A yard that nobody sits in is usually why a Beverly Hills owner goes looking for a patio contractor. You can already see the room it could be: a floor underfoot, shade overhead and a table within easy reach of the kitchen door. Palmcrest Contractors prices that as one project, with the surface, the cover and the join at the house written out separately.
Your patio quote starts from three details: the rough size of the area, the surface you lean toward and whether you want shade over it. Send them with the address and request a written patio quote.
An outdoor room on a Beverly Hills lot
Beverly Hills is an urban Westside city, and behind many houses the yard begins a few steps from the living room. That short walk is what makes a patio work. A table outside the back door gets used at breakfast. One out by the far fence waits for a party.
So we lay the patio out the way we would lay out a room indoors. We begin at the door you walk through, then mark where the table goes, how far the chairs pull back and which corner catches the strong afternoon sun. The floor, the shade and the route to the kitchen all come from those marks.
Where the floor inside sits well above the ground, a low deck or a broad step can suit that side of the house better than paving. Our decks and patios work covers both, and we can price them against each other for the same space.
A cracked slab or a tired cover is a fine place to start. We will look at repairing the damaged part, and we can quote a full replacement beside that repair so you can compare the two.
What goes into a patio price
Every patio quote we write comes back to the same six lines.
Surface. A hardscape floor can be poured concrete, pavers or stone. Each has its own base below it and its own labor to lay. Wood or composite decking is a separate path with a frame and footings. Taking out an old slab or worn paving adds a line of its own, including hauling it away.
Area. More square footage takes more material and more hours. Shape matters as well. A plain rectangle is quicker to form and finish than a floor that curves around planting or steps down to a lawn. A tight side yard can also slow the work, since base and paving then travel to the back in small loads.
Cover or shade. An open pergola filters the light. A solid cover gives full shade and keeps the rain off. A louvered roof does either, and its moving blades and wiring put it higher up the range. Posts and footings come with all three. Our pergola cost article compares those roofs in detail.
Drainage. Rain falling on a new hard floor has to leave it and stay clear of the house. A steady slope away from the wall handles part of that. A flat yard, or a floor pinned between the house and a raised bed, may also call for a drain channel and a buried line to carry the water off.
Tie-in at the house. The edge against the back wall takes the most care. We keep the surface below the door threshold and detail the joint so water runs away from the stucco. An attached cover adds a ledger fixed to the wall framing, with flashing above it. If you want the room to read as level with the patio, the door and its sill may join the scope, and our windows and doors page shows that half of the job.
Permit. Whether your patio needs one depends on what you build and on the address. We find out from the city for this lot, then list any drawings, engineering and filing as their own line in the quote.
Choosing a builder for the whole outdoor room
A paving crew can price a floor. Once a cover, a new door or wiring joins the plan, footings, framing and electrical work have to run in the right order. That is the case for hiring one general contractor. Palmcrest is licensed in California, and one written quote from us can carry the floor, the shade and the opening together.
Comparing bids goes faster when you look for the same items in each:
- Removal of what is there now, and the base under the new floor
- How the water leaves, in words you can picture
- Footings and the fixing at the house for any cover
- The stucco or door work at the back wall
- Who draws, files and schedules the inspections
A few decisions at the start keep the scope clean. Settle whether the cover goes up now or later, since its footings are easier to place before the floor is laid. If the door behind the patio is likely to change within a year or two, price both now, so the floor height is set once.
Walking your yard before we price it
The visit starts inside at the door, then moves out. We measure the area, take the ground levels against the threshold and note where water would run in a storm. If a cover is planned, we look at the wall and the eave it would meet, and where its posts would frame the view from the room.
Your quote follows in writing. Removal, base and surface, drainage, cover, wiring, tie-in and permit work each get a line. Take the cover out and you see what the floor costs alone. Where an engineer has to size a post or beam first, the quote says that plainly.
We are based in Beverly Hills, so a trip to your yard is short. Bel Air, West Hollywood and Culver City are close by as well.
Notes and photos that sharpen the number
- Pictures of the yard from the back door, and of the house from the far end of the yard
- A rough length and width, even paced out
- A photo of any surface you like
- How many people the table should seat, and the hours you expect to sit out there
- Notes on where water pools after rain
Call us or send the form with those notes when you are ready to use the yard as a room. We will arrange a walk through the space and put the price in writing.