Residential concreting specification
A price without a specification is a guess. This page is the docket behind every number we put in writing, published so any competing quote can be lined up against it item by item.
Standard
AS 3727.1 sits behind the residential work, and the City of Greater Dandenong's standard drawings govern everything from the boundary to the road. Any clash at the crossover goes the council's way.
Preparation and base
First the ground is made right: the old surface carted off, soft and organic pockets dug out, and imported base compacted in where the site demands it. Greater Dandenong's heavy clay swells and shrinks with the seasons, so the base and the drainage do more for the life of the slab than any amount of extra concrete.
Membrane and reinforcement
Membranes go down where conditions ask for them. Mesh goes into every slab on chairs, held mid-depth where it actually works.
Driveways
25 MPa at a nominal 100mm covers the family cars. Caravans, boats, light trucks and shared multi-unit runs get a heavier docket: thicker slab, heavier mesh, priced at the quote.
Shed and garage slabs
Garden sheds with normal use are poured at 100mm with SL72 mesh. Garages, carports and workshops where vehicles, racking or machinery will sit are poured at 125mm with SL82 mesh, with thickened edges where the shed manufacturer's drawings require them. Rebates and hold-down points are formed to the supplier's drawings. These slabs are for outbuildings; this site does not quote dwelling slabs.
Paths
Paths are poured at 75mm minimum, and at 100mm where vehicles cross them. Falls are set so water moves off the path and away from the building line.
Joints
Movement is managed, not hoped away: control joints sawn on planned lines, and isolation joints wherever new work meets footings, garage slabs or old concrete.
Drainage and fall
No slab we pour drains at the house. Where the block falls towards the garage or the house, a grated strip drain is formed in and connected to the stormwater system. The grade at a crossover is set so a standard passenger vehicle clears the change of level.
Crossovers
Boundary to road belongs to council: built to their drawing, under their vehicle crossing permit, before any crossover is built or widened. Their fees sit outside our price.
Finish and cure
The surface leaves as ordered: broom, trowel, full depth oxide or exposed stone. Foot traffic next day, cars from day seven, trucks from day 28, and stone finishes sealed after cure as the quote sets out.
What this means for a quote
When another quote comes in well under, look for the missing line items: base, mesh, thickness. All three vanish under wet concrete on day one. Get them in writing and hold them against this page, the cost guide and the calculator.