Most patios we build in San Antonio cost between $18 and $32 per square foot installed. A 400-square-foot flagstone patio, big enough for a table for six and a couple of chairs, usually lands between $9,000 and $13,000. That's the short answer. The long answer is that two patios of the same size can differ by $5,000 or more, and almost all of that difference comes from things you can't see in a photo.
Here's what actually sets the price, from someone who has set a lot of stone in Bexar County.
Prices by material
These are 2026 installed prices from our own proposals in San Antonio and the Hill Country. They include excavation, at least 4 inches of compacted base, the stone and the labor to set it.
| Material | Typical installed cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Flagstone, dry-laid with decomposed granite joints | $18–$24 per sq ft | Informal, drains through, Hill Country look |
| Concrete pavers | $18–$26 per sq ft | Uniform, many colors, easy to repair |
| Flagstone, mortared on a concrete slab | $26–$32 per sq ft | Clean, tight joints, best under furniture |
| Cut limestone | $28–$36 per sq ft | Cream rectangles, cooler underfoot |
| Porcelain pavers | $28–$38 per sq ft | Very flat, modern, coolest in sun |
If you've seen numbers under $15 per square foot, look closely at the base. A patio is a floor laid on dirt, and the dirt in San Antonio moves.
What drives the number
The base under the stone
North San Antonio sits on caliche and limestone; south and east sides sit on clay that swells when it's wet and shrinks in August. Either way, the stone needs a firm, free-draining layer under it. We dig to solid ground, then add crushed limestone base in 2-inch layers, compacting each one. Four inches is our minimum. On soft clay we go deeper.
That base is maybe a quarter of the cost of a patio. It's also the reason a patio is still flat in ten years. Cheap patios skip it, and that's why they heave, crack and hold puddles.
Access
If a skid steer can drive to the patio, excavation takes hours. If every load of base and every stone has to go through a 4-foot side gate in a wheelbarrow, it takes days. Tight access in older neighborhoods like Alamo Heights can add 10 to 20% to the price.
Shape and edges
A rectangle is cheapest. Curves, angles and borders all mean more cutting, especially with cut limestone and porcelain, where every edge piece is cut to fit. Dry-laid flagstone handles curves gracefully; pavers and limestone charge you for them.
Grade changes and steps
A patio on a flat yard is one slab. A patio on a slope needs a step, a seat wall or a small retaining edge to hold it level. In Stone Oak and the far north side, where many backyards fall away from the house, steps and low walls are often the single biggest add-on. Outdoor steps run about $350 to $650 each in solid limestone.
What's coming later
If you might add a pergola, an outdoor kitchen or lighting in a few years, run the sleeves now. Conduit for power, a gas line stub and an irrigation sleeve under the patio cost a few hundred dollars during the build. Cutting through finished stone to add them later costs thousands.
A real example
On our Stone Oak outdoor kitchen project, the 640-square-foot patio was buff flagstone, mortared on a slab over new base, with gas, electrical and water sleeves under it for the kitchen and fire pit. On its own, that patio would have priced at about $29 per square foot, near the top of the flagstone range because of the slab, the sleeves and the demolition of an old cracked concrete pad.
On the Hill Country Terrace in Boerne, a patio of similar size cost more per foot because it sat on a terrace that had to be built first. The patio price itself was ordinary; the walls were the expensive part.
How big should it be?
Bigger than you think. Most builder slabs are 10 by 10 feet, which is too small for a dining table. A round table for six needs a 12-foot circle so chairs can pull out. A sectional and coffee table need about 12 by 14 feet. If you want both, plan on 350 to 450 square feet, plus a 3-foot walkway around the edges.
We lay out your actual furniture in the 3D render before you commit, which is the easiest way to avoid building a patio you have to stand around the edges of.
What isn't in the per-foot price
- Demolition and haul-off of an old slab, usually $3 to $6 per square foot
- Seat walls, fire pits and outdoor kitchens
- Covers and pergolas
- Lighting
- Permits, which most ground-level patios in San Antonio don't need, though covers, gas and electrical do
How to get a real number
Every yard is different enough that a per-foot range only gets you in the neighborhood. A free site walk gets you the rest: we look at your soil, slope and access, measure, and come back with a fixed price in writing, itemized so you can see exactly what you're paying for. The price covers everything in the proposal's scope; the site walk includes probing for rock, and anything outside that scope is quoted in writing before work proceeds.
