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In most cases, you’ll want your patio to be 4 inches thick, although you should add reinforcement and increase the thickness up to around 8 inches if you want it to support heavier loads and resist cracking more readily. Although thicker slabs will cost more, you’ll start seeing diminishing returns at around 6 inches.

Yes, you can pour a foundation slab without footings, in which case it’s often called a floating slab. Floating slabs don’t have separate footings poured beforehand for support, which means they’re better suited for smaller structures. Monolithic concrete slabs are another option for a slab foundation without standalone footings, although the vertical edges of the single-pour slab do act as footings.

New concrete can crack within 12 hours of finishing, as it can be a common occurrence as the concrete dries and cures. Certain weather conditions and temperatures can slow or speed up the cracking. A concrete contractor plans for cracking during the drying process and keeps some of it at bay by installing control joints.

Dry pour concrete cures in the same amount of time as wet pour concrete, so you’re looking at four to six hours for it to harden, 24 to 48 hours before you can remove forms and expose the slab to foot traffic, a week before it can stand up to vehicle traffic, and about a month for it to be fully cured.