Patio Renovation: How to Do It Once and Love It Forever

Create Your Premium Patio Renovation in 4 Important Steps

Our outdoor design and installation professionals laid out a 4 step plan for effective patio renovation. Follow them to ensure quality and durability at every stage of your project.

1. Lay a quality foundation with expert stability and drainage solutions.
2. Select superior patio materials that provide equal levels of beauty and durability.
3. Elevate your patio with smart design elements. Protect your space with a covered patio, select functional layout and zoning, and match your home’s architectural style.
4. Consult an outdoor living designer to achieve peak function, curb appeal, and seamless indoor/outdoor design flow.

Patio Renovation ROI is Measured In Dollars — and Happiness

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) Remodeling Impact Report suggests that new patio renovation currently offers a 95% return on investment for homeowners.

It’s important to measure the financial ROI of your patio renovation — but don’t stop there.

You’re not moving anytime soon. So your new patio must make you overjoyed every time you step outside. And that feeling must last for years to come.

The NAR rates outdoor remodeling projects using a Joy Score. This score reflects the level of happiness homeowners feel when a renovation is completed.

New patio installation has a 9.9 Joy Score (out of a perfect 10). A premium patio renovation ensures your near-perfect happiness lasts as long as you own your home.

Ensure Proper Site Excavation

Uneven decking and shifting pavers are a common cause for patio remodeling. Ensure your new renovation starts on the right foot with a well-executed excavation.

All grass, weeds, vegetation and topsoil should be stripped from the foundation area. Soft, unstable areas should be replaced with compacted fill materials.

The depth of your foundation’s excavation should account for the thickness of the patio surface, the sub-base, and the bedding layer.

Searching for your dream design? View our patio and pool deck gallery!

Create a Compacted Sub-Base

Establish a strong sub-base — a layer of material that's placed between the existing soil (the subgrade) and the your patio surface layer (pavers, concrete, etc.).

The focus of a quality sub-base is strong soil compaction. Your contractor should bring tools like a plate compactor to compress the subgrade soil after excavation is complete.

A properly compacted sub-base offers 4 key benefits:

1. Load distribution. Spread the weight of your patio, furniture, design elements and guests evenly across the underlying soil. This prevents concentrated pressure points that lead to sinking, cracking and shifting patios.
2. Stability. Sub-base compaction provides a stable, level surface that prevents cracking and settling.
3. Frost protection. A solid sub-base prevents frost heave. Frost heave occurs when water beneath the patio surface freezes and expands. 
4. Weed and pest prevention. Your sub-base acts as a barrier against weed growth and pest infestation. 

Use a high-quality crushed aggregate like limestone or gravel as the base material for your patio foundation. These stones are relatively inexpensive and easy to source in most areas.

Commit to Quality Patio Drainage

Successful patio drainage is achieved in 3 steps: proper slope and grading, surface drains, and underground drainage.

Grade your foundation slightly to facilitate drainage in your patio area. Aim for a gentle slope of roughly ¼” per foot leading away from your home. 

Surface drains collect surface water and lead it safely away from your patio. This prevents pooling, moisture damage, mold and mildew. Catch basins are an excellent resource, and channel drains are most effective near patio doorways. 

Subsurface drainage is necessary in areas with high concentrations of clay and silt in their soil. These soil types retain moisture and have poor drainage qualities.

French drains and underground drainage pipes help channel groundwater away from your patio’s foundation. These solutions greatly benefit homeowners in the Mississippi River Basin, Texas, and the Southeast.

Finally, make sure your gutters and downspouts point away from your new patio.

Dreaming of a patio upgrade? Book your design consultation today.

Modified Concrete Overlays

Modified concrete offers a luxury-level blend of aesthetic versatility and strength. Concrete overlay pours offer countless color, texture and pattern options to match your existing architecture and outdoor design elements. 

Products like Carvestone easily mimic flagstone, natural stone, tile and other materials. Carvestone is also rated to withstand 5,000+ PSI of pressure — nearly 2x the resistance of standard concrete.

