From $130 to $185 per m², supplied and laid, as a guide until the site is measured.
In Boroondara the driveway is part of the streetscape, and exposed aggregate is the finish that treats it that way. Stone at the surface does what plain grey cannot: it swallows tyre marks and the stain of leaf fall from street trees, holds its footing on a wet slope, and gives the largest surface in the front garden a colour 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.
A finish made in one morning
What you pay for with exposed aggregate is judgement on the second day. The slab goes down normally, a retarder holds the surface paste soft overnight, and the following morning that paste is washed away to bring the stone up. There is one right window for the wash: rush it and stone pulls free, miss it and the paste locks in. Crews that do this weekly hit the window; that skill, plus the decorative stone in the mix, is the price difference over plain grey.
Sealing, and staying sealed
After curing comes the sealer, and the choice is worth two minutes of thought. Penetrating sealers disappear into the surface, keeping the natural look and the full grip, which suits slopes and alfresco areas. Film sealers sit on top and deepen the colour towards a permanent wet look. Either way, a re-coat somewhere in the three to five year window keeps the finish at its best.
Where it goes
Street-facing driveways are the natural home for the finish at $130 to $185 per m², with patios priced inside the patio range and paths best value poured alongside either. The cost guide sets the finish against coloured and plain alternatives, the specification records the construction underneath, and the calculator turns your measurements into a range. A failed surface in the way first goes through removal and replacement.
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.