The center slab is pretty thrashed and has some failing previous repairs. A couple of other slabs have more minor damage. At the very least, I’m interested in removing and repouring the center slab, but a contractor recommended against doing anything less than a full demo/replacement of the whole patio based on foundation/structural reasons.
Beyond aesthetic reasons, is this advice legit or just an upsell? If I need to do the whole thing and not just one or two slabs, I might consider pavers instead of concrete, but any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks!
That middle slab is like 8ft away from the house there is no way it will do anything to the house foundation. Even digging like 1ft away from a house foundation won’t do anything unless you leave it there to collect tons of water for years.
The whole pour is bad though I wouldn’t bother with anything tbh, you need it flat?
If you remove and repour just the center slab, you’re going to change the pressure against the ground which is likely to cause some shifting among all the surrounding tiles. You’re definitely going to find someone willing to replace just the center tile, but if you do that you’ll almost certainly be in a position in a couple years where you’re looking to replace the whole thing.
I’d save up to remove it all, and think creatively about what an entirely new patio could look like. You don’t have to replace it on its current footprint, but I can’t see enough of your space in this picture to give you any layout recommendations.
Thanks! This is the input I was hoping to hear. Good to know that the “piecemeal” replacement concerns are valid. I’ll aim to do the whole patio in time.
Here’s another angle if you’re curious:
If money is limited, I’d just take out the two large center sections and inspect/repair the substrate. This is probably bad preperation underneath and there’s slumping and/or frost heaving. Once you have that part removed, you might decide the other areas aren’t much better underneath. Then you can decide to repour concrete or move on to a different style of patio, like pavers or a wooden deck.