Key Material Traits:

• Excellent heat resistance (when lightly colored)
• Excellent UV resistance
• Excellent moisture resistance
• Textured, non-slip surface

Need more design inspiration? Check out our Carvestone gallery!

Flagstone

Flagstone’s beautiful versatility allows homeowners to design patios that “look and feel like where they live”. Flagstone changes based on your location — it’s a sedimentary rock that provides different shades, grains and textures depending where it’s quarried.

The cost of flagstone is generally high, but sourcing local stone offsets that cost with lower delivery fees. 

Another benefit of local flagstone is natural durability. Stone that evolved in your region is naturally more resistant to your local climate, weather and soil patterns.

Key Material Traits:

• Excellent heat resistance (especially light sandstone)
• Strong UV resistance
• Region-specific moisture resistance (ask your supplier)
• Easy to source

Travertine

Travertine is a gorgeous, unique natural stone that’s popular in elegant, traditional patio renovations. It boasts a wide variety of colors, from rusty red and cream to brown and gray.

Expect a higher price point for travertine than other patio materials. Its distinctive appearance and superior heat resistance make it a luxury selection in most markets.

Travertine offers a singular blend of traits as a patio material. It provides exceptional resistance to heat and UV, but does come with moisture retention concerns. Regular sealing and protection is important — consider a patio cover.

Key Material Traits:

• Excellent heat resistance (when lightly colored)
• Excellent UV resistance
• Average moisture resistance
• Variety of finishes (matte, glossy, tumbled)

Porcelain Pavers

Porcelain pavers are a showstopper patio material. They exude luxury with their sleek, polished finish. That design appeal comes with a higher price point — but if you want porcelain, there’s no faking it.

Porcelain offers a mixed bag of material traits. It’s perhaps the single best patio and deck material against moisture — it’s a superior solution for patio decks and rainy climates. It also does well against UV damage.

However, porcelain doesn’t perform well against high heat. Pavers often become hot and uncomfortable to walk on. A covered patio space is strongly encouraged.

Key Material Traits: 

• Below average heat resistance
• Excellent UV resistance
• Exceptional moisture resistance
• Somewhat slippery without added texture

Let’s bring your vision to life—schedule your free design consultation today.

Invest in a Covered Patio Renovation

Stop worrying about heat, UV and moisture damage to your premium deck materials and outdoor furniture. Don’t stress about an unexpected rainstorm or a 100°F afternoon.

Invest in a covered patio renovation, and protect yourself (and your patio) from all of it.

A covered patio extends the livable space of your home, providing an area for relaxation, entertainment and dining. Patio covers offer incredible value-adds for your space — a new outdoor kitchen, bar island, or entertainment center.

Solid patio roofing keeps you fully out of the elements while retaining a breezy, open-air feel. It also provides opportunities for overhead lighting, ceiling fans and hanging decor.

Less maintenance, less heat, more entertainment, and no more barbecues ruined by the weather. What’s not to love about a patio cover?

Choose Functional Patio Zoning That Reflects Your Lifestyle

Think about patio layout the same way you do a living room or family room. Different areas have different functions.

Guests at your bar island may want shelter from the heat — but sunbathers on your deck chairs want to bask in it. People eating dinner need separation from kids drying off from your swimming pool.

Create separate zones with unique functions that define your renovated space. This is a key design strategy that elevates your patio into a true outdoor living area.

Not sure where to start? Talk to an outdoor living designer — they’re specially trained to create functional outdoor spaces that act as extensions of your home. 

Match Your Home’s Existing Architecture

A beautiful new patio can be really out of place if it doesn’t look like the rest of your house.

A qualified outdoor living designer also helps match your newly renovated patio to your home’s existing architecture. They’ll help you choose appropriate materials for specific design features and elements:

• Flooring and decking
• Patio covers
• Outdoor furniture
• Outdoor fireplaces and fire features
• Outdoor kitchen and dining areas
• Entertainment spaces
• Lighting

Our team of outdoor living designers work hand-in-hand with homeowners to ensure their patio design decisions are smart, durable, and blend naturally with their home.