My wife and I chose a concrete patio for the backyard instead of a wood deck. I figured that the wood would need replacing sooner than the concrete and with plans to have children one day, a place where they could ride bikes and draw chalk art seemed like the right decision. The contractor we chose worked all day to finish the job. They prepped the site, framed the patio, added fill-dirt, and poured the concrete. Long after the sun set, JR was smoothing out the concrete while one colleague held a flashlight and the other gathered up the mess from the day. JR’s team prodded amazing service from start to finish and the resulting concrete patio looks great to this day.

As JR was leaving that night, I asked if he had any suggestions as to how I should paint the patio. I told him we wanted a color that fit well with the brick and stone on the house. He quickly said, “Have you considered staining the patio? It won’t cost as much and the texture and tone of the concrete should come through. I think that would look a lot better than covering it with paint.” I took his advice and a week later I stained our new patio, and JR was right – it looked great. More…