From $130 to $185 per m², supplied and laid. Prices may vary with site conditions and variations.
Exposed aggregate is the finish that carries a frontage, and in Boroondara the frontage is usually the point. The stone does the work plain concrete cannot: it hides tyre marks and leaf stains from the street trees, it grips underfoot on a sloping block in the wet, and it gives a large grey surface a colour and texture that can be tuned to the house instead of fighting it.
Stone and paste for period frontages
The cement base, the paste, matters as much as the stone in a period street. An off white or light base lifts a red brick Federation or Edwardian frontage and keeps the driveway from reading as a dark slab across the front garden. A charcoal base gives the high contrast finish that suits the rendered and modern rebuilds around Kew and Balwyn North. The stone itself runs from local blends that keep the cost down to quartz and river pebble mixes for a one off look. All of it is chosen from sample boards held against the house in daylight at the site measure, because a small wet sample indoors reads nothing like forty square metres in the sun, and the selection is recorded in the written quote.
The reveal
The pour is standard; the finish is timing. A surface retarder goes on behind the screed, and the next morning the top layer of cement is washed off to reveal the stone. Washed too early the stone tears out, too late and nothing reveals. It is the most time critical finish in residential concreting, and it is the reason exposed aggregate is priced above plain grey.
Sealed after cure
Once cured, the surface is sealed. A penetrating sealer keeps the look natural and the grip high, which is what alfresco areas and sloping driveways are steered towards; a film sealer gives the wet look and richer colour. Resealing every three to five years keeps it up.
Where it goes
Exposed aggregate runs across driveways at $130 to $185 per m², patios and alfresco areas within the patio range, and paths poured alongside either. The cost guide compares it against coloured and plain finishes, the specification page covers what sits under it, and the calculator prices your area in ten seconds. Replacing a failed surface first? Removal and replacement covers getting it out.
Where we do this work
Balwyn, Balwyn North, Camberwell, Canterbury, Glen Iris, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Kew, Kew East, Surrey Hills and the wider City of Boroondara.