How Much Does an Imprinted Concrete Driveway Cost?
Updated: Oct 9
The cost of a new concrete driveway is the first question on every homeowner's mind. Quotes can vary by thousands of pounds for what looks like the same job, and the difference isn't always obvious from a brochure. After more than 25 years of laying concrete driveways in Wolverhampton and across the West Midlands, here's a straight breakdown of what a concrete driveway costs, what's behind the price, and the factors that move the number up or down on your specific job.
How much does a concrete driveway cost?
MyJobQuote's September 2026 cost guide puts a pattern imprinted concrete driveway, the standard residential choice, at around £100 to £130 per square metre fully installed. For a typical 60m² two-car driveway, that works out at roughly £6,000 to £7,800. These are typical UK market figures, not our prices. Every job is different, and access, drainage, the existing surface and the design all shift the final number, which is why we only put a figure on it after a free site visit.
Concrete driveway cost by size
At £100 to £130 per m², a fully installed imprinted drive works out at:
30m² (one car): about £3,000 to £3,900
60m² (two cars): about £6,000 to £7,800
90m² (larger drive): about £9,000 to £11,700
These totals are straight multiplications of the published rate and include the full install, not extras like drainage. Per m² rates can drop slightly on larger jobs because the fixed costs of mobilisation and equipment are spread over more area.
How much does a plain concrete driveway cost?
Less than pattern imprinted, but not by as much as people expect. MyJobQuote puts plain or brushed concrete at roughly £60 to £90 per m². That surprises most homeowners, and it's worth understanding why before you choose a finish on price alone.
Almost everything under the surface is identical. The excavation, the waste removal, the compacted sub-base, the steel reinforcement mesh, the concrete itself and the depth it's poured to are the same whether you finish it plain or imprinted. That's the bulk of the job, and it's the bulk of the cost.
What changes is the top: the colour, the stamping, and the sealing. So the saving on a plain brushed finish comes out of a fairly small slice of the total, not off the whole number. If a quote for plain concrete comes back dramatically cheaper than an imprinted one, that's usually a sign the groundworks have been cut too, not that you've found a bargain.
Plain concrete does have its place. A side access, a bin store, a garage apron or a utility area behind a gate doesn't need a decorative finish, and the same logic applies to the back garden, where our concrete patio cost guide covers smaller slabs. For a front drive, most homeowners look at the difference and take the pattern.
Get both quoted. Ask for plain and imprinted priced side by side on your actual site, so you can see the real gap rather than a rule of thumb.
What's included in the price?
A full concrete driveway quote should cover:
Site survey and measure-up
Excavation of the existing surface
Waste removal (skip hire or muck-away)
Sub-base preparation with compacted aggregate
Edging and formwork to define the shape
Steel reinforcement mesh for structural strength
Concrete supply and pour to the correct depth
Surface treatment (pattern stamping and colouring)
Sealing to lock in the colour and protect the surface
Site clean-up afterwards
If a quote misses any of these, ask why; our guide to how imprinted concrete is laid walks through each stage. Skipping sub-base prep or reducing concrete depth is one of the most common ways cheap quotes fall apart inside two years.
What affects the cost of a concrete driveway?
The typical UK range is only a starting point. Several site-specific factors push the figure up or down on a particular job.
Access to the site
If a concrete mixer truck can discharge straight onto the driveway, the job is faster and cheaper. If everything has to be barrowed up a side passage or through a gate, expect to add labour cost.
Drainage requirements
Concrete isn't permeable, so drainage has to be designed in. If the site already has working drainage, the cost stays steady. If you need channel drains or a new soakaway, that is extra: UK cost guides put drainage channels at roughly £150 to £400, and a soakaway is priced once the ground has been checked.
Permeable concrete and the planning rules
Standard concrete, plain or imprinted, isn't permeable. If you're covering more than 5m² of front garden with it, the rainwater has to run somewhere permeable within your own boundary, or you need planning permission. In England that has been the rule since October 2008.
In practice this means a soakaway, or falls and a channel drain that carry the water to a lawn or border. It's a design decision, not an afterthought, and it's the cost most often missing from a cheap quote. We've written a full guide to driveway soakaway regulations, and the Planning Portal's front garden guidance is worth a look before you commit to a surface.
Size and shape
Larger driveways cost more overall, but the per m² rate often drops slightly with scale. Awkward shapes, slopes, or curved edges add labour and cut into that benefit.
Existing surface
If your old driveway is a thin layer of gravel, removal is quick. If it's an old concrete or block paved drive that needs breaking out, you're looking at extra time, skip hire, and disposal costs.
