Coloured concrete in Bairnsdale, Victoria

Colour that goes all the way through

With integral colour, the oxide is blended into the load before it leaves the plant. Every millimetre of the slab is tinted, so a chipped edge or a worn wheel track reveals more of the same shade and there is no coating to flake off. Charcoal, slate grey, sandstone, terracotta and soft buff tones are popular around Bairnsdale, chosen to sit with brick, weatherboard and render.

Choosing a shade

Concrete colour charts are small and printed, and the real result depends on the finish, the light and the sealer. We bring colour samples to the visit and talk about how they will look in full sun on a north-facing driveway or in the shade of a verandah. Darker colours hide dirt but warm up in summer; lighter colours stay cooler underfoot near pools.

Finishes for coloured concrete

A broom texture gives tinted driveways and paths their grip, steel trowelled smooth for covered alfresco areas, honed to reveal fine sand and stone, or used as the base colour for stamped and stencilled work. Borders in a contrasting colour frame a driveway or courtyard neatly.

Consistency across a pour

Shade can drift a touch from one agitator load to the next, and finishing and curing affect it too. We order the whole job in one go where possible, keep finishing consistent and cure evenly so the colour reads as one surface. Where a job must be poured in stages, we plan the joint lines to hide any change.

Sealing and care

A good sealer deepens the colour and protects against UV fading, oil and tannin stains. Resealing every few years keeps coloured concrete looking fresh, especially on exposed driveways near the lakes where salt air and sun are tough on surfaces.

Bairnsdale ground, East Gippsland weather and Shire rules

Bairnsdale sits on terraces above the Mitchell River just before it runs out into Lake King. The older streets on the higher terraces mostly stand on red-brown loam over clay, which holds a slab well once the soft topsoil is gone. Down on the river flats toward Lucknow, the Macleod Morass and the Mitchell's lower reaches, the soil turns to fine grey alluvial clay that stays wet after rain and has gone under in big floods. The rising country at Wy Yung, Eastwood and Granite Rock has duplex soils where a thin sandy top hides stiff, reactive clay, and the lakes towns of Paynesville, Eagle Point and Metung bring sand and a high water table. Summers are warm and dry with the odd scorching northerly, winter mornings can frost, and east coast lows can drop a month of rain in two days. A test hole goes in at every site visit, and we set the excavation, base, steel and curing to suit what comes out of it.

Inside your own fence line, a driveway, path or patio rarely needs a permit. Once the work leaves your title and runs over the verge, footpath or kerb, it requires consent from East Gippsland Shire Council, which looks after Bairnsdale, Paynesville, Lakes Entrance, Metung, Bruthen, Orbost and the surrounding districts. Access onto the Princes Highway or the Great Alpine Road is a state road and involves the Department of Transport and Planning as well. Flood overlays, bushfire attack level ratings, house slabs and larger sheds can bring a building surveyor and engineer into the job. Your quote spells out which of those applies.

What a Bairnsdale Concreting quote shows you

Our quotes are written up after we have stood on the site, and they break the work into the pieces you would want to question. You will see the area we measured, any demolition of old slabs, pavers, bitumen or gravel and where it will be tipped, how deep we plan to dig, the crushed rock we will bring in and how many compacted layers it goes down in, the concrete strength, how thick the slab will be, and the reinforcement plus the chairs that lift it, the surface finish or stone mix, the joint layout, pits and stormwater connections, edges, steps and sealer. A vehicle crossing permit from East Gippsland Shire, a concrete pump, a long wheelbarrow run behind a house, or protection for a neighbour's garden are each listed as their own line.

We do not publish rates per square metre. Around Bairnsdale a driveway can sit on free-draining red loam on the river terraces, on grey alluvial clay down on the Mitchell River flats, on heavy duplex clay up at Wy Yung, or on loose lake-edge sand at Paynesville, and those four sites need four different bases. A figure printed on a website would be wrong for most of them, so we look first and quote what your block actually needs.