Groundwork and paving
Concrete driveway cost
Replacing a 60 × 12 ft concrete driveway is about $12,078 — $16.77 a square foot — of which $2,304 is breaking out and hauling the old one and $9,774 the new slab: a compacted base, a thickened edge, mesh, 11.5 yards of concrete and a crew to form, place and finish it. Poured new it is $9,774; a two-car 24 × 24 ft driveway $9,560 replaced; 5 in with rebar $12,633; stamped $16,628. The slab is priced by the same engine as the concrete slab calculator, so the two agree.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-24 · Nothing you type leaves your browser
Concrete driveway cost calculator
The driveway, what is there now, and the finish
The slab is priced by the same engine as the concrete slab calculator. What a driveway adds is the old one coming out, the finish and the street.
Garage to street.
12 for one car, 20–24 for two.
Cars.
Broken up with a breaker or a skid steer, loaded and hauled — about 50 lb a square foot of it, more with rebar.
Anything at all lying on the ground, which is where it ends up on most residential pours. Mesh walked into the base is decoration.
The standard: floated and broomed across the slope for grip.
Optional on broom.
Not touching the street.
Used only to pick a regional labour rate. It stays in your browser.
60 × 12 ft concrete driveway, replaced
$12,078
$17 per sq ft · 720 sq ft at 4 in · 11.5 yd of concrete
The old one out is the second-biggest line
The new slab is $9,774; breaking out the old driveway and hauling it is $2,304. In the slab, $1,939 is concrete and $6,768 is the crew digging, forming, placing and finishing — the concrete is the smaller part.
Joints, then winter
Every 10 ft, cut within a day.
A driveway cracks; the control joints decide where. Cut a quarter of the depth within the first day, and in freezing country pour air-entrained concrete of about 3,500 psi and keep de-icing salt off it for its first winter — that is what stops the surface scaling.
The same driveway, each finish
Same slab, same old driveway out.
What the contractor charges for
- Old concrete driveway out
Broken up with a breaker or a skid steer, loaded and hauled — about 50 lb a square foot of it, more with rebar.$2,304 - Digging and base, 720 sq ft
Excavated to grade, compacted crushed stone, a thickened edge where tyres run off the side.$541 - Welded wire mesh
Holds a crack tight once it has formed, so the slab keeps transferring load across it — but only if it sits at mid-depth, on chairs.$252 - 11.5 yd of concrete
4 in, delivered.$1,939 - Forms and expansion joints
Formed to line and grade; expansion board at the garage and the street.$274 - The crew: excavate, form, place, finish
Control joints every 10 ft, 120 ft of them.$6,768
What it costs
National average. A 60 × 12 ft concrete driveway, 4 in with welded wire mesh, broom finish, replacing the old concrete driveway. Not included: drainage, retaining walls, a heated slab, or regrading beyond the driveway.
The same slab with its quantities in detail is on the concrete slab calculator; asphalt for the same driveway, followed out thirty years, on concrete vs asphalt.
Worth knowing
- 720 sq ft at 4 in is 11.5 cubic yards — 11.75 ordered — over 15.5 tons of compacted base, with a thickened edge where tyres run off the side. The slab is $9,774: $6,768 of it is the crew digging, forming, placing and finishing, and $1,939 the concrete.
- Breaking out the old concrete driveway and hauling it is $2,304 — broken up with a breaker or a skid steer, loaded and hauled — about 50 lb a square foot of it, more with rebar.
- Control joints every 10 ft or less — 120 ft of them here, cut a quarter of the depth within a day of the pour. Welded wire mesh: holds a crack tight once it has formed, so the slab keeps transferring load across it — but only if it sits at mid-depth, on chairs.
- 4 in carries cars. A heavy pickup, a camper or a delivery truck that parks on it wants 5 or 6 in — the difference is a few hundred dollars now and a broken slab later.
- Where freezing and road salt are a fact of winter, ask for air-entrained concrete of about 3,500 psi and keep salt off it for its first winter; that is what stops the surface scaling.
On this page — 5 sections
Mostly the crew, not the concrete
The short version
- 60 × 12 ft poured new: $9,774, $13.57 a square foot.
- Replacing an old one: $12,078 — $2,304 of it breaking the old one out.
- The concrete is $1,939 of it; the crew is $6,768.