Ground conditions
Soft clay, old tree roots, or buried services can all add prep time. A driveway being laid over a stable existing base is cheaper than one going onto poor ground.
Design complexity
Plain concrete with a brushed finish is the cheapest finish. Add pattern stamping, custom colours, borders, or feature inlays and the price climbs. Exposed aggregate is another decorative finish with its own price band, set out in our exposed aggregate driveway cost guide.
Location in the UK
Labour and material costs vary by region. Labour rates are usually highest in London and the South East, so a national price guide is only a rough indication of what a West Midlands job will cost.
Pattern imprinted concrete: the standard choice for residential drives
When most homeowners ask about a concrete driveway, what they actually want is pattern imprinted concrete (PIC). Plain grey concrete is uncommon on modern residential drives because it looks dated and offers no design variety.
PIC is wet concrete that's coloured, stamped with a textured pattern, and sealed. It can be made to look like cobble, brick, slate, or natural stone, often at a fraction of the cost of the real material.
If you are still weighing it up against the alternatives, the pros and cons of a concrete driveway are worth reading before you choose.
Design and pattern options
UK cost guides put standard patterns in a single colour at the lower end of the range, with borders, multiple colours and more detailed designs costing more. You can pick from dozens of patterns:
Cobblestone
Herringbone brick
Large flag
Riven slate
Random stone
Ashlar slate
Multi-colour borders, contrasting paths inset into the drive, or a stamped feature near the entrance add labour and materials. We bring samples out when we quote, so you can see patterns and colours against your own brickwork before you decide.
Why ultra-cheap concrete driveway quotes are a problem
You'll occasionally see imprinted concrete quoted well below even the typical range for plain concrete. At those numbers, something has been cut. The common shortcuts:
Thin concrete. A domestic drive is normally laid at least 100mm thick. A thinner slab is far more likely to crack under cars.
Poor sub-base. Skipping the compacted aggregate base is the most common cause of sinking and cracking.
No reinforcement mesh. A drive needs steel mesh to hold together under repeated vehicle weight.
Cheap sealant. A poor-quality sealant fades and stops protecting the colour much sooner than it should.
No drainage planning. Standing water stains the surface, wears the sealer and turns to ice in winter.
A vague guarantee. Check it covers materials, workmanship and structure, and for how long (ours is 10 years).
A failed cheap drive usually has to be broken out and relaid, so the repair costs more than the saving was. If you're going to do concrete, do it once properly.
Concrete driveway cost questions, answered
Are imprinted, stamped, printed and pressed concrete the same thing?
Mostly, yes. Pattern imprinted concrete, stamped concrete, printed concrete, pressed concrete and patterned concrete are all the same product. Different regions and different installers picked different words for it, and the internet never settled on one.
The process behind every one of those names is the same: concrete is poured, coloured, stamped with textured mats while it's still wet, then sealed. "Imprinted" is the term the UK trade settled on. "Stamped" is what it's called in the US, which is why you'll see it a lot online. If a quote says one and a website says another, nobody is describing a different driveway.
One genuine exception: stencil concrete. That's a different job. A stencil is laid on the wet surface, a colour hardener is worked over the top, and the stencil is lifted out, leaving the pattern in the colour rather than pressed into the surface. It gives crisp lines but no texture, and the surface doesn't have the depth an imprint does. It isn't what most people mean when they ask about a patterned drive.
Two other terms worth clearing up while we're here:
"Cement driveway" isn't a thing. Cement is the powder that binds concrete. What you're buying is concrete.
"Poured concrete" just describes plain concrete with no decorative finish. All of it is poured.
The price doesn't change with the word. Whatever it's called on the quote, ask what depth it's poured to and whether there's reinforcement mesh in it. That's what separates one quote from another.
How much does it cost to reseal an imprinted concrete driveway?
UK cost guides put a professional reseal at roughly £4 to £8 per m², or about £240 to £480 for a 60m² drive. Most imprinted drives need it every 3 to 5 years to keep the colour and protect the surface.
Is a concrete driveway worth the money?
For most homes, yes. A properly installed concrete driveway:
Lasts 20 to 25 years or more when properly laid and resealed
Handles the British climate without movement or sinking
Doesn't grow weeds through joints
Gives a wide range of design options
Smartens up the front of the property
The main ongoing cost is resealing every 3 to 5 years to keep the colour and protect the surface.
Because standard and pattern imprinted concrete are both non-permeable, budget for the drainage the front garden rules need as part of the job, not as an extra. We lay pattern imprinted concrete driveways across Wolverhampton and the West Midlands, and the real figure for your drive comes from a free quote after a site visit.
