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A 20×20 stamped concrete patio in Metairie is 400 square feet, so the price is the per-square-foot rate for your pattern and color multiplied by 400, plus the fixed costs that every lot carries. On most Metairie lots, the base and drainage work under the slab moves the final number more than the stamp pattern on top of it.
We get this question more than any other concrete question, and we understand why people want a single figure. The honest answer is that the national cost calculators published this year don’t agree with each other, and none of them has seen your backyard. What we can do is show you exactly what goes into a Metairie quote, so you can read any number you’re given and know whether it’s complete.
Think of the price in two layers. The first layer scales with area: concrete, reinforcement, color, release agent, stamping labor and sealer. Double the size and that layer roughly doubles. The second layer is mostly fixed: getting equipment into the yard, tearing out an old slab or lawn, hauling away spoil, building the base and setting grade so water leaves the patio. A 400 square foot patio spreads those fixed costs over a reasonable area, which is one reason 20×20 is such a popular size.
When you compare quotes, divide each total by 400. If one company’s per-square-foot figure sits far below the others, look for what’s missing before you celebrate. Usually it’s base depth or reinforcement. Our concrete patio service lists those items as separate lines so you can see them.
Stamped concrete costs more than a broom finish because of what happens after the pour. A crew colors the surface, applies release, presses the mats in a tight working window, then cleans and seals the slab once it cures. The base underneath is the same for both. We covered the plain-versus-stamped comparison in our guide to concrete patio cost in New Orleans, so this post stays focused on the stamped side.
Metairie sits on soft Mississippi delta soil with a high water table, and much of it is flat as a tabletop. Those two facts shape a stamped patio quote more than anything you’ll see in a pattern book. Soft ground needs a compacted aggregate base and proper reinforcement, or the slab settles and cracks open across the pattern. Flat ground needs a designed slope, because a patio poured dead level will hold water against the house after every heavy rain.
Older Metairie neighborhoods add their own wrinkles. Mature live oaks push roots under old slabs, and those roots may need to be worked around before forming. Lots with narrow side yards mean concrete gets pumped or wheeled in, which takes more labor than backing a truck up to the forms. None of that shows up on a national calculator, and all of it shows up on a real quote. You can see the neighborhoods we cover on our Metairie service area page.
Here are the line items that move the total most, roughly in the order we see them matter on Metairie jobs:
Thickened edges or footings for a future patio cover belong on this list if you’re planning one. Pouring those now costs far less than cutting the slab later.
They can. A contrasting border, a second stamp pattern around the edge, or decorative saw-cut lines all add hand labor after the main pour. Control joints are different. Every slab needs them to give cracking a planned place to happen, and on a stamped patio a good crew hides them in the grout lines of the pattern so they disappear. Ask how joints will be placed before you sign, because a joint cut straight through a stone pattern is hard to unsee.
Stamped concrete usually comes in under pavers for the same footprint, because the labor of setting thousands of individual units is replaced by one pour. The tradeoff is repair. A paver patio lets you lift and reset a sunken section, while a stamped slab is one piece, so a crack is a patch, not a swap. On settling ground, some homeowners decide the paver flexibility is worth the extra cost. Others prefer the clean, continuous look of stamped work and invest more in the base instead. Our earlier post on brick and paver patios in Metairie walks through the paver side of that decision.
A complete quote for a 400 square foot stamped patio should name, in writing:
It should also say how water will leave the slab. If a quote is silent on any of these, ask. In our experience, the quotes that skip them aren’t cheaper in the end; they just move the cost to the first repair. For a look at how stamped work holds up over time in our climate, see what makes stamped concrete last in New Orleans, and browse finished patterns in our project gallery.
The pour and stamping happen in a single day, but the full job runs longer. Layout and demolition come first, then base work and forming, then the pour, then cure time before sealing. Weather sets the pace here. Frequent summer afternoon storms can force a pour to move, because rain on fresh stamped concrete ruins the texture. Fall in the metro tends to bring steadier weather, which is why many Metairie homeowners book stamped work for the cooler months.
Budget for periodic resealing. Sealer protects the color from UV and keeps water and stains out of the surface, and it wears off over time with sun and foot traffic. A shaded patio that stays damp also needs an occasional cleaning for mildew. Neither job is expensive compared with the patio itself, but skipping them is how a stamped slab starts to look faded and tired.
We won’t put a number on resale value, because that depends on the house and the buyer. What we can say is that a well-built patio turns a yard into usable living space, and a stamped surface in good condition reads as finished work. A cracked, unsealed slab reads the other way.
Want a real number for your 20×20 patio instead of a national average? Big Easy Patio prices stamped concrete from a site visit, with base work and sealer spelled out line by line. Call (504) 384-8978 or reach us through our contact page to set up a free estimate in Metairie.
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