Many aluminum patio covers are now sold as DIY kits, allowing you to save a bit of money by putting together you patio cover kit yourself. Since many are relatively simple structures, it’s well within the ability of most homeowners to tackle a patio cover kit project. Yes, even for you!

Most aluminum patio covers can also be purchased in lattice and trellis styles, so you’re not limited to simply putting a solid roof over your patio. Be sure to check out all of the options available to you, as aluminum patio covers have come a long wide and there are many different options to choose from, whether you’re buying one online or from a local retailer.

1) Like most home improvement projects, a little planning goes a long, long way. You should not only plan your concrete patio itself but be sure to have all the materials you’ll need.

Anything other than a tiny concrete patio will require renting a cement mixer. If you’re building a typical six inch thick patio, you’ll need one bag of pre-mixed concrete for every two square feet of patio.

2) Dig out the patio shape with a shovel, digging down at least six inches if you live in an area that freezes in the winter. If you’re building next to your house, establish a grade so that water will run off the patio.

The easiest way to establish a grade is to drive stakes into the ground at the high end as well as the low end, and then hang a string and line level between them.

Try to dig out the patio so that you have a grade of 1 inch for every 3-4 feet.

3) Build a form from 2×6 lumber that will hold gravel and concrete. This is the basic frame for the outer edge of the patio and once inserted into the area you’ve excavated, it should be level with the ground, assuming you want your patio to be flush.

4) Once the form is in place, put down a two inch base of gravel. This will provide some flexibility so that the concrete won’t crack during the winter when it freezes.

5) Insert rebar as reinforcement into the hole, making a grid by placing sections of rebar either one foot or two feet apart, moving from front to back and then from left to right.

6) Mix the concrete in the automatic mixer. Pour the concrete as quickly as possible, mixing in filler rocks as you go and using a straight board (called a screed) to keep it level. Drag the screed down the length of the form, with it resting on both sides.

Use a float to smooth out any lumps, sweeping it in a long arc and taking care not to gouge it into the concrete.

7) For larger patios, you’ll need to cut control joints with a trowel to prevent the slab from cracking. These are grooves cut every 3 feet or so in the concrete. For the first pass, use the trowel to etch them in place, with the edge of a board as a guide to keep them straight. Once in place, extend the grooves deeper to about one inch deep with the jointer.

Cover the patio with plastic sheeting so that it can cure properly. The sheeting traps moisture in and prevents the concrete from drying to quickly. Try to keep the patio covered for at least a week with the sheeting and avoid putting too much stress on the new patio for at least a month, as concrete takes 3-4 weeks to completely cure.

Color is Your Friend: Bare concrete may be functional but it’s far from sexy. Consider staining or painting the concrete (be sure to use a paint that will hold up to outdoor foot traffic) a complementary color to your house.

You can also add a quick splash of color with potted plants or flowers, or, if you’re more ambitious, add in-ground plants or flowers around the patio. Since it’s a small area you’re usually not talking about a huge number of plants or long hours with the shovel and hauling mulch.

Tiling is Far From Rocket Science: This depends on your comfort level with DIY projects, but it’s often a surprisingly easy and affordable job to add slate tile or patio stone to a small concrete patio, dramatically increasing the visual appeal. Since you’re working with a small space it’s not as intimidating as tiling job might otherwise be, and slate tile or patio stone is reasonably inexpensive.

Trees and Shrubs Can Shrink Your House: Small patios at entryways often are dwarfed by the house as a whole, especially with two story homes, as they look particularly small and silly compared to the house.

Consider planting some small trees or shrubs beside the patio to blunt the intimidating height of the house. This serves to visually blend the two elements together, making your house and patio appear to more harmoniously co-exist. If you’re planting close to the house, though, stick to dwarf tree varieties or trees that are easily trimmed, as you don’t want the tree crowding the house as it grows over the years.

Slate patios: Slate is elegant, durable, and can add a formal touch to your patio. They weather well and are impervious to water, frost, and snow. The only real maintenance issue you’ll face will likely be with weeds.

