Not every driveway needs a decorative finish. A broom finished grey slab, poured properly, is the working standard of Queensland driveways: grippy underfoot, honest looking, and the least expensive way to buy the full preparation, steel and thickness underneath. Where the driveway is part of the street face of the house, full depth oxide colour steps in for a modest premium.
Plain grey, without the shortcuts
Plain is a finish, not a grade. The rate from $100 per m2 buys the same compacted base, mesh on chairs, 25 MPa concrete at 100mm minimum and cut joint layout as every other driveway on this site, with a broom drag for wet weather grip. It is the right call for side runs, service areas, sheds and any street where the covenant does not have an opinion.
Colour that goes all the way through
Coloured driveways here are full depth oxide: the pigment is batched into the concrete itself, so the colour cannot peel, flake or wear away under tyres. It runs $110 to $130 per m2 depending on colour loading and size. Surface applied colour systems exist and cost less; they are not offered here, because a driveway surface lives a hard life and coatings on high traffic slabs become maintenance.
Where the covenants push you
On covenant land in Aura and Harmony, undecorated plain grey is generally not permitted, which makes coloured concrete the entry point for those estates. If your block is in a covenant release, bring the design guidelines to the site measure and the finish gets chosen inside the rules from the start. The crossovers page covers the approvals side.
Pricing both options
Both finishes are on the pricing page with worked examples by driveway size, and the calculator compares them in seconds. Rates move with site conditions and variations; the number that holds is the written quote after a site measure.
Where we pour
Baringa, Beerwah, Bells Creek, Buderim, Caboolture, Caloundra, Coolum, Golden Beach, Kawana, Landsborough, Maleny, Maroochydore, Mooloolaba, Morayfield, Mountain Creek, Nambour, Nirimba, Noosa, Palmview, Palmwoods, Peregian Beach, Sippy Downs and the rest of the coast: all suburbs.