A driveway is the largest surface most homes ever pour and the first thing the street reads. Exposed aggregate earns its place there by doing two jobs at once: a decorative stone finish that reads as designed rather than poured, over a reinforced slab built the same way as any structural driveway. This page covers the decision most people are actually weighing, what it costs against plain concrete, and how the colour gets chosen.
Exposed aggregate versus a plain concrete driveway
Plain broom finished concrete does the structural job for less money, and for a side driveway to a rear garage it is often the right call. The case for exposed aggregate is everything above the structure: the colour is stone all the way through, so it cannot wear off or need repainting; the washed texture grips in the wet, which matters on Melbourne’s sloping eastern blocks; and tyre marks, drips and leaf litter disappear into a charcoal blend instead of staining a grey slab. The cost guide puts the premium at roughly $35 to $55 per m², and the comparison on the home page sets the two side by side honestly.
What the cost includes
$130 to $185 per m² covers the full sequence in the specification: preparation and compacted base where the ground needs it, steel mesh on chairs, a minimum 25 MPa decorative mix designed from your samples, the surface retarder and controlled wash-off, curing, and sealing once the surface has cured. Removal of an existing driveway adds $35 per m², covered on the removal and replacement page. Get a live figure for your own measurements in the cost calculator.
Choosing the stone and colour
This is the decision everyone spends longest on, and it deserves the time: the surface lasts twenty years and the stone cannot be changed once it is in the truck. The short version is that the stone sets the character, the oxide in the cement paste sets the mood, and the sealer sets the depth. Samples are viewed wet and dry at your house before the mix is confirmed. The colours and stone guide covers the Castlemaine, Lilydale and Dromana stone, the imported blends, and which combinations suit render, brick and weatherboard.
The crossover
Where the driveway meets the road, the council’s standard drawing governs and a vehicle crossing permit is usually required in the eastern councils. Heritage overlay streets in Boroondara and Bayside can add conditions on width and materials. None of that should be your problem to research: what your job needs is identified at the site measure and confirmed in writing with the quote. The areas page sets out each council’s process.
Washed and sealed
The wash-off is where a driveway finish is won or lost, and it is the reason to use a specialist: the window is hours long and moves with the weather. After cure, the surface is sealed, wet look or natural, with a grip additive on slopes, and the reseal interval goes in writing at handover. The sealing guide explains the systems.
Where we pour exposed aggregate driveways
Balwyn North, Bentleigh, Blackburn, Box Hill, Brighton, Camberwell, Doncaster, Glen Waverley, Hampton, Mentone, Mount Waverley, Templestowe and nearby: where we work.