A concrete patio is a slab poured on a compacted base, built to hold furniture, a grill and years of foot traffic without settling or pulling away from the house. The median home in Marietta was built in 1986, so many of the patios we pour replace a tired deck, a cracked pad or a strip of worn lawn. Before anything is formed, we walk the yard with you. We look at where the back door opens, how water moves across the property and how you actually plan to use the space. Then we size and shape the slab to fit the lot, not a stock rectangle.
Ground here is rarely flat. Cobb County has about 199 feet of relief within a few miles, and it changes from block to block, so every site is graded and tested on its own before work starts. The dominant soil is well drained, though that varies across the county too. With around 59 inches of rain a year, a patio needs a steady pitch away from the foundation, and we build that into the grade from the first day. We handle the base preparation, the steel reinforcement, the pour, the finish and the permit. Call for a free estimate.
The price of a slab comes down to what sits under it and what goes into it. We figure the depth of compacted gravel base, the thickness the load calls for, whether it takes wire mesh or rebar, and how close the truck can get. On hilly Cobb County lots, grading and forming can outweigh the concrete itself. We walk the property, test the ground, and put every line item in writing so you can see what you are paying for.
A driveway carries cars, delivery trucks and the occasional loaded trailer, so we build it thicker than a patio and tie it together with rebar set on chairs, not mesh left lying in the gravel. We slope it to shed water, since the area sees about 59 inches of rain a year. Control joints get cut before the slab can pick its own crack lines. Most driveways get a broom finish for traction, with stamped borders as an option.
Garage, basement and shop floors start with a vapor barrier over a compacted base, because moisture coming up through a slab ruins coatings and lifts anything glued on top. We set the reinforcement, pour, and trowel to the finish the room needs: a hard steel-trowel surface for a garage, a smoother one ready for stain or sealer indoors. Cure time matters here. We keep the slab damp and covered so the surface stays hard instead of dusting.
Not every cracked slab needs tearing out. Hairline shrinkage cracks can be routed and sealed. A section that has sunk or heaved usually points to washed-out base or roots underneath, and patching the top will not fix that. We find the cause first. Sometimes that means cutting out a panel, rebuilding the base and pouring it back with dowels drilled into the old concrete. With the median home here built in 1986, plenty of slabs are old enough to show it.
Every patio we build starts with the ground under it, not the form boards. Cobb County is hilly, with 199 feet of local relief within a few miles, and that changes from block to block. So we grade and test each site on its own before any concrete is ordered. Gwinnett soil is the dominant type here and it drains well, but it varies across the county, and a slab poured on assumptions tends to show it later. We check the base, set the slope, and place reinforcement to suit what we actually find.
The house matters as much as the yard. The median home in Marietta was built in 1986, so a new patio usually meets an older foundation, older steps and a door threshold set long before anyone planned for it. We work to those heights instead of forcing the house to fit the slab. With about 59 inches of rain a year, water has to leave the patio and run away from the walls, so we set the pitch in the forms before the pour rather than patching it afterward. Careful work, done in the right order.
A plain broom-finished slab is the workhorse option: the light texture gives grip underfoot, which matters on a property that sees about 59 inches of rain a year. Stamped concrete presses a pattern into the surface while it is still wet, so the patio reads as slate, flagstone or brick without the loose joints. Exposed aggregate washes back the top layer to show the stone in the mix. Color can go through the whole batch or be stained on after curing. Many patios combine two of these, such as a broom-finished field with a stamped or decorative border. Each looks and wears differently.
The right choice depends on the yard more than the catalogue. Cobb County is hilly, and a patio on a sloping lot may need a step, a thickened edge or extra reinforcement where the grade drops away, which we work out after grading and testing the site. The median home here was built in 1986, so a new slab usually has to meet an older foundation, door threshold or set of steps at the right height. Stamped and stained finishes need a fresh coat of sealer now and then; broom and exposed aggregate ask for less. We go through those tradeoffs on site before any materials are ordered.
Patio prices here depend on the site more than on the size. Two patios with the same footprint can land far apart once we see what sits under the grass, how far the truck has to stay from the pour, and where the water goes after a hard rain. Walk your yard with the rows below in mind and you will have a fair idea which way your project leans.
| What changes the price | Which way | Why |
|---|---|---|
| An old slab, pavers or a stump where the patio will go | costs more | All of it has to be broken out and hauled off before we can grade and set forms. |
| Irrigation lines or buried cable under the footprint | costs more | They get located, then rerouted or protected, before any digging starts. |
| A driveway or gate that lets the truck back up close | costs less | Concrete goes straight down the chute. Without that access we pump it or wheel it in, which adds equipment and labor. |
| A yard that falls away from the house | costs more | Cobb County is hilly, and a slope means cutting and filling to a level base. A steep drop can also call for steps or a retaining edge. |
| Water that pools near the back door | costs more | The slab needs pitch away from the house and sometimes a drain, so the grading work grows. |
| A hot tub, outdoor kitchen or heavy planters planned for the slab | costs more | Those loads need a thicker slab and rebar in place of lighter reinforcement. |
| A flat, open lawn with nothing to remove | costs less | Less prep means more of the work goes into the slab itself. |
Compare bids line by line, not by the bottom number. Check the slab thickness, the reinforcement (rebar or wire mesh), and how deep the gravel base goes. See whether removal and haul-off are included, where control joints will be cut, and who handles the permit. We handle the permit on ours. A cheaper bid that leaves one of those out is quoting a different patio.
It depends on the wall: how tall it is, what it holds back, and whether it sits near a property line, a driveway or the house. A low garden border often needs nothing. Taller walls, and walls that carry real load, are the ones that tend to need a permit and sometimes an engineer's drawing. We look at the site, tell you which applies, and we handle the permit ourselves.
We work across this part of metro Atlanta, not just inside the city limits. The towns we cover are listed on this page, and each one gets the same crew, the same materials and the same way of working. A patio in the next town over is formed, reinforced and finished exactly like one a few blocks off Marietta Square. If you are unsure whether your address falls inside our area, call and ask.
Our service area is a set of towns, not a list of subdivisions. We do not pick and choose streets inside them. If your home is in one of the towns named on this page, whether it sits in an older neighborhood or a newer build, we work there on the same terms as anywhere else. The simplest way to be sure is to give us the address when you call for a free estimate.
Yes. Cobb County is hilly, with 199 feet of local relief within a few miles, and plenty of yards need a wall before they can hold a level patio at all. Slope changes from block to block, so we grade and test every site on its own before we plan anything. Drainage behind the wall, footing depth and reinforcement all come from what that one property shows us, not from a standard drawing.
No. We build patios, walls and slabs in the towns around Marietta as well, Kennesaw among them, and the work is the same wherever the truck parks. Same crew. Same reinforcement, same mix, same care finishing the surface. The full list of towns sits elsewhere on this page, so check it there or simply ask when you call.
We would rather not claim that title, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Ask better questions instead. Will they test the soil on your lot, since it varies across the county? How will they place the reinforcement? Who handles the permit? With the median home here built in 1986, it is also worth asking how they tie new work into an older slab. A contractor worth hiring answers all of that plainly, and so do we.