How Much Does Concrete Cost?

As a quote site, our speciality is finding the best prices you can buy concrete for (and plenty of other building materials too!). In this post, we wanted to share some numbers with you so you can get an idea about whether you're getting the best deal. Prices can vary depending on your job so it's always a good idea to get a quote:

What goes into pricing?

First off, concrete pricing can seem like a bit of a black art with suppliers quoting vastly different prices for the same product. These are the things that determine what a concrete supplier will charge you:

1. Distance from their concrete plant

2. How much concrete you're ordering—big suppliers like Boral have a fixed price structure for smaller jobs

3. How much concrete you order a year—smaller customers get a worse deal

4. What time of day you're pouring— early mornings are the busiest for suppliers, some will charge a discount if you pour in the afternoon

5. How far the concrete plant is from their cement and aggregate supplier—some plants are always more expensive because they have to haul cement a long distance

How much will I pay?

Typically you can expect to pay between $250 and $350 per cubic metre of concrete within Sydney and the West. This will be higher for loads under 4m3 as suppliers charge additional fees. To give you an idea of why it's important to compare the market, the following prices were collected over the phone* during 9 March 2016 for a cash on delivery customer pouring a 5m3 load of 25MPa, 20mm aggregate concrete in Alexandria NSW:

A big difference right? In fact, on 5m3, that's a $545 difference from top to bottom which represents a potential 30% saving if you chose MaterialsLink's Best Price over the highest price. Why is the MaterialsLink's price so much cheaper than the others? Because our scale allows us to source cheaper prices from these same suppliers and pass the benefit onto you.

So the next time you need to pour concrete, compare the market for free using MaterialsLink's Concrete Quick Quote to make sure you're getting a good deal.

Other costs

If you're a homeowner, it's important to keep in mind labour costs in addition to the cost of the raw material itself. Concreters may charge a percentage of the materials or a per hour rate when determining their labour cost. On average, this rate works out to be between $60 and $80 per hour.

If you're looking for special features such as exposed aggregates or colour mixes, these will incur additional costs depending on your specific requirements. MaterialsLink is again able to get you quotes for these specialist products by using our platform.

If you're using a concrete pump, these companies generally charge between $550 and $700 per pour. While this sounds expensive, it can save on labour time and excess wait times as well as avoid damage to property from heavy concrete trucks driving across them.

Summary

It pays to shop around! Let MaterialsLink do the hard work for you by using our website or calling us directly on 1300 616 131.

*MaterialsLink's price was sourced from our platform. Hanson's price was sourced from its website.