Exposed aggregate vs plain concrete.

It is the same concrete underneath. The difference is only the top few millimetres. Plain concrete is finished with a trowel or a broom, so you see cement paste. Exposed aggregate has a surface retarder sprayed on, and the next day the top skin of paste is washed off to reveal the stones in the mix. Structurally they are identical: same thickness, same steel, same footings, same strength. So the choice between them is about how it looks, how it grips and how it ages, not about how long the slab lasts.

That last point is worth being blunt about, because it gets sold the other way. Exposed aggregate is not stronger. It will not survive the black soil at Gracemere any better than plain concrete will. Both live or die on the engineering below them, which is the argument made in full in slab prep on reactive soil. If someone is telling you aggregate cracks less, they are selling.

For a front driveway, usually yes. For a shed slab or a side path, usually no. In 2026 exposed aggregate runs 130 to 200 dollars per square metre against 90 to 130 for plain, so on a 45 square metre driveway you are paying roughly 1,800 to 3,100 dollars more. What you get for it is a surface that hides the red Central Queensland dust instead of showing every speck, grips better when wet, does not show hairline crazing, and lifts the look of the front of the house. On concrete nobody looks at, that money does nothing.

A worked example on a real Norman Gardens layout. The block needs a 45m² front driveway and a 30m² path and slab down the side to the shed. Do the lot in aggregate at $160 per m² and it is $12,000. Do the lot in plain at $110 per m² and it is $8,250. Do the front in aggregate at $160 ($7,200) and the side in plain broom finish at $110 ($3,300) and it is $10,500, with the money spent exactly where anyone will ever see it. That mix is what we quote most often, and it is usually what we recommend without being asked.

Then add the long tail. Yes, and this is the honest trade-off nobody mentions at quote time. Exposed aggregate needs resealing every three to five years, and closer to two to three years in full Rockhampton sun or on a coastal block. Skip it and the stones go dull and grey and can eventually work loose. Plain unsealed concrete needs essentially nothing for decades. Budget around 12 to 25 dollars per square metre per reseal, so roughly 540 to 1,125 dollars on a 45 square metre driveway every few years, and factor that into the comparison. The detail is in sealing and maintaining concrete.

One more thing worth knowing before you picture aggregate running all the way to the road: the crossover, meaning the strip between the kerb and your property boundary, is not your land. It sits in the road reserve, so it is built under permit to the standard drawing of Rockhampton Regional Council, or Livingstone Shire Council out at Yeppoon and Emu Park, and those specifications are written around a plain finish and a set profile. Do not assume a decorative finish will be accepted across that section. Ask the question at permit stage rather than on pour day. In practice most jobs here land as aggregate from the house down to the boundary and a plain crossover beyond it, which reads fine because the boundary is a natural visual break anyway, but it is worth deciding on purpose instead of finding out at the kerb.

All concrete does, but colour drives it far more than finish. A dark charcoal aggregate or a dark oxide will be genuinely unpleasant barefoot on a 35 degree Rockhampton afternoon. A light river-pebble mix or a pale quartz blend stays noticeably cooler. If the concrete is around a pool or an outdoor area where people walk barefoot, pick the lightest mix you can live with and look at samples outside in the sun, not on a showroom floor under fluorescent light.

The third option people forget is coloured or stencil concrete, which sits between the two at $120 to $190 per m². It gives you a designed look on a plain-concrete substrate, but the oxide colour lives in the top layer and this UV takes it, so it is the most seal-dependent of the three. If you will not commit to resealing, aggregate holds up better than colour, and plain holds up better than both.

What is the difference between exposed aggregate and plain concrete?

It is the same concrete underneath. The difference is only the top few millimetres. Plain concrete is finished with a trowel or a broom, so you see cement paste. Exposed aggregate has a surface retarder sprayed on, and the next day the top skin of paste is washed off to reveal the stones in the mix. Structurally they are identical: same thickness, same steel, same footings, same strength. So the choice between them is about how it looks, how it grips and how it ages, not about how long the slab lasts.

Is exposed aggregate worth the extra cost in Rockhampton?

For a front driveway, usually yes. For a shed slab or a side path, usually no. In 2026 exposed aggregate runs 130 to 200 dollars per square metre against 90 to 130 for plain, so on a 45 square metre driveway you are paying roughly 1,800 to 3,100 dollars more. What you get for it is a surface that hides the red Central Queensland dust instead of showing every speck, grips better when wet, does not show hairline crazing, and lifts the look of the front of the house. On concrete nobody looks at, that money does nothing.

Which is less slippery in the wet, exposed aggregate or plain concrete?

Exposed aggregate, comfortably, and it matters in a place that gets most of its rain in summer downpours. The exposed stones give a textured surface with real grip. Plain concrete depends entirely on the finish: a broom finish across the fall is fine, but a smooth steel-trowelled surface on a sloping driveway is genuinely dangerous when wet, and worse again if it has been sealed with a gloss sealer and no grip additive. If your driveway has any real slope, that is a strong argument for aggregate or at minimum a firm broom finish.

Does exposed aggregate need more maintenance than plain concrete?

Yes, and this is the honest trade-off nobody mentions at quote time. Exposed aggregate needs resealing every three to five years, and closer to two to three years in full Rockhampton sun or on a coastal block. Skip it and the stones go dull and grey and can eventually work loose. Plain unsealed concrete needs essentially nothing for decades. Budget around 12 to 25 dollars per square metre per reseal, so roughly 540 to 1,125 dollars on a 45 square metre driveway every few years, and factor that into the comparison.

Does exposed aggregate get hot underfoot in Central Queensland?

All concrete does, but colour drives it far more than finish. A dark charcoal aggregate or a dark oxide will be genuinely unpleasant barefoot on a 35 degree Rockhampton afternoon. A light river-pebble mix or a pale quartz blend stays noticeably cooler. If the concrete is around a pool or an outdoor area where people walk barefoot, pick the lightest mix you can live with and look at samples outside in the sun, not on a showroom floor under fluorescent light.