Concrete Patio Contractors in San Marcos, TX
A backyard concrete patio is one of the simplest things we pour and one of the easiest to get wrong. The concrete is rarely the problem. The problems are a slab too small for the table, water running back toward the house, and an HOA letter after the pour.
This page covers the decisions to make before anyone forms a board: size, slope, shade, what will sit on it, and what it should cost.
Poured Concrete Patio Planning: Size, Slope and Shade
Size the patio slab for the furniture, then add walking room
Set your real table and chairs on the lawn, pull the chairs out like people are sitting, and stake the corners with a few feet to spare for walking around. Most first sketches come out too small. Adding a strip later works, but you'll see the seam.
Slope it away from the house
A patio should fall away from the foundation so rain leaves the slab. For a sense of scale, the city's own sidewalk standard uses 1.5% typical and 2% maximum cross slope, about a quarter inch per foot at the top end. That is enough to drain and still feels flat underfoot. On Blackland clay this matters more than anywhere: water parked along a foundation is how slabs and houses start moving.
Plan the patio for afternoon sun
NOAA's 1991–2020 normals put San Marcos average highs at 96.8°F in August. A west-facing slab with no shade is a summer you won't use. Lighter finishes stay cooler than dark stains, and a patio cover changes how the space works, so decide on a cover before the pour (see below).
Patio Contractor Checklist for Clay Backyards
Whoever pours your patio slab, ask for these in writing. Tick off what your bid already spells out:
If you're on the Hill Country side, shallow limestone often sits a foot or so down. That's good bearing for a patio but can mean rock cutting to get the grade.
Concrete Patio Extension and Footings for a Cover
Most patio extensions add on to the small slab the builder poured outside the back door. We dowel the new concrete into the old slab so the two don't separate, and line up the joints so the old edge reads as a joint rather than a patch.
If a patio cover, pergola or screened room is in your future, tell us now. Posts need thickened footings or pads poured with the slab, and the location of those pads decides where the posts can go. We pour the slab and footings; the cover itself is carpentry, and you'll want a builder who does that every day.
HOAs notice patio covers. La Cima, for example, lists "patio/patio cover/deck" among the projects that need architectural approval, with a $60 review fee and up to 60 days for the committee to answer. We'll draw the slab plan your committee asks for.
Backyard Concrete Patio Size Limits on the Aquifer Recharge Zone
On a San Marcos lot inside the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, the Development Code caps total impervious cover (roof, drive, walks, patio, all of it) at 40% for sites of 3 acres or less, 30% for sites over 3 and under 5 acres, and 20% for 5 acres or more. Concrete counts as pavement. Newer homes on small lots can already be close to that number, so a big patio may not fit even if the HOA approves it.
Lots along creeks have a second limit: water quality zones and buffer zones restrict new pavement near the channel. If your back fence borders a creek or greenbelt, that's the first thing to check.
Source: City of San Marcos Development Code (ORD-2026-08), §6.2.3 and §6.3.3, Table 6.4.
Concrete Patio Cost in San Marcos
Published patio prices disagree more than most, so here are two guides side by side rather than one blended number:
| Patio type | Published range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Plain or broom-finish patio slab | $4–$7 per sq ft | HomeAdvisor, June 2026 |
| Plain poured patio, second guide | $8–$15 per sq ft | Today's Homeowner, 2025 |
| Stained patio finish | $5–$10 per sq ft | HomeAdvisor, June 2026 |
| Exposed aggregate on a patio | adds $2–$3 per sq ft | HomeAdvisor, June 2026 |
Small patios cost more per square foot than big ones, because the truck, the crew's day and the forming don't shrink with the slab. Access matters too: if the truck can't reach the backyard, concrete goes in by pump or wheelbarrow, and that is a real line on the bid.
For stamped and colored patios, see the stamped concrete patio page; those are priced and built differently.
Links: HomeAdvisor, Today's Homeowner.
Concrete Patio Repair and Sealing
An older patio that has cracked and dropped at one corner is usually telling you about water: a downspout, a sprinkler head, or a low spot in the yard. Concrete patio repair starts with that. A single bad section can often be cut out and replaced; a patio that is broken all over is usually a remodel. Our concrete repair page explains the options.
Sealing a concrete patio is optional on a plain broom finish and part of the deal on stained or colored ones. Sealer helps against pool chemicals and stains from leaves and grills.
Building something bigger? The concrete contractor home page covers driveways, slabs and walls too.
Patio Questions from San Marcos Homeowners
Do I need a city permit for a backyard patio?
Maybe. The City of San Marcos decides patios case by case through its Permit Requirement Determination form, where Planning, Building and Engineering each mark whether a permit is required. We file the question before we dig rather than guess.
How thick should a patio slab be?
Four inches is the common residential patio thickness, with thickened edges and thicker pads anywhere posts, a hot tub or an outdoor kitchen will sit. On active clay we would rather add steel and better base than just pour it thicker.
Can you pour a patio up against the house?
Yes, with an isolation joint between the patio and the foundation so the two can move separately, and with the patio sloped away. The top of the patio should stay below the weep holes and siding, and below the door threshold.
How soon can I put furniture on a new patio?
Foot traffic in a day or two, light furniture after that. Hold off on heavy planters, grills on stands and a hot tub until the slab has had a few weeks to gain strength.
Plan your patio
Rough size, where it goes, and whether a cover or hot tub is in the plan. Mention your HOA if you have one.