As far as cost, slate itself is typically more expensive than concrete or brick, but the installation is usually simple and inexpensive, especially if you’re using irregular pieces of slate in an informal patio setting.

Concrete patios: Concrete is very versatile and can come in an endless variety of colors and textures, as well as patterned stamped concrete that closely resembles brick. As far as maintenance, cracking is an issue, as well as related concerns such as pooling water.

Concrete is the cheapest of the common patio materials, although stamped concrete can become expensive based on how intricate the design is.

Brick Patios: Brick pavers come in many different sizes, shapes, and colors and are quite durable under any conditions and, like slate, you’ll usually only face secondary maintenance issues such as battling with weeds and grass.

Brick is usually the costliest material to use in a patio. While the pavers themselves are fairly inexpensive, their small size and placement in different patterns usually increases the labor costs to the point that brick is the most expensive option for patio construction, per square foot.

The first step is to thoroughly clean the bricks and mortar, preferably with a pressure washer. You’ll need to try to match the color of the old mortar as closely as possible, and a good cleaning will help you find the color and particle size of sand that you’re trying to match. Don’t just focus on the color, as sand comes in different particle sizes, so match both color and size when you go shopping for sand at your local building supply store.

Once you have your sand (and a mortar grout bag), mix one part sand with one part Portland cement. This will mix up really rich, which is what you need for a job like this, as the strength is important since you’re patching areas, and any patch is inherently weaker.

Lightly moisten the areas that you’re going to repair but don’t get them soaking wet. Fill the grout bag about half full and apply just enough pressure to make the mortar mix flow smoothly. If it won’t flow, add a bit more cement and water.

Move the grout bag along steadily and apply enough mortar so that it rises above the level of the brick by about one-quarter inch. Let it set until the mortar loses it’s glossiness and turns a dull grey color, then use a small triangular trowel to scrape off the excess mortar so that it’s flush with the brick.

Keep the new mortar slightly damp for 2-3 days to allow it to cure properly.

To reduce the risk of hiring the wrong home remodeling contractor you should first do a little preparation yourself for the home remodeling project. It’s only natural to want to get the ball rolling and to start getting quotes for the job, but you can save yourself many headaches (and quite a few dollars) if you do some basic legwork first.

Sketch out and write down what you want remodeled. While you should try to make it as detailed as possible, don’t worry about whether or not it’s a “professional” plan. No contractor expects you to whip up perfect technical plans, so don’t let that intimidate you.

Provide a copy of this information to each prospective home remodeling contractor you meet with later on when getting quotes, so that you’re both on the same page as far as the general requirements you’re looking for in your project. If you are adding a home addition, patio, or deck, use stakes and string or even spray paint and mark the area on the existing lawn/ground.

After you sketch out your general plan, make a separate list of what materials you’d imagine would be necessary for your remodeling job. Again, you won’t think of everything or know the exact quantities, but you should be able to account for most of the major materials that will need to be purchased. Visit home improvement centers such as Lowes and Home Depot and note the costs of each item on your checklist. You’re not trying to come up with an exact figure and likely won’t be buying the materials yourself; the purpose of this step is to get a general feel for what the materials should cost, so that you can compare your own research with the quotes that you’ll get from contractors for your job.

You’ll also want to talk to your local building inspector to understand what permits and building requirements are necessary for your remodeling project. Don’t make any assumptions at this stage, as even the simplest of additions or changes to your home might require prior approval and permits.

When you start calling prospective contractors ask for references and previous work that you can visit. Reputable contractors should have long lists of happy, satisfied customers for you to contact. If they don’t, walk away. You have many options when it comes to hiring a contractor and there’s simply no substitute for a long history of satisfied customers.

Always get multiple quotes and make sure that they are in writing. Have the contractor state exactly how long the quote is good for, to avoid being given a different price if you select that contractor months later. Remember, too, that cheapest isn’t always the best, and that what seemed to be the cheapest bid might be the most expensive, if you have to have repairs done later to fix shoddy work.