Hey, Stuart here from G&M.
You've seen the ad. It's all over Facebook: "Concrete patios, $5 a square foot!" Big numbers, nice stock photo, phone number in the comments.
Here's what I want you to know before you call that number: almost nobody who signs that deal pays $5 a square foot. Not because the homeowner did anything wrong, but because the ad was never a price. It was bait.
How the trap actually works
The $5 number covers one thing: pouring plain gray concrete on ground that's already perfect. Your yard is not already perfect. Nobody's is. So once the truck is in your driveway, the "extras" start showing up:
- The pump fee. The truck can't reach your backyard? That's a pump truck, and suddenly it's on your bill as a surprise.
- Demo and haul-off. Got an old patio or walkway there now? Tearing it out and hauling it away was never in the $5.
- Grading and base prep. The dirt work that keeps your slab from cracking. Somehow it's an upgrade now.
- Reinforcement. Rebar or mesh, the stuff that makes concrete last in North Texas clay, offered to you mid-job like an airline seat upgrade.
- Cleanup. Yes, some outfits charge you extra to not leave a mess in your own yard.
Each line sounds small. Stack them up and that $5 patio lands at double or triple the number that got you to call, and by then the crew is standing in your yard and the pressure is on. That's not an accident. That's the business model.
The simple rule: if the price sounds impossible, it is
Real flatwork in North Texas, done right, starts around $8 per square foot. Stamped and stained work starts around $15. Those numbers cover the boring stuff the ads hide: base prep, reinforcement, control joints, proper cure, cleanup. The things you can't see in the photo but absolutely feel five years later.
Anybody advertising meaningfully below that is planning to make it up somewhere. Usually on page two of your invoice.
How to never get caught by this
One habit protects you from the whole game: do not sign anything until you have a written, itemized quote that names everything. Demo, grading, base, reinforcement, the pour, the finish, cleanup, all of it, line by line, with one total at the bottom. Then ask the only question that matters: "Is this the full and final number?" Watch how they answer.
An honest contractor loves that question. A bait-ad outfit hates it, because the hidden charges ARE the profit.
That's why we publish our starting prices right on our site and put every job in a written, itemized quote before a single form gets set. You'll know exactly what you're paying for before we start, and the number at the bottom is the number you pay. I'd rather lose a bid being honest than win one with an asterisk.