What to do with an ugly, stained, cracked patio?

If the cracks are not that bad and the concrete is level you can cover it with brick. Using concrete block construction adhesive glue down a soldier course of brick along the perimeter of the patio. Let it dry. Then you can lay brick down on the patio in any pattern you choose. You may need to cut some brick to fit. Once the brick is down pour paver sand over the brick and sweep the sand into all the gaps. To cut a brick.....lay the brick on a hard surface. Measure the piece you need. Use a chisel and hammer to score the brick all around a few times. The brick should break where the scoring fractured it. Please post your project when you do it.

I used an industrial paint that was for Water Plant floors, it has a light aggregate in it that hid imperfections and we used a medium grey. Not too glossy and no maintenance needed. Made by Tnemec. Check with any supplier to the trades.

Easy -breezy and cheap. Use a primer if it's really old concrete.

Try painting it with garage floor paint

We used these Heavy hard plastic tiles that locked together. I am going to post my horrifying and embarrassing pictures of my patio before 🤣And some in process and the final product let me tell you my hubby had it done in about 2 hours! It was an easy and instant gratification project. It has held up now for a year so I am very happy!!!

That's what I had in mind. Glad to hear it's holding up (my concern with winter temps & snow in northern IL). Where did you buy the tiles, and approx. size of/cost for your patio? Thank you!

We live in Indianapolis Indiana so similar temperatures. We got them at Costco they came in bundles of 6 they are 12x12 They were about $30 each bundle but we got them for $20 when they went on coupon. I see them on amazon and other places have them as well. Our patio is a 12x12 so we did purchase a good amount of them. Im sorry I dont remember but we have a few tiles left over. I told my husband it would be worth it for a few years hopefully. But now I am way happier with it than the $10,000 for quotes we got for decking 😬 Ouch. So I think we will stick with this!! I hope it helps!

Look what I found at my local Costco yesterday! They had a full palette! Its a 10 pack For $19.99. Its item # 1055604 if you have a Costco close by you can call to see if they have any??

I've seen these, but black "plastic" is , to me, ugly. I'm hoping for a more "natural" look. I'm wondering if it would be OK to simply lay down regular paver bricks (or WOODEN planks, not plastic) directly on top of the existing concrete? As I said, I live in Northern IL where temps can go well below zero in winter (-26 degrees) and snow can pile up over 2-3 feet at times. Thanks, though.