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5 ways to improve a concrete patio and make it look beautiful

Stamped Concrete | Agundez Concrete

For many people having a backyard garden is a dream that oftentimes turns into a nightmare. Water bills, constant maintenance, and care make this dream a living hell. Some people want to try gardening so much that they will end up overdoing it and their plants die or they get a plague. The core idea is to have a nice-looking place where you can spend an afternoon relaxing or having a nice dinner with your family.

You can improve the look of your home while reducing maintenance costs and time-consuming chores. Building a concrete patio does not mean you will end up with a gray bored-looking cement block in your backyard. Concrete is more than that. We have specialized in combining different techniques and materials to deliver the best results.

1. Surface Refinishing. There are many ways to refinish a concrete surface through stains, scoring, and additional paving. These surface treatments need to be applied once the concrete has already been fully cured.

  • Stain: Stains for concrete work by breaking into the surface of the paving and altering the color and/or texture.
  • Scoring pattern: Scoring patterns are made by cutting into the concrete about ¼ inch. Popular scoring patterns include grids, diamonds and repeating lines.
  • Paving veneer: It is possible to add pavers over your existing concrete, so long as the finished height of the paving does not pose any hazards with drainage or walking.

2. Add walls. Surround your patio with a low wall to change the space into its own outdoor room. It’s a different feeling from a wide-open patio, feels more like a lookout to a lower terrain in the background. The wall could be a veneer over concrete and it may act as a visual frame between the patio space and the exposed landscape beyond.

3. Improve the light. Think of ways you can change the natural light, or add downcast lights to give your patio a different look at night. Create shade to make a patio more inviting when the full sun. Change the mood of a gloomy patio by increasing natural light or adding low-glow lights for nighttime.

4. Add a structure. Have you ever think that everything looks better with a pergola?. Similar to adding a wall, a pergola or another overhead structure can help to enclose the space. People enjoy spaces that feel cozy and private. Look at your patio and see how it can be framed overhead. This will also work to your advantage in changing the natural light.

5. Round it up. Concrete that is still in good shape can be cut with a circular saw to change the edge. Changing the geometry can make it look much more different and when combined with a new type of planting (perhaps contacting a company that provides xeriscaping services) will make the concrete patio feel like a new space.