A patio (, from es, patio ; "courtyard", "forecourt", "yard", "little garden") is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a structure and is typically paved. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

the term is expanded to include roofed structures such as a veranda, which provides protection from sun and rain.

Construction

Patios are most commonly paved with concrete or stone slabs (also known as paving flags). They can also be created using

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

s, block paving, tiles,

cobbles Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

, or

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

. Other kinds of patio materials these days include alumawood, aluminum, acrylic, and glass. Patio options include concrete, stamped concrete, and

aggregate concrete Construction aggregate, or simply aggregate, is a broad category of coarse- to medium-grained particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregat ...

. Stamped concrete costs more, is known to be slippery, requires being resealed, and

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...

s typically fade in time. Aggregate concrete uses stones exposed giving its own style. Other common patio features include additional of reinforcement for hot tubs and additional steps from the home.

Restaurant patio

''Patio'' is also a general term used for outdoor seating at restaurants, especially in

Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the total population; the remainder spoke French ( ...

. While common in Europe even before 1900, eating outdoors at restaurants in North America was exotic until the 1940s. The

Hotel St. Moritz The Hotel St. Moritz was a luxury hotel located at 50 Central Park South, on the east side of Sixth Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The structure was extensively rebuilt from 1999 to 2002, and today it is a hotel/condominium combin ...

in New York in the 1950s advertised itself as having the first true continental cafe with outdoor seating. The ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' welcomed that city's first patio in the 1960s. In the United States, having a warmer and sunnier climate than Northern Europe, outdoor dining grew rapidly in the 1960s and today is a popular dining experience in the warmer parts of the mainland.Chris Bateman.
How Toronto learned to love the patio
" ''Spacing.'' APRIL 29, 2015

Notes

References

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External links

* * {{Authority control Architectural elements Outdoor structures Garden features

Construction

Restaurant patio

See also

Notes

References

External links