New concrete driveway being poured at a Melbourne inner north home

Concrete Driveways in Melbourne's Inner North

Concrete driveways for homes across Melbourne's inner north: plain grey, broom finish or full decorative, quoted on site by a local concreter and poured with the council paperwork already sorted.

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Servicing 10+ inner-north suburbs.

Cracked, Sinking or Just Tired? Time to Replace the Driveway

Plenty of inner-north homes are still parking on the driveway the house came with, and it shows: cracks that have joined up into a map, panels sitting low where the base gave up, a single strip that never planned on a second car. Sometimes the trigger is simpler, the house is going on the market and the frontage lets it down. Whatever gets you to the quote, the next question is the same: what does a proper new driveway actually involve?

What a New Concrete Driveway Includes

A concrete driveway installation covers a lot more than the pour, and the quote should show it:

The old surface out: existing concrete, pavers or asphalt broken up and carted away, not buried under the new slab.
Excavation to the right depth, so the new driveway sits on prepared ground instead of topsoil.
A compacted base under the whole slab, the layer that decides whether the surface stays flat.
Steel mesh reinforcement through the pour, so the slab behaves as one piece rather than a set of loose panels.
Expansion joints placed where movement should happen, so cracks don't pick their own path.
The finish you chose: plain, broom-textured or decorative.
A clean site at handover, formwork and offcuts gone.

Concrete driveways and paths also pour well as one visit: same crew, one setup, and the finish matches across both. See concrete paths and patios for the smaller pours.

Plain, Broom Finish or Decorative: Choosing Your Driveway Surface

A plain concrete driveway is the budget-sensible default: grey, honest and easy to keep. A broom finish drags fine texture across the surface for extra grip, worth having on any sloped block.

Exposed aggregate swaps the flat surface for washed stone texture that hides everyday wear. The blends, the sealing and where it earns its premium are covered on exposed aggregate concrete.

Coloured and stamped work runs oxide pigment through the mix or presses a pattern into the surface, and coloured concrete walks through those choices.

The plain-English steer: plain concrete suits rentals and tight budgets, while decorative finishes earn their money on a home you plan to stay in and look at every day.

Driveway Crossovers and Council Permits in the Inner North

The crossover is the strip of driveway that runs off your property and over council land to meet the road, and because it sits on public land, councils require a vehicle crossing permit before it's built or rebuilt. Around here that mostly means Merri-bek City Council, which covers Coburg, Brunswick, Pascoe Vale, Fawkner and Glenroy. Darebin runs its own process for Preston, Reservoir, Thornbury and Northcote, and Moonee Valley does the same for Essendon. Fees and approval times differ council to council, so check your council's current requirements, or simply ask when the job is quoted: the permit should be priced and sequenced into the work, not discovered halfway through it. A concrete crossover in Melbourne is also built to the council's specification, not just to match the rest of the driveway, which is another reason the paperwork comes first. Ask at quote stage who lodges it for your job.

Residential Driveways Only

Driveway work here is for homeowners and residential investors across the inner north: single driveways, doubles, shared battle-axe runs, and the tight jobs where the only way in is a narrow gap between terrace walls. Sloped blocks are quoted with the fall in mind rather than discovered on pour day. There's no commercial, industrial or civil work anywhere on this site, so a house driveway never queues behind a factory floor.

Single and double
Shared and battle-axe
Sloped and tight access

How a Driveway Job Runs, Start to Finish

01

Quote and site measure.

A local concreter walks the driveway, measures up, checks access and slope, and prices the job in writing.
02

Crossover permit, where one applies.

Lodged and approved before work starts; allow for the wait, it's council-dependent.
03

Demolition and prep.

The old surface comes out and the base goes in, typically one to two days for a standard residential driveway.
04

Pour and finish, usually a single day.

Mesh in, concrete down, and the finish worked in while the surface is workable.
05

Cure before cars.

Industry guidance is about seven days before vehicles use new concrete; the concreter confirms timing for your finish and the weather it cured in.
06

Sealing, where the finish calls for it.

Concrete driveway sealing matters most on decorative surfaces; plain grey can go either way.

How Much Does a Concrete Driveway Cost ?

A new concrete driveway in Melbourne typically costs $65 to $150 per square metre, with the finish doing most of the deciding: plain grey sits at the lower end, decorative work climbs toward the top. Those figures come from published Australian concreting cost guides, compiled July 2026, and they're typical Melbourne prices incl. GST, not a quote. The concrete driveway cost guide carries the full breakdown, finish by finish, with whole-job totals. What moves your own number: the size of the slab, how easily a truck and bobcat can reach it, whether old concrete has to come out first, and slope, since fall changes the prep. For rates across every job type beyond driveways, see concrete cost per m2.

Concrete Driveway Questions

How much does it cost to concrete a driveway in Melbourne?

Concreting a driveway in Melbourne typically costs $65 to $150 per square metre, per published Australian concreting cost guides, compiled July 2026. The three biggest movers are the finish, site access and whether old concrete needs removing first. The driveway cost guide breaks the range down by finish, with worked totals for whole driveways.

Do I need a council permit for a new driveway crossover?

Yes, when the work touches the crossover, the section crossing council land between your boundary and the street. Merri-bek and Darebin both require a vehicle crossing permit for new or rebuilt crossovers, and neighbouring councils run their own equivalents. Confirm current requirements with your council, and make sure the permit is priced into the quote; the crossover section above covers how it's sequenced.

How thick should a concrete driveway be?

A residential concrete driveway is commonly specified at 100 to 125 mm thick with steel mesh reinforcement, as general industry guidance. The right spec for a given block follows the soil: AS 2870, the residential slabs and footings standard, classifies sites by how reactive the ground is. The concreter confirms the thickness and mix for your driveway at quote stage.

How long before you can drive on a new concrete driveway?

Standard industry guidance is to keep cars off a new concrete driveway for about seven days. Foot traffic is fine much earlier, usually within a couple of days, and concrete keeps hardening well past the first week, so ease into heavy use. Treat those as typical figures: the concreter confirms exact timing for your finish.

Should a new concrete driveway be sealed?

Sealing depends on the finish. Plain grey concrete doesn't need it, though a sealer helps a working driveway resist oil and stains. Decorative surfaces are a different story: exposed aggregate sealing is standard practice, and stamped finishes rely on sealer to hold their colour. If you seal, plan on redoing it periodically rather than once forever.