Concrete and pool deck questions Sarasota homeowners ask, answered once each
Five topic pages and an index of every answer on the site.
Five topic pages, each with its own questions and links to the answers elsewhere on the site.
About this FAQ
Why are the FAQs split by topic instead of one long page?
So each question is answered once, in the place it belongs. The topic pages here answer the questions that don't belong to a service, permit or comparison page, and point to the ones that do, so you land on the full answer rather than a summary of it.
Where do the answers come from?
From the county and city codes, FEMA, FWC, USDA and NOAA for anything regulatory or physical; from published Sarasota-area pricing on a stated date for costs; and from our own practice for how the work is done. Each topic page lists its sources.
Can I ask a question that isn't here?
Yes. Send it with the estimate form or call; questions that come up often are added to these pages.
Every question this site answers, by page
150 questions Sarasota homeowners ask about this work, grouped by the page that answers each one in full.
Areas › Charlotte county
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Areas › Longboat key
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Areas › Siesta key
Areas › South venice
Coastal › Maintenance calendar
Coastal › Pool deck surface temperature study
Coastal › Post storm restoration
Coastal › Salt and concrete
Coastal › Storm season playbook
Compare › 4 inch vs 6 inch
Compare › Concrete vs pavers driveway
Compare › Cool deck vs pavers
Compare › Pool deck surfaces heat
Compare › Rebar vs fiber
Compare › Resurface vs replace pool deck
Compare › Sealer types coastal
Compare › Travertine vs shellstone vs porcelain
Concrete › Architectural
Concrete › Driveways
- How are control joints spaced on a driveway?
- Does the crew remove and haul away my old driveway?
- What happens to irrigation lines during a driveway replacement?
- Why is my new concrete driveway a different color in patches?
- How long does a concrete driveway last near the Gulf?
- Do I need to seal a new concrete driveway?
Concrete › Patios lanais
Concrete › Pool decks
Concrete › Repair
Concrete › Resurfacing
Concrete › Sidewalks walkways
Concrete › Slabs
Concrete › Stamped
Data and methods
Editorial standards
Guides › Check a company before you sign
Guides › Condo pool deck boards
Guides › Cure times and rain
Guides › Deposits and warranties
Guides › Efflorescence
Guides › Golf cart paths
Guides › Hurricane insurance documentation
Guides › North port gdc lot driveways
Guides › Permeable pavers impervious limit
Guides › Polymeric sand weeds ants
Guides › Snowbird project guide
Guides › Well water rust stains
Guides › Why concrete cracks sarasota
Hoa
Hoa › Barrier island condos
Hoa › Palmer ranch
Hoa › Wellen park
Pavers › Artificial turf
Pavers › Driveways
Pavers › Marble porcelain
Pavers › Patios lanais
Pavers › Pool decks › Longboat key
Pavers › Pool decks › Siesta key
Pavers › Repair storm restoration
Pavers › Retaining walls outdoor living
Pavers › Sealing
Pavers › Travertine shellstone
Permits
- Who pulls the permit for hardscape: the homeowner or the company doing the work?
- What happens if a previous owner replaced the pool deck without a permit?
- What is the $7500 residential permit exemption (HB 803) and does it cover flatwork?
- Does replacing pavers with new pavers on the same footprint need a permit?
Permits › Charlotte county
Permits › City of sarasota
Permits › Flood zones 50 percent rule
Permits › Longboat key
Permits › North port
Permits › Sarasota county
Permits › Sea turtle lighting
Permits › Venice
Pricing
Pricing › Concrete
Pricing › Pool decks
Pricing › Sarasota concrete cost index
Tools › Pour calendar
Questions that do not fit a single service page
These come up on the phone often enough to belong somewhere, and each is answered once here rather than repeated across the site.
Can I do part of the work myself to save money?
You can, and the two places it usually works are demolition and the final landscaping. Breaking out and hauling an old driveway saves $2 to $4 per square foot, and it is unskilled work with a rented saw and a trailer. What rarely works is owner-prepared base: a base that has not been compacted in lifts to refusal is the single most common cause of the failures on this coast, and no installer will warrant a surface built on ground they did not prepare.
What happens if the crew finds something under the old slab?
It is the most common change order in this trade. Typical finds are an abandoned irrigation line, a septic drain field closer than the plat suggests, buried debris from the original build, or soft organic soil that has to be dug out and replaced. A good estimate says in advance what the unit rate is for unforeseen excavation, so the change order is arithmetic rather than a negotiation while the crew stands still.
Do you work with pool builders and landscape designers?
Yes, and on a new pool the sequence matters: the shell and the equipment lines go first, the deck base and the drains follow, and the deck surface goes down after the cage anchors are located. Coming in after a cage is already built means anchoring into a finished surface, which is doable and more expensive.
How do you handle an HOA that rejects the application?
Most rejections are about a colour that is not on the approved list, a driveway wider than the covenant allows, or a drainage note that was never drawn. All three are fixable before submission, which is why the ARC packet is prepared with the estimate rather than after it. If a board rejects something that the covenant plainly allows, the packet and the covenant reference are what you take back to them.
Is there a minimum job size?
Not formally, but mobilization dominates small work. A single AC pad or a two-panel sidewalk repair is priced with that in mind, and it is usually cheaper for the homeowner to combine several small items into one visit than to book them separately across a season.
What is the difference between a service-area business and a company with a yard?
A service-area business works at the customer's property and does not keep a public storefront. It is a normal and legitimate structure for this trade, and it is why this site shows no street address. What it does not change is accountability: the legal entity and its insurance are on the contract before any money changes hands.
Can you match work done by another company?
Colour and texture can be approached, rarely matched, because cement source, finishing time and years of weathering all differ. The honest options are the same three every time: replace the visible area entirely, run a decorative overlay across old and new, or place the transition at a control joint so the eye reads it as a designed line.
How far in advance should I book seasonal work?
For a January through April start, six to ten weeks. For a June through September start, two to four. Storm seasons compress everything: after Helene and Milton in 2024 the restoration queue on the keys ran for months, and the owners who were scheduled first were the ones who had documented their damage in the first week.
Last reviewed September 10, 2026 by Luciano, Owner.