$100 to $180 per m², supplied and laid. Prices may vary with site conditions and variations.
The patio is the slab you live on. It carries the table, the barbecue and the foot traffic from the back door, and it sits hard against the house, which means its fall and its finish matter more than anywhere else in the yard. A patio that drains towards the wall or turns slick in the wet is a defect poured in concrete.
Falls, levels and the house
Every patio is set out from the house down. The fall is directed away from the wall, the slab meets door thresholds and existing decking or paving at a clean level, and where the yard falls back towards the house, a grated drain is formed into the edge of the pour. On Greater Dandenong’s clay, the base is compacted and a membrane goes down where required so seasonal movement does not telegraph through to the surface. The build-up is published on the specification page.
Finishes for outdoor living
Exposed aggregate is the standout alfresco surface: the stone gives grip when wet, hides leaf stains and ties into an exposed aggregate driveway at the front. Coloured concrete brings the slab into the palette of the house, and a mid grey or sandstone tone stays cooler underfoot than charcoal in a Dandenong summer. A broom finished plain slab does the same structural job for less. Carrying one finish through the driveway, paths and patio makes the whole block read as one build.
What it costs
Patios run $100 to $180 per square metre by finish, supplied and laid. The cost guide has worked examples by size and surface, and the calculator gives a range in ten seconds. Pour the patio with a driveway or a shed slab and the combined rate drops, because the crew mobilises once. Replacing cracked paving first? Removal and replacement covers it.
Where we pour patios and alfresco areas
Dandenong, Dandenong North, Dandenong South, Keysborough, Noble Park, Springvale and nowhere else: one council, known inside out.