Patio & Lanai Slabs in The Villages, FL

Patio and lanai slabs are where many homeowners in The Villages want more space. A screened lanai, which locals call a birdcage, is one of the most popular features on homes here, and the slab that came with the house is often only big enough for two chairs and a small table. Extending the lanai slab, adding an open patio beyond the screen, or pouring a pad for a grill are some of the most common concrete jobs we see. Residents in local Facebook groups ask about the same thing: getting the back pad extended.

Planning the size

Before we talk price, we talk about use. A table for four needs more room than most original lanais give, once you allow space to pull chairs out and walk around. A grill needs clearance from the screen and the house. A hot tub needs a thicker slab. HomeGuide's patio guide puts standard residential patios at 4 inches thick and calls for 6 inches with added reinforcement under heavy items like hot tubs and outdoor kitchens.

If a new or bigger screen enclosure will sit on the slab, the enclosure company usually has its own requirements for the slab edge and anchors. We ask for them before we pour, so the screen crew has a level, square edge to fasten to.

The ARC and the screen

An extended lanai or new patio is an exterior change, so it needs an Architectural Review Application. The application asks for a site plan or sketch showing the proposed change, its dimensions and its distance to each property line, along with existing easements. Easements matter behind many Villages homes, where utilities and drainage run along the back of the lot. We draw the new slab on the sketch with those distances so the committee has what it needs. Any building permit comes from the county or city where your home sits; the committee's page is clear that it does not issue permits.

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Built to shed water

Leesburg's climate normals show June and August each bringing close to 7 inches of rain. A lanai that holds puddles, or tilts back toward the sliding door, is a daily nuisance in summer. We tie the extension into the existing slab with dowels, keep it at the same height, and slope it gently away from the house so water runs off the outer edge and into the yard, not under the door. Where the yard itself is flat, we look at where that water will go once it leaves the slab.

Underneath, the base gets the same care as a driveway: soft soil out, sand compacted in layers, and nothing organic left to rot and settle.

Surface options

• Broom or light texture: grippy and inexpensive, often coated afterward.
• Spray-textured coating: a common finish on Florida lanais, applied over new or old concrete so the whole floor matches.
• Stamped: a stone or tile pattern for an open patio.
• Stained or colored: a tint over plain concrete; color changes need ARC approval.

A coating applied over the old lanai and the new extension together is usually the cleanest way to hide where they meet.

After the pour

Walk on the slab after a day or two, but wait for us before the screen crew drills anchors or before furniture and a grill go back out. Coatings go on only once the concrete has cured enough, which we set by the mix and the weather. Call (352) 706-8874 to talk through your lanai.