“How much is a patio?” is the first thing almost everyone asks us. The honest answer is that it depends on a handful of things, and most of them you can see on your own block.
1. Size
The area under the roof is the biggest factor. Width and projection set how much roof, how many beams and how many posts it takes. Every job carries the same set-up, approval and travel, so a small patio costs more per square metre than a big one.
2. Single skin or insulated roof
A single skin Colorbond roof is the budget choice and plenty for most carports. Insulated panels cost more, and give you a cooler, quieter space with a flat ceiling for downlights and fans. Compare the two.
3. The style
Attached to the house is usually the best value. A flyover adds brackets and engineering to lift the roof over the gutter. Freestanding needs posts and footings on every side. A gable adds framing for the pitched roof, and a louvred roof is a different product again.
4. Height
Taller posts, higher flyover brackets, fixing to a two-storey home and caravan-height carports all add steel and labour. Height can also decide whether the build needs extra approval.
5. Your site, access and slope
Easy access down the side is quicker to build than carrying everything through the house or up a steep yard. A sloping block means posts of different lengths, and sometimes a retaining wall or a deck frame under the patio.
6. Footings and the slab
Posts either bolt to an existing slab, if it is thick enough and reinforced, or go into new concrete footings. Rock, fill, a sewer line or a tree root where a footing wants to go changes the work. Can a patio go on an existing slab?
7. The approval route
Most builds need a building approval from a certifier. A design that misses a setback or the site cover, or a lot in a flood, bushfire or character overlay, may also need council to look at it, which adds steps and fees. Council and certifier fees vary by council; we tell you what applies to your lot.
8. Extras
Downlights, ceiling fans and power points (fitted by a licensed electrician), privacy screens and blinds, extra gutters and downpipes, and running the water to a tank or the stormwater all add to the price. Where the water goes.
9. Taking out the old one
Removing an old patio, a shade sail or an old carport, and making good the fascia or slab under it, is priced as part of the job. Extending or replacing an old patio.
How the price is fixed
Send us what you would like built, the rough size and the address. We call you back within one business day and book a time to measure up. The builder looks at the access, the ground, the slab and where the roof fixes to the house, checks the council mapping for your lot, and goes through the styles, roofs and colours with you.
You then get a fixed price for your design. Every build includes:
- An on-site measure and design with a builder
- Site plan, engineering and Form 15
- Council or private certifier approval lodged for you
- Australian-made Colorbond and BlueScope steel
- Delivery and the build by our own team
- QBCC-licensed work, with the QBCC home warranty