- Stamped: $16,628, and a sealer every few years.
A 60 by 12 foot driveway is 11.5 yards of concrete, and that concrete is about $1,939 delivered. Under it is a compacted stone base, a thickened edge where tyres run off the side, and welded mesh on chairs; round it are forms, expansion board at the garage and the street, and a crew that digs it out, sets it to grade, places, screeds, floats, joints and brooms it in one day — $6,768 of labour. That is the slab, priced by the same engine as the concrete slab calculator. A replacement adds the old driveway coming out first.
$1,939
11.5 yd of concrete
Delivered
$793
Base and mesh
Under and in the slab
$6,768
The crew
Dig, form, place, finish
$2,304
Old driveway out
If there is one
MaterialsEstimator, Concrete driveway replacement price survey · checked 2026-09-24
The old driveway out
Most people pricing a concrete driveway already have one. Breaking out an old concrete driveway — about 50 pounds a square foot, more with steel in it — and hauling it is the second-biggest line after the slab. Asphalt is lighter and often recycled; gravel is mostly graded off, and some of it can stay as base.
| 4 in, mesh, broom finish | 60 × 12 ft | 24 × 24 ft | Per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing — ground or lawn | $9,774 | $7,716 | $13.57 |
| An old concrete driveway | $12,078 | $9,560 | $16.77 |
| An old asphalt driveway | $11,358 | $8,984 | $15.77 |
| A gravel driveway | $10,350 | $8,177 | $14.37 |
The two-car 24 × 24 ft driveway poured new is $7,716.
Thickness, steel and joints
Four inches over a compacted base carries cars. Five carries pickups and heavy SUVs; six with rebar carries RVs and delivery trucks, and the difference is a few hundred dollars now against a broken slab later. Reinforcement does not stop cracking — nothing does — it decides what a crack does next. The control joints decide where it happens: every 10 feet or so on a 4 inch slab, cut a quarter of the depth within a day of the pour. And in freezing country the mix is air-entrained, about 3,500 psi, with salt kept off it the first winter.
| 4 in, mesh | 5–6 in, rebar | |
|---|---|---|
| 60 × 12 ft, replaced | $12,078 | $12,633 at 5 in · $13,399 at 6 in |
| Concrete | 11.5 yd | 13.4 · 16.3 yd |
| Carries | Cars | Pickups · RVs and trucks |
| Joint spacing | 10 ft | 12.5 · 15 ft |
American Concrete Institute, ACI 332, Residential Code Requirements for Structural Concrete — driveways, sidewalks and garage slabs · checked 2026-09-24
Finishes and the street
A broom finish is the standard and asks for nothing. Colour in the mix hides tyre marks; exposed aggregate grips and hides stains; stamping gives stone or brick for almost half again and a sealer every few years. Where the driveway meets the street, the apron and the curb cut are usually on the city’s land and built to its spec under a permit — about $350 — with an inspection before the pour.
Before the pour
- Utilities marked — 811 — before any digging.
- The old driveway's thickness checked: rebar makes breaking it out slower.
- The base compacted in lifts, sloped to drain away from the garage.
- Thickness and steel for the heaviest vehicle that will park there.
- Air-entrained concrete where it freezes.
- Control joints on the plan, and who cuts them and when.
- The city's apron permit, if the street is involved.
What goes wrong
01Skimping on the base
The slab only spreads the load; a soft base lets it settle and crack.
Instead — Compacted crushed stone in lifts.
024 in under a camper
It breaks at the edge within a season or two.
Instead — 6 in with rebar where heavy vehicles park.
03Joints too far apart or cut late
The slab chooses its own crack across the middle.
Instead — Every 10 ft or so, cut within a day.
04Salt the first winter
Young concrete scales.
Instead — Sand the first winter; air-entrained concrete in cold country.
05Mesh left on the ground
At the bottom of the slab it does nothing.
Instead — Mesh on chairs, or rebar.
06Pouring the apron without the city
It may have to be broken out and redone to their spec.
Instead — The permit first.
- 01Measure itLength from the garage to the street, width — 10 to 12 ft for one car, 20 to 24 for two.
- 02Name what is thereOld concrete, asphalt, gravel or lawn: breaking it out is the second-biggest line.
