patios for traction and soft stone-inspired textured finishes rather than using the heavy, dated stamping patterns.
- Final Touches: If there are any additional custom features or decorative elements that need to be added to your new patio, we will do them here. Examples include hand-cut decorative control joints that serve as planned cracks to manage expansion and applying UV-stable, breathable sealants to protect against Missouri’s extreme humidity and sunlight.
- Quality Check: Finally, we inspect each patio to ensure that all details meet our high-quality standards. We check the finished slope of your patio to ensure adequate drainage and perform a complete clean-up of the site, resulting in a perfectly cured, ready-to-use outdoor living area.
Why St. Louis Homeowners Love Our Concrete Patios
Our clients choose us because we don’t just provide a backyard surface; we create a structural landscape feature specifically engineered for the Midwest. In St. Louis, where a patio must face everything from humid heatwaves to ice storms, our specialized approach makes all the difference.
- Sturdy Material: Sturdy enough to withstand St. Louis’ extreme temperatures, this product is formulated with air-entrained concrete. Air-entrained concrete has micro-expansion cavities (billions) within the material. These cavities will enable the water inside the material to expand and contract through freezing and thawing without cracking or scaling, which commonly occurs in regular concrete products in this geographic area.
- UV Stability: UV stable because we apply a finish coat of a color hardener/sealer to block ultraviolet light damage. While the summer months can be very harsh on decorative surfaces throughout Missouri, the UV-blocking additives in our high-performance sealers protect the color integrity of your finished stained or stamped concrete by locking in the original colors of the finish at the time of installation, so that your patio appears as vibrant after five years as it did the first day.
- Seamless Integration: Blends seamlessly with the interior of the home; we design the patios to match the architectural style of the homes they surround. Whether you reside in a historic brick house in the Soulard district or a new home in Chesterfield, we will work with you to create a texture and layout of your patio that creates a cohesive look between your indoor living spaces and your outdoor living spaces.
- Eco-Friendly Options: We also have eco-friendly options available, such as permeable concrete options to assist in managing water during storms. We recognize that St. Louis experiences some of the heaviest runoff and flash flooding in the nation, and would like to offer you solutions that will assist in reducing the load on the storm-drain system and preventing waterlogging of your yard. The permeable concrete options we provide will allow rainwater to seep directly into the ground, therefore providing an alternative solution to traditional drainage systems.
- Built-In Features: Features built right into the patio; we can include fire pits, seating walls, or outdoor kitchens, etc. We are capable of constructing these features as part of the monolithic patio slab. Therefore, the feature(s) will remain structurally connected to the patio slab to ensure that the feature(s) do not shift or settle unevenly due to the expansive nature of the clay soils found in the St. Louis area.
- Site-Specific Design: We take the time to understand how the soil and climate conditions in St. Louis impact the patio design process. We are aware that there may be significant differences in soil pressure from North County to South City. We develop our patio slabs with consideration for the varying base thicknesses and reinforcement materials necessary for each geographic location to ensure that your patio remains flat and even for many years to come.
Concrete Patio Maintenance Tips for St. Louis Weather
To keep your patio looking its best in the Gateway City, regular maintenance is essential. St. Louis experiences a high number of freeze-thaw cycles each winter, along with humid summers and intense UV exposure, all of which can take a toll on unmaintained concrete.
- Periodic Sealing: You should seal your patio at least once per 2–3 years to maintain a protective barrier between moisture and potential stains. Sealers can be categorized as either breathable or non-breathable (penetrating). The best option for you will depend on how often you plan to walk on your patio and whether or not there is shade in the area. A high-quality penetrating sealer acts as an invisible barrier to keep water out of the concrete’s pores and prevents water from seeping down below the surface of the slab. Penetrating sealers create a hydrophobic effect on the surface of the slab, which creates an environment that is hostile to moisture. This is the most successful method available today to reduce the “scaling” or “spalling” of the surface due to water freezing and expanding inside the slab.
- Spill Management: Clean up all spills as soon as they occur to prevent staining. As previously mentioned, because concrete is naturally porous, it will absorb the liquid until the stain becomes permanent. Examples of common liquid spills include motor oil, grease from cooking, wet leaves, etc. Simply mixing some mild dish soap and water is usually enough to clean up the majority of everyday household spills.
- Joint Maintenance: Use a foam strip in the control joints to help keep water from entering during freeze-thaw cycles. We recommend keeping your control joints (the “grooves” in the concrete) free of debris and filled with a closed-cell backer rod or flexible foam strip. This will prevent water from collecting deep in the joint, allowing the water to freeze and expand laterally, causing the crack to widen.
- Winter Care: Do not apply de-icer products to the surface of the concrete in cold weather; apply sand to create traction instead. Rock salt and other chloride-based de-icers are toxic to concrete in the state of Missouri. De-icers chemically react with the surface of the concrete and cause additional freeze-thaw cycles than would normally occur. Sand and birdseed are two examples of safe alternatives that will not damage the finish of your patio.
- Pressure Wash: Once per year, typically in the spring, perform a pressure wash of your entire patio to remove the salt spray, mold, and mildew that have accumulated throughout the cold and damp winters here in St. Louis. Use a medium setting on your pressure washer to prevent etching your concrete, and make sure to rinse thoroughly to prevent the soap film from building up on your concrete.
Concrete Patio FAQs
Ready to Create Your Dream Outdoor Space?
Don’t let another St. Louis summer pass without the perfect outdoor living area. Contact St. Louis Concrete Works today for a free consultation and quote. Let’s design a concrete patio that enhances your lifestyle and stands up to our local climate!
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