Concrete Patios

A patio is the one slab on your property you actually sit on, so it has to look right and stay flat. MJ Concrete Construction Pro LLC builds new backyard patios, patio extensions, pool decks, walkway-to-patio connections and seating-wall surrounds throughout Charlotte and Gaston County — stamped, broom-finished, exposed aggregate or colored, with the base and reinforcement work that keeps them from settling.

Almost every failed patio we are called out to look at failed underneath, not on top. Someone poured four inches of concrete over loose backfill or straight onto scraped clay, and within a couple of seasons one corner dropped, water started pooling against the house, and the joints opened up.

Charlotte's red clay makes this worse than it needs to be. It holds water, swells, then shrinks back in a dry August. We deal with that by removing the unstable material rather than levelling it, compacting the sub-grade, and placing a gravel base in lifts so the slab bears on something that will not move seasonally.

Reinforcement matters too, but only if it is placed correctly. Mesh dragged up mid-pour ends up wherever it lands. We tie steel on chairs so it stays at the right height while the concrete is placed around it.

Stamped concrete gives you the look of slate, flagstone, brick or wood plank in one continuous pour — no joints for weeds to grow through and no individual pavers to settle. It is the most popular choice for patios we build, and with a good release colour it reads as natural stone at a fraction of the cost.

A broom finish is the plain-spoken option: durable, non-slip, inexpensive and easy to repair or extend later. Exposed aggregate sits between the two — texture and visual interest from the stone in the mix itself, and it hides dirt and wear well on a heavily used patio.

Around pools and shaded north-facing spaces we will steer you toward a finish with real slip resistance, and away from anything that gets glassy when wet.

A patio rarely stands alone. It meets a back door, a set of steps, a walkway around the side of the house, sometimes a driveway or a detached garage. Because we self-perform sidewalks, steps, walls and flatwork, we can pour those elements in the same scope with matching colour, finish and joint layout instead of stitching mismatched slabs together over three summers.

Seating walls, fire-pit pads, grill surrounds and raised planters are all straightforward add-ons when they are planned before the base goes in. Retrofitting them afterward almost always means cutting into concrete you just paid for, so it is worth deciding at estimate time.

Stay off a fresh patio for 24 to 48 hours, keep furniture off it for a week, and expect full design strength at 28 days. Sealing comes after that first cure — usually around the one-month mark — and stamped patios benefit from resealing every two to three years to keep the colour from washing out.

Hairline cracking at control joints is expected and by design; that is exactly where we cut the slab so it cracks somewhere you will not notice. Anything wider, out of joint, or accompanied by a change in elevation is not normal, and we would rather you call us and ask.