Concreting In Springvale

In south-east Melbourne, plain reinforced concrete averages $85 to $120 per square metre supplied and laid, coloured $100 to $140, and exposed aggregate $120 to $180. Those figures include the compacted crushed rock base, reinforcing mesh, the pour, the finish and joint cutting. What sits outside them is demolition of an existing slab, council crossover permits, thickened edges for heavy vehicles and difficult access. Anyone quoting well under those numbers is usually thinning the slab, skipping the base or leaving the mesh out, and none of those show up until the slab cracks. Every job is unique, so your written quote follows a site measure.

For a domestic driveway, an N20 or N25 mix poured at 100 millimetres thick with SL72 reinforcing mesh on bar chairs is the standard and it is what we pour. Where a caravan, boat trailer or delivery truck will be using it, we go to 125 or 150 millimetres and increase the reinforcement. The mix strength matters less than the three things people cannot see: base compaction, mesh position and joint spacing. A high-strength mix on an uncompacted base will still crack and settle.

In plain reinforced concrete, an average of $2,800 to $4,200 supplied and laid. In exposed aggregate the same area averages $4,000 to $5,800. If there is an existing slab to break out and cart away, add roughly $900 to $1,500 for that area. A new or widened vehicle crossover onto the street is a separate cost with a council permit attached. Every job is unique, so we measure on site because driveway shapes are rarely a neat rectangle and access to the pour affects labour significantly, and you get the figure in writing before any work starts.

Foot traffic is generally fine after about 24 to 48 hours, cars after seven days, and heavy vehicles such as caravans, trucks and skip bins only after 28 days, which is when the slab reaches its design strength. Those windows are not padding, they are how concrete cures, and driving on a slab too early causes cracking that cannot be undone. Curing is the most important part of the first week, so we keep the slab damp or sealed rather than letting it dry out in the wind. We will give you clear dates on the day of the pour.

Concrete shrinks as it cures and it will always crack somewhere - the aim is to control where. Control joints cut or tooled at 3 to 4 metre spacing give the shrinkage a planned line to follow, and expansion joints isolate the slab from the house and from existing concrete so movement does not transfer. Random cracking across the middle of a slab usually means the joints were too far apart, the base was not compacted, the mesh was not in the middle of the slab, or the concrete dried too fast in hot wind. Fine surface crazing is cosmetic and normal. Structural cracking that steps or widens is not, and that is a base or reinforcement failure.

For concrete within your own property boundary, generally no. For the crossover, which is the section between the kerb and your property line, yes - every council in our service area requires a vehicle crossover permit for a new or widened access, and there are specifications for width, profile and sightlines that must be met. Councils also often require a bond or inspection. We check what applies to your address before quoting and handle the application, because a crossover poured without approval can be ordered out at your cost.