How Much Does a Concrete Driveway Cost in Melbourne?

Prices by finish

Concrete Driveway Cost Per m2 in Melbourne

Concrete driveway cost per m2 in Melbourne depends mostly on the finish you choose. Plain broom-finished concrete is the cheapest at about $65 to $90 per m2. Coloured and exposed aggregate sit around $100 to $150, and stencilled patterns run higher again.

You'll notice the guides don't agree to the dollar. That's normal, because each one prices a slightly different driveway, and none of them has seen yours.

If you're comparing quotes, check they're all for the same finish and the same thickness. A plain-concrete price and an exposed aggregate price for "the driveway" are two different driveways that happen to share a front gate.

Exposed aggregate

What Does an Exposed Aggregate Driveway Cost in Melbourne?

An exposed aggregate driveway in Melbourne costs about $100 to $150 per m2 on most quotes, and ServiceSeeking puts the average at $135 per m2. That's roughly $35 to $60 per m2 more than plain concrete, or about $1,500 to $2,700 extra on a 45 m2 driveway.

What you're paying for is the stone. The concrete's poured with decorative aggregate through it, then the top layer is washed off at exactly the right moment so the stones sit proud. Leave it too long and you've got a very expensive plain driveway.

We think it's worth it on most Melbourne front yards. It hides tyre marks and leaf stains far better than plain grey, and it grips better on a wet July morning. You'll want it resealed every few years, which Leadkit puts at three to five.

Whole driveways

How Much Does a Whole Concrete Driveway Cost?

A typical 40 to 50 m2 driveway in Melbourne costs about $4,000 to $9,000 fully supplied and laid. A long single driveway or a double one runs past that quickly, because the price climbs with every square metre you add.

Real quotes come in all over the place. In Melbourne's west, one new-build owner was quoted about $11,000 for 42 m2 of exposed aggregate, 55 m2 of plain concrete, sleepers and more. A concreter replying on the thread called it "very very cheap", which is not usually the review you hope to hear about your own quote.

That's why our concrete driveway quotes in Melbourne are measured on site and itemised. You'll see the excavation, the base, the steel, the concrete and the crossover as separate lines.

Hidden costs

What Costs Does a Per-m2 Price Leave Out?

A per-m2 price usually leaves out breaking out your old driveway, the crossover at the street, a thicker slab on clay and the minimum charge on a small job. Any one of them can add more than the finish you agonised over. You'll want each one asked about before you sign.

The old driveway

If you've got cracked concrete or old pavers there now, they have to come out first, at about $30 to $75 per m2. Concrete is heavy, and the tip charges by the tonne: Whitehorse's tip takes it at $122 a tonne. Nobody's ever been sad to see an old driveway go, but you will notice its weight on the invoice.

The clay underneath

A lot of Melbourne sits on reactive clay that swells when it's wet and shrinks when it dries, while the bayside south east is mostly sand. On clay, you'll often need a thicker slab and heavier mesh, which one guide puts at an extra $10 to $20 per m2. It's the line that stops the crack you'd otherwise be looking at in three summers.

Small jobs

If you only need a small pad, the minimum charge can be bigger than the concrete. Concreters Hub puts most minimums at about $1,500 to $2,000, because the truck, the crew and the setup cost the same whether you're pouring ten square metres or forty.

Rules in Victoria

Do You Need a Permit for a Driveway in Melbourne?

You need a council permit for the crossover, the strip between the road and your property boundary, whenever you create or change one. Kingston City Council, for one, says you require a permit to "create or interfere with a vehicle crossing". Council fees run roughly $200 to $800, and building the crossover itself is a separate cost.

Councils also set how a crossover is built, so it's worth asking your concreter who lodges the permit before you assume it's done. We handle the crossover on our driveway jobs, which is one less form on your kitchen table.

Contracts, deposits and insurance

Consumer Affairs Victoria says work over $10,000 involving more than one trade needs a major domestic building contract, and domestic building insurance is required over $16,000. The deposit is capped at 10% under $20,000 and 5% from $20,000. If you're asked for half up front, that's worth a question.

Before anyone digs, you can lodge a free Before You Dig Australia enquiry. A driveway excavation runs right over the water, gas and power coming into your house, and finding them with a bobcat is nobody's idea of a good Tuesday.

The build

What Goes Under a Concrete Driveway?

A compacted crushed rock base, steel mesh and a slab of the right thickness go under a concrete driveway. On a standard site that's typically a 100 millimetre slab with mesh for cars. On reactive clay, Leadkit describes 125 to 150 millimetres with heavier mesh over 100 millimetres of compacted crushed rock.

Where the steel sits matters as much as whether it's there. Queensland's building regulator says reinforcement should generally sit within the top half of the slab with at least 30 millimetres of cover. Mesh lying on the dirt at the bottom is doing about as much as you'd guess.

Control joints, the cut lines every few metres, are what decide where a slab cracks. You can't stop concrete moving, so we tell it where to.

Do the sum

How Do You Work Out Your Own Driveway Estimate?

Measure your driveway in square metres, multiply by the per-m2 range for your finish, then add the old driveway's removal and the crossover if you need one. If you're on clay, add the thicker slab too. You'll land within shouting distance of a real quote.

1. Measure the length and the width. Include the path if you want it done at the same time.
2. Multiply them. That's your area in square metres.
3. Multiply by the low and high rates for your finish from the first table.
4. Add removal if there's an old driveway there now.
5. Add the crossover if you're creating or changing one, and the clay surcharge if your soil swells.

If your old driveway's sound and you just want a new finish, ask about resurfacing as well. It isn't right for every slab, but you'll want to know before you pay to break one up.

From the field

How We Price a Driveway

I'd rather show you how a driveway price gets built than give you a number from nowhere. Every quote we write starts on site and ends as an itemised list.

1. We take the levels. A driveway has to fall away from your garage and toward somewhere the water's allowed to go.
2. We check the ground. Sand and reactive clay need different bases, and we'd rather find out before the quote than after the pour.
3. We look at the street. Whether you need a new crossover, and how the truck gets close enough to pour.
4. We price every part separately. Removal, excavation, base, steel, concrete, finish and crossover each get a line.
5. We tell you about permits. Including the crossover permit, which we handle on our driveway jobs.

If you'd like the list for your own driveway, book a free, measured quote.

Questions

Concrete Driveway Cost Questions