Find a trusted concreter in Sydney

Clay out west, sandstone up north

What’s under your yard shapes a Sydney concrete job more than anything you’ll see on top. Across much of western and south-western Sydney the ground is heavy clay, which swells when it’s wet and shrinks as it dries. Concrete laid on poorly prepared clay is how driveways end up with cracks running across them and slabs that lift at the edges. Good prep is the cure: excavating to solid ground, compacting a crushed rock base, placing the right reinforcement and cutting control joints so shrinkage cracks run where they’re meant to.

North of the harbour and down through the Sutherland Shire, the problem flips: sandstone close to the surface. Levelling a sloping block for a slab can mean a rock breaker or saw, and that excavation can be a large share of the bill. Ask for it as its own line on the quote.

Slopes in both areas also bring drainage questions. A driveway that falls toward the garage needs a grated drain across the bottom, and a slab beside the house should fall away from the walls.

Crossovers, pumps and tight access

The stretch of driveway between your front boundary and the road, called the crossover, sits on council land, and so does the layback cut into the kerb. Building or replacing it needs council approval, has to follow that council’s specification, and often comes with an application fee and an inspection. Every Sydney council sets its own rules, so ask whether the quote includes the application and who books the inspection.

Access is the other Sydney cost. On inner-city terraces and battle-axe blocks, the concrete truck often can’t get near the pour, so it’s pumped or barrowed in. Pump hire alone is commonly $450 to $800, and parking a pump in a narrow street can need its own council permit.

The NSW licence for concreting

Once residential concreting tops $5,000 including GST, Building Commission NSW requires a general concreting contractor licence, and that one class covers plain, stamped, stencilled and exposed aggregate finishes. Plenty of driveways cross that line, so check before you pay a deposit. Search the name or licence number on the Verify NSW licence check; our NSW licence checks guide explains the classes if the result is confusing.

Concrete prices across Sydney

No capital costs more for concreting than Sydney. Of the national ranges ($70 to $140 per m² for plain concrete over a prepared base, $100 to $220 per m² for exposed aggregate), Sydney jobs sit near the top. A plain double driveway of about 50 m² usually lands around $4,000 to $9,000, or $6,000 to $12,000 in exposed aggregate, before an old one is broken out. Our concreting price guide has more ranges; use them as a guide, not a quote.

Matched with one concreter

Give us the job, the rough size and your part of Sydney. In return you get one local concreter whose licence, insurance, ABN and reviews we’ve vetted, rather than a directory listing or a crowd of callers. Start a free quote now, or read up on concreters and the other trades we match in Sydney first.