- 03Pick the thickness4 in for cars, 5 for pickups and heavy SUVs, 6 with rebar for RVs and trucks.
- 04Pick the finishBroom is standard; colour, exposed aggregate and stamping add a finish and a sealer.
- 05Call the cityWhere the driveway meets the street, the apron and curb cut are usually theirs, under a permit.
- 06Plan the joints and the winterControl joints within a day of the pour; air-entrained concrete where it freezes.
The same driveway priced in asphalt and followed out thirty years — seal coats, a resurface and all.
Asphalt instead?- Sub-base
- The compacted crushed stone under the slab. It carries the load; the concrete spreads it.
- Thickened edge
- The slab deepened along its sides, where tyres run off and the edge takes the load unsupported.
- Control joint
- A groove cut a quarter of the slab's depth so the crack that will come comes there. No more than about 10 ft apart on a 4 in driveway.
- Expansion joint
- Fibre board through the full depth where the driveway meets the garage slab, the walk or the street apron.
- Air entrainment
- Microscopic bubbles in the concrete that give freezing water room to expand. What stops the surface scaling in freeze-thaw climates.
- Apron
- The section between the street and the property line, often built to the city's spec under a permit.
- Curb cut
- The lowered section of curb a driveway crosses. New ones need the city's permit.
- Broom finish
- The surface floated and broomed across the slope for grip. The standard driveway finish.
- Exposed aggregate
- The surface washed before it sets to reveal the stone. Grips and hides stains; wants sealing.
- Stamped concrete
- A coloured slab with a pattern pressed in. Needs a sealer every two or three years.
- Scaling
- The top of a concrete slab flaking off, usually from de-icing salt on young or non-air-entrained concrete.
Common questions
- How much does a concrete driveway cost?
- About $9,774 poured new for a 60 × 12 ft driveway — $13.57 a square foot for excavation, a compacted base, a thickened edge, mesh, 11.5 yards of concrete, and the crew to form, place and finish it. Replacing an old concrete driveway on the same footprint is $12,078, the difference being $2,304 to break the old one out and haul it.
- How much does it cost to replace a concrete driveway?
- $12,078 for 60 × 12 ft — $16.77 a square foot — and $9,560 for a two-car 24 × 24 ft driveway. Replacing asphalt with concrete is $11,358, because asphalt is lighter to break out; gravel to concrete $10,350.
- How much is a concrete driveway per square foot?
- About $13.57 a square foot poured new at 4 in with mesh, $16.77 replacing an old concrete one, $17.55 at 5 in with rebar, $18.61 at 6 in, and $23.09 stamped. Of the new slab's price, about $2.69 a square foot is the concrete itself; most of it is the crew.
- How thick should a concrete driveway be?
- 4 in over a compacted base for cars, 5 in where pickups and heavy SUVs park, 6 in with rebar for RVs, delivery trucks and boat trailers. A thickened edge along the sides carries the tyres that run off it.
- How much does a stamped concrete driveway cost?
- About $16,628 for the 60 × 12 ft driveway replaced — $4,320 of stamping and colour and $230 of sealer on top of the slab. It needs resealing every two or three years, which takes away plain concrete's main advantage: it asks for nothing. Exposed aggregate is $14,108.
- Do I need a permit for a concrete driveway?
- Often for the apron and curb cut where the driveway meets the street — the city's land — and sometimes for the whole driveway. About $350 here; $12,428 for the driveway with it.
- Is concrete or asphalt cheaper for a driveway?
- Asphalt, by more than half on the day, and still cheaper after thirty years of seal coats and a resurface. What concrete buys is a surface that asks for nothing and suits hot climates. The concrete vs asphalt page follows the same driveway out both ways.
- How long does a concrete driveway last?
- Thirty to forty years, and often longer. It will crack — the joints decide where — and a cracked driveway keeps working. What ends it is settlement, heave or a scaled surface.
- How long before I can drive on new concrete?
- Walk on it after a day, drive a car on it after seven, and keep heavy trucks off it for a month. Keep it damp for the first week, and salt off it for its first winter.
- Can I pour a concrete driveway myself?
- A driveway is 10 or more yards of concrete that has to be placed, screeded, floated, edged, jointed and broomed before it sets — a crew's work, with a skid steer for the base. Most homeowners who try it do the demolition and base themselves and hire the pour.
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About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
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