How to Prepare for Your Concreting Call

Before You Pick Up the Phone, Do This

Preparing for a concreting call takes about ten minutes, and those ten minutes will get you a more accurate quote, fewer back-and-forth messages, and less chance of a nasty surprise when the invoice arrives. The short version: measure your space, know your ground conditions, and have a rough idea of what finish you want. Everything below unpacks those three things in detail.

Know What You're Actually Getting Done

This sounds obvious, but a lot of calls start with "I want a concrete driveway" when what the person really needs is a driveway, a crossover to the kerb, and a small apron in front of the garage. Those are three separate scopes of work, and each one affects the price.

Think through the full picture before you call:

• Driveway or path? A driveway carries vehicle loads and needs deeper reinforcement. A foot path between the side gate and the back door is a much lighter build.
• Is there existing concrete to remove? Concrete removal and disposal adds cost, typically $50-$80 per square metre on top of the new pour, depending on thickness and access. Skipping that step isn't an option if the old slab is cracked or heaved.
• Does it connect to the street? A crossover (the section between your property boundary and the road) usually requires a Brisbane City Council permit. We handle that paperwork, but it's worth knowing it's part of the job so you're not surprised by the lead time.
• Any drainage involved? Bayside properties in Wynnum, Manly and Hemmant often sit on fairly flat blocks. A new slab that isn't graded correctly will pond water against a garage door or towards the house. It's worth flagging if water pooling is already a problem on your property.

Getting clear on scope before the call means the quote you receive reflects what you actually need, not a scaled-down version that looks cheaper on paper but gets revised later.

Measure Your Space (Roughly Is Fine)

You don't need to break out a surveying kit. A tape measure and a notepad are enough. Contractors work in square metres, so measure the length and width of the area and multiply them together. For irregular shapes, break the area into rectangles and add them up.

A few common reference points for Bayside properties:

• A standard single driveway is typically 3 metres wide and 6-10 metres long, so roughly 18-30 m².
• A double driveway runs 5.5-6 metres wide, putting it in the 33-60 m² range for the same lengths.
• A basic shed slab for a 6x3 metre garden shed is 18 m².
• An alfresco patio behind a typical Bayside brick-and-tile is often in the 20-40 m² range.

If you're not sure about the dimensions, that's fine too. We can measure on-site during a quote visit. But having a rough number means the first conversation is more useful and avoids the vague "it depends on the size" answer that tells you nothing.

Understand Your Ground Conditions

Ground conditions affect the concrete specification, the prep work required, and ultimately the cost. Hemmant and much of the eastern bayside cluster sits on clay-heavy soil. Clay shrinks when dry and expands when wet, which puts stress on slabs over time. This is one reason you see more cracking in older Bayside driveways than you do in, say, western Brisbane suburbs built on more stable ground.

Ask yourself these questions before you call:

• Is the ground level or sloped? A sloped block in Lota or Wynnum West may need cut-and-fill earthworks, or even a retaining wall, before a slab can be poured. A retaining wall changes the job considerably.
• Has the area been recently disturbed? Freshly backfilled ground needs time to settle before it can be concreted, or it needs to be compacted mechanically. If you've had a pool removed, a stump ground out, or trenching done, mention it.
• Is there any soft or boggy ground? In lower-lying parts of Hemmant and around the Wynnum tidal flats, soft fill is not unusual. It affects what base preparation is needed under the slab.
• What's the access like? A concrete truck needs a clear run to get close to the pour area. Tight side access, low fences, or a long distance from the street to the backyard all add complexity and sometimes cost.

You're not expected to be a geotechnical engineer. But these answers help us work out whether we're quoting a straightforward job or one that needs a site visit before any numbers can be given.

Decide on a Finish (and Know the Trade-offs)

Plain concrete is cheaper and easier to maintain. Decorative finishes cost more upfront but can genuinely add to a home's kerb appeal and resale presentation. Here's a plain-English breakdown of the main options:

• Broom finish: The most common and the most affordable. The surface is brushed while wet to create a non-slip texture. It's practical for driveways and paths, though it can be harder to keep clean in areas under trees. Bayside homeowners near fig trees or jacarandas find the textured surface holds debris a bit more than a smooth finish would.
• Exposed aggregate: A stone or pebble surface is revealed by washing back the cement layer before it fully cures. It looks more polished than plain concrete and handles light and shadow well. It costs more, typically an additional $20-$40 per square metre, and if a section needs repair down the track, matching the aggregate colour and texture is harder.
• Stencilled or coloured concrete: Pigment is added to the mix or applied as a surface treatment, sometimes with a stamped pattern. It's the most decorative option and the most expensive. Colour can fade over decades, particularly in direct sun, and it typically needs resealing every few years.

If you're genuinely unsure, ask to see a few photos of past jobs. We can show you what different finishes look like once they're down and weathered a bit, not just fresh off the truck.

Prepare for the Cost Conversation

Concrete work in the Bayside suburbs typically runs somewhere between $100 and $200 per square metre for a finished slab, depending on thickness, reinforcement, finish type, and site conditions. That range is wide because the variables genuinely matter. A plain broom-finish driveway on flat, stable ground is a very different job from a coloured exposed aggregate patio on a sloped clay block.

A few things that push costs up:

• Existing concrete that needs to be broken out and taken away
• Site access that limits concrete truck proximity (pump hire costs extra)
• Heavy reinforcement for garage slabs that will carry a vehicle or heavy equipment
• Any drainage or falls work needed to manage stormwater
• Council permits for kerb crossovers

A few things that keep costs down:

• Good, flat access for the truck
• No existing slab to remove
• A simple rectangular shape with no cut-outs or curves
• Plain broom finish rather than decorative aggregate or stencil

Knowing roughly what you're working with lets you have a more direct conversation about what's achievable within a budget, rather than going back and forth after an initial quote comes in higher than expected.

What to Actually Say When You Call

Keep it simple. Something like:

"I've got a driveway in Wynnum, roughly 8 by 4 metres. There's an existing cracked driveway that needs to come out. The ground is pretty flat. I'm thinking exposed aggregate to match the front path. Can you come out and quote?"

That's enough. We can take it from there. If you don't know some of the answers, just say so. "I'm not sure about the ground conditions" is a perfectly reasonable thing to say, and a site visit will sort it out.

One practical note: if you're getting two or three quotes, which is sensible for any job over a few thousand dollars, try to give each contractor the same information. Quotes become hard to compare when one is based on a full scope and another has left out the demo costs.

A Closing Thought

A good concretor will ask you most of these questions anyway. The reason to think about them beforehand isn't to do our job for us. It's so you're not making decisions under pressure mid-conversation about things you could have mulled over in your own time. A driveway or patio is going to be there for twenty or thirty years. Ten minutes of preparation now is worth it.

If you're in Hemmant, Wynnum, Manly, Lota, Wynnum West, or Manly West and you've got a concrete job in mind, give us a call when you're ready. We're easier to talk to when you've had a chance to think it through first.