A new concrete driveway is priced per square metre, but the square metre rate is the smallest part of the decision. Access, excavation and spoil removal, slab thickness, reinforcement, the finish and whether the council crossover needs replacing move the total far more than the choice of pattern. On a sound existing slab, resurfacing typically costs a third to a half of replacing.
What you are actually paying for
A quote for a new driveway is not mostly concrete. Broken down, a typical job is site preparation, formwork, reinforcement, the pour itself, the finish, and then the parts nobody mentions until they appear.
Access is the biggest hidden variable. A flat block with a wide frontage and room for a truck is straightforward. A narrow inner-city block where everything has to be barrowed is the same area at substantially more labour. This is why a quote by address is worthless and why we stand on the site.
Excavation and spoil. Removing the old driveway and cutting to level generates material that has to be carted and tipped, and tip fees are real money. On a sloping block the cut is deeper on one side, which increases both.
Thickness and reinforcement. A domestic driveway carrying cars is specified differently to one taking a caravan, a boat trailer or a delivery truck. Tell whoever is quoting what will actually drive on it, because upgrading afterwards is not possible.
The crossover nobody budgets for
The crossover is the section between the property boundary and the kerb, and it belongs to the council rather than to you. If it needs replacing, that is council-approved work to a council specification, and it is frequently the single largest line item people did not expect.
Whether it needs replacing depends on its condition and on whether you are changing the driveway width or position. We will tell you at the quote if it is in scope, because finding out later turns a fixed price into a variation.
Where the finish sits in the total
The decorative finish is a smaller proportion of a new driveway than most people assume, because so much of the cost is in the ground and the concrete. Moving from plain grey to exposed aggregate or a coloured pattern is a real cost, but it is rarely the difference between affordable and not.
What that means practically: if you are pouring new concrete anyway, the marginal cost of getting the finish you actually want is lower than it feels. Pouring plain now and resurfacing in five years costs more than doing it once.
When resurfacing is the better spend
If the existing slab is structurally sound — not rocking, not stepped at a crack, thick enough to grind — resurfacing typically costs a third to a half of removal and replacement, because you are not paying for demolition, cartage, tip fees or new concrete.
If the slab has failed, resurfacing is not cheaper. It is money spent on a surface that will move with whatever is underneath it. We test-grind at the quote and tell you which situation you are in, including when the answer is the more expensive one.
The questions we get asked
What is the biggest cost in a new driveway?
Rarely the concrete. Access, excavation and spoil removal, and the crossover if it needs replacing, move the total far more than the finish does.
Do I need council approval?
For work on the crossover, yes — it is council property and it is done to council specification. We tell you at the quote whether yours is in scope.
Is it cheaper to resurface than replace?
On a sound slab, typically a third to a half the cost. On a failed slab, no — resurfacing it wastes the money entirely.
Does a decorative finish add much?
Less than people expect, proportionally, because so much of a new driveway is ground and concrete. If you are pouring anyway, get the finish you want.
Why will nobody quote me over the phone?
Because access and levels decide the price and neither is visible from an address. A phone number quote is a guess that becomes a variation.
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Send a photo of the slab.
We will tell you whether it can be resurfaced, what finish suits it, and what it costs — before anyone turns up with a grinder.