How Much Does an Imprinted Concrete Driveway Cost in 2026?
Published: 25 September 2026
The straight answer: pattern imprinted concrete costs £75–£130 per square metre installed in 2026, so a two-car 30m² drive is £3,000–£4,500 before any dropped kerb. Here is how that number is built, what moves it, and what it costs to keep.
Imprinted Concrete Cost per m² in 2026
Two national guides set the band. Checkatrade's June 2026 cost guide puts pattern imprinted concrete at £75–£90 per square metre, "around £80" on average, for drives of 40–100m². MyJobQuote's guide, updated September 2026, says £100–£130 per square metre including labour, with labour alone at £45–£65 per m². Together they give the £75–£130 per m² range we price from, and Birmingham quotes land inside it.
The gap is not a mistake. Checkatrade's figure is built on bigger drives