Patio design and installationin Woburn, MA

How big to make it, where it goes, which material suits it, what goes underneath, and what to do with a slope or an old patio that has failed.

Start with how you'll use it

A common mistake with patios is building them too small. A patio that looked generous as an empty rectangle of pavers gets crowded once a table, six chairs and a grill are on it. So before we talk about materials, we ask what you want to do out there: eat, cook, sit by a fire, put out lounge chairs, or all of it.

• Dining. A table and chairs need room for the chairs to pull back and for people to walk behind them, so plan for well beyond the table's own footprint.
• Grilling. Keep the grill on the patio, not on the lawn beside it, with space to work and a clear path to the kitchen door. A full grill island is a bigger build, covered on our outdoor kitchens page.
• Sitting areas. Lounge chairs and a fire pit take more space than most people expect, and they need a buffer around them.
• Connections. Think about how you get from the door to the patio, and from the patio to the rest of the yard, the garage or the pool.

When we meet you at the house, we go over size, shape and options with you, so the plan fits how you'll actually use the space.

Where the patio goes

Most patios sit right off the back door, which makes them easy to use. Before settling on a spot, it's worth looking at sun and shade at the times you'll be out there, the view from the patio and from the house, and how water moves across the yard in a heavy rain. A patio built where water already collects needs drainage planned in from the start, and every patio is pitched slightly away from the house so rain runs off toward the lawn instead of the foundation.

Paver, brick or stone: picking a patio material

Concrete pavers are the most popular patio choice around here, because they come in the widest range of sizes, colors and textures and they handle New England freeze and thaw well. Large-format pavers give a clean, modern look; tumbled pavers like Unilock Brussels Block look older and softer. Clay brick suits a colonial or cape, especially next to a brick front step. Bluestone and other natural stone give a quieter, natural look and cost more.

One practical point for patios: furniture legs and grill wheels want a fairly flat surface, so very rough, split-face stone is better on a garden path than under a dining table. We'll go over the options that suit your house and budget, and you choose. Our posts on bluestone patios and large 24x24 pavers go deeper on those two.

What's under the patio

Most of a patio's lifespan is decided underneath it. Topsoil and roots come out, processed gravel goes in and is compacted in layers, and a layer of bedding sand sits on top for the pavers. The edges are held with a restraint so the field can't creep, and the joints are filled with polymeric sand. The photo near the top of this page shows that stage on one of our jobs: the base is in and compacted, the fieldstone seat walls are built, and the first pavers are going down. Our step-by-step post on how a paver patio is built explains each layer.

Patios on a sloped yard

Plenty of yards around Woburn slope away from the house, and that's rarely a reason not to build. A small slope is taken up in the base, with more gravel on the low side. On more of a grade, the patio is often set at one level with a few steps down to the lawn, or split into two levels, which can also separate dining from a sitting area. When the drop is big enough that soil has to be held back, the low side becomes a wall, and that wall is built to the same standard as a retaining wall.

Seat walls, steps and built-ins

A low seat wall along the edge of a patio adds seating without more furniture and gives the space a defined edge. We build them in wall block, fieldstone or with granite or bluestone caps, often from the same material as the patio or the house. Steps from the back door or deck down to the patio, planting beds and lighting are easiest to plan at the same time. A fire pit is one of the most popular additions. Like an outdoor kitchen, it's simplest to plan with the patio than to add later, because the base and the layout are built around it.

Replacing an old patio

If you have a cracked concrete slab or a paver patio that has sunk and heaved, the question is usually whether to fix it or start again. Pavers that have settled in one area can often be lifted, the base corrected and the same pavers relaid. When the whole patio rocks and the joints have washed out, the base underneath has failed, and rebuilding is the repair that lasts. Old concrete patios can be broken out and replaced with pavers; we did the same thing on a concrete pool deck in Acton. Our post on paver joint sand failure helps you tell a joint problem from a base problem.

What a patio costs

Patio prices vary more than people expect, and size is only one part of it. The material, how much digging and grading the yard needs, access for equipment, and extras like seat walls, steps and a fire pit all change the number. Our paver patio cost guide walks through each one and how to compare quotes fairly. The visit and the estimate are free, and you get a price before any work starts.