Concrete Patios in Lincoln Park, Plant City

How much back yard a Lincoln Park lot leaves you

The median single-family lot in Lincoln Park holds about 6,830 sq ft of land, and the median house has about 1,330 sq ft of living space. After the house, the driveway and the side setbacks take their cut, the back yard is where a concrete patio fits. Picture a pad off the back door, a slab under the grill, or a floor for a screen room.

The houses differ more than the lots do. Homes on these plats date from every decade between the 1900s and the 2020s, so one back wall might be old frame siding and the next a 2021 block house. That changes where the slab meets the wall and how roof water comes down on it. Our Lincoln Park area page covers the plats and the streets. Here we stay behind the house.

Setting patio height where Ona sand stays wet

Back yards here sit mostly on Ona fine sand, about 86% of the platted area on the county's USDA soil layer. Ona is poorly drained, and in the wet months its water table can rise to about 31 cm below the surface. Seffner fine sand covers close to a tenth of the area and drains somewhat poorly. Myakka sand takes about 4%.

For your patio, that all comes down to water. Pour the slab flush with a soggy lawn, or tip it toward the back wall, and it'll hold puddles right where you want to sit while it pushes water at the foundation. So the slab can sit a little above the yard with a steady fall away from the house, and downspouts can be pointed off the edge instead of onto it.

Here's some good news: the federal wetlands inventory shows no mapped wetlands inside the Lincoln Park plats. If raising the yard takes real fill, or water has to be sent toward a neighbor's side, the City can require approval from Streets and Stormwater first. The sandy soil guide covers compaction and base prep.

Concrete Pricing

Concrete patio prices for Lincoln Park back yards. The real number is the free written estimate we give you after seeing the site.

These ranges are for a plain or broom finish unless noted. Fill, tearing out an old slab and any extra thickness for a future roof each get their own line. You get a free written estimate after we see the site.

A slab now, a screen room later: what to decide on day one

Patio plans tend to grow. If a screen enclosure or a roof might come along in a few years, the slab has to be ready for it before the concrete truck shows up. You can't add thickness later. Ask the enclosure company for its footprint and post spots, and bring them to the estimate.

Whether you need a plastic sheet underneath depends on heat. Section R506.2.3 of the Florida residential code doesn't require a vapor retarder under patios and other flatwork that aren't likely to be enclosed and heated later. A screened porch isn't heated. A future air-conditioned sunroom is another story, so tell us now if that's the long plan.

Then come the joints. On a 4 inch slab, trade guidance puts control joints no more than 10 feet apart, cut a quarter of the depth, so a 12 by 16 patio slab gets at least one joint across the middle. The code also lets synthetic fibers, or welded wire in the middle to upper third of the slab, control cracking in place of contraction joints, though fibers don't add structural strength. Whatever layout we land on goes on your written quote.

What to Expect, Start to Finish

1. Mark it out

   Lay a hose where you picture the patio edge and send us a photo of the back yard.

2. Free yard visit

   We check where water sits, how the yard falls away from the back wall, and how we'll get concrete to the back.

3. Written quote in 48 hours

   Size, height, joints, finish and any fill each get their own line.

4. Pour and clean up

   Summer pours can take a morning slot. Curing starts right after finishing, and we leave the yard clean.

Older back walls, termite treatment and who to ask

Florida's termite rule, section R318 of the residential code, is written for new construction. It calls for termite protection by soil treatment, a bait system or treated wood. Where soil treatment is used, it also goes under exterior concrete within a foot of the walls and gets a 6-mil cover, and the pest control company issues a certificate to the building department. A patio added behind a 1950s or 1990s house in Lincoln Park isn't new construction. It does put fresh concrete right up against the wall, though.

So call your pest control company before we pour. Ask whether your home has an active termite treatment or bond, and whether a slab against the back wall changes anything. If they say to treat the soil along the wall, that's their call, not ours, and it's far easier to do before concrete covers the ground.

Back walls on older houses can also hide hose bibs, dryer vents and AC lines in odd spots. We can mark each one at the visit. That way the slab stops short of anything you still need to reach, and the top of the concrete stays below the door threshold.

Permits, the $7,500 exemption and Zone AE behind the house

Lincoln Park sits fully inside Plant City limits, so permits go through the City of Plant City Building Department, not the county office that handles unincorporated parcels past the city line. The City's permit FAQ names driveways, walkways, accessory buildings and fences, and the list ends in "etc." Patios aren't named either way, and the same FAQ says exempt work is typically cosmetic, like paint, tile and cabinets. So for a patio, plan on asking the Building Department with your address before the pour. A roof or pergola over the slab is a structure, and that's a separate conversation.

Florida's HB 803 is the other piece. Our patio range of $2,500 to $6,500 sits under its $7,500 line. The law exempts qualifying non-structural work on single-family homes, but only with written approval before you start, and not if the job is split up to stay under the cap. Hillsborough County's exemption page adds that it doesn't apply when any part of the property is in a flood hazard area. About 7% of the Lincoln Park plats fall in Zone AE on FEMA's flood map, so check your parcel. A job over $2,500 also calls for a recorded Notice of Commencement. Our Plant City permit walkthrough lays out each office.

August heat, afternoon storms and a patio you'll use

Summer here brings highs in the upper 80s to mid 90s, dew points above 70 and frequent showers and thunderstorms, says the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay. Its rainy season runs May 25 to October 10. A patio poured in that stretch can get a morning slot, and a soaked base can push it back a day.

For comfort on a concrete patio, plan the shade. Watch where the house throws shadow mid-afternoon and put the seating there, or size the slab for a roof later. Stamped patterns run $14 to $24 per sq ft and get priced on their own line, and we can quote a pool deck on the same visit.

On pour day, NRMCA's hot weather advice applies: stay out of the hottest hours, keep extra water out of the mix, and start curing the moment finishing ends, for at least 3 days. We leave the yard clean once the forms are pulled. Neighbors in Walden Lake and Magnolia Green have their own soil and flood map numbers, so compare those pages if you're curious.