By the ConConnect team · Updated August 2026 · Techniques per CCAA guidance, costs verified against current Australian contractor pricing
The finish decides most of what you see, feel and pay for in a slab — from a $60/m² broomed driveway to a $150/m² mechanically polished floor. Here are the ten finishes used in Australia, what each costs, where it belongs, and the slip-rating and maintenance detail the brochures leave out.
"Installed" prices are supply-and-lay for a new slab; "on existing slab" prices are for grinding trades refinishing concrete that's already down. For a full job estimate, use the cost calculator.
| Finish | Typical cost | Best for | Wet grip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broom / brushed | $60–$85 /m² installed | Driveways, paths, ramps | Excellent |
| Steel trowel | Included in slab cost | Garage floors, internal slabs | Slippery when wet |
| Burnished | +$20–$80 /m² over the slab | Indoor floors, covered alfresco | Slippery when wet |
| Coloured (oxide) | $75–$110 /m² installed | Driveways, patios | Good (texture-dependent) |
| Exposed aggregate | $100–$150 /m² installed | Driveways, pool surrounds | Excellent |
| Stencilled | $120–$180 /m² installed | Driveways, paths | Good |
| Stamped | $120–$180 /m² installed | Driveways, patios | Good (broomed patterns best) |
| Grind & seal | $50–$85 /m² on existing slab | Garages, alfresco, renos | Needs anti-slip sealer outdoors |
| Honed | $60–$90 /m² on existing slab | Pool surrounds, alfresco | Needs anti-slip sealer when wet |
| Polished (mechanical) | $90–$150 /m² on existing slab | Indoor floors, retail | Indoors only |
Ranges compiled August 2026 from Australian contractor pricing; some grinding trades quote ex-GST. Salt finish (pool surrounds) and off-form (walls) round out the list but are niche.
Broom, trowel, burnished, coloured, stencilled and stamped finishes all happen while the concrete is still plastic — after screeding and floating, once the bleed water has evaporated (finishing over bleed water weakens the surface and causes dusting). Exposed aggregate is the timing-critical one: the cement paste is washed off a firm-but-not-dry surface, often helped by a surface retarder. Stamped patterns are mats pressed into the setting slab; stencils are paper templates floated in before a colour broadcast.
Grind-and-seal, honed and mechanically polished finishes are done days later, on a cured slab, with diamond grinding heads. Grind-and-seal takes one pass and relies on a topical sealer for its look; honing grinds to a smooth matt; mechanical polishing works through progressively finer diamonds with a densifier until the concrete itself shines — no coating involved.
Slip resistance is the detail that matters outdoors. Australian surfaces are rated P0–P5 under AS 4586's wet pendulum test, and the guidance handbook recommends P4 for external paths and pool surrounds and P5 for ramps. Broom and exposed aggregate finishes get there naturally; steel-trowelled, burnished and gloss-sealed surfaces don't — outdoors they need a matt sealer with anti-slip additive, or they become a skating rink the first time it rains.
The finishes used in Australia are broom (brushed), steel trowel, burnished, coloured, exposed aggregate, stencilled, stamped, grind and seal, honed, and mechanically polished — plus salt finish for pool surrounds and off-form for walls. Broom is the standard for driveways and paths; polished and burnished are the indoor showpieces.
Broom (brushed) finish — it's the default included in standard concreting rates of $60–$85 per m², needs no extra products or passes, gives the best wet grip of any finish, and has the lowest maintenance. Steel trowel is similarly cheap but too slippery for outdoor use.
Depends where it's going. For driveways: broom for budget and grip, exposed aggregate or stamped for looks. For pool surrounds: exposed aggregate or honed with an anti-slip sealer. For indoor floors: mechanically polished or burnished. There's no single best — grip, budget and location decide it.
That's from a different classification system — AS 3610 grades off-form concrete (surfaces cast against formwork, like walls and columns) into classes 1 to 5, where class 1 is the highest visual standard and class 3 is the typical structural-quality finish. It doesn't apply to flatwork finishes like broom or exposed aggregate.
Not with a film-forming sealer — mechanically polished concrete gets its shine from diamond grinding and a densifier that hardens the surface itself, so there's no coating to wear off. Many installers add a penetrating sealer for stain resistance, which doesn't change the look. Grind-and-seal is the one that relies on a topical sealer, resealed every 3–7 years.
Coloured concrete about every 2 years to hold its colour, stamped and exposed aggregate every 2–3 years, and grind-and-seal floors every 3–7 years. Plain broom finish doesn't need sealing at all, and mechanically polished floors just need an occasional professional re-polish.
Cement is the ingredient, concrete is the product — plus mortar, render, grout and which bag to buy.
When you can walk, drive and build on new concrete — set times, strength milestones and curing done right.
Per-m² rates by finish, totals by size, council crossover fees and how concrete stacks up against asphalt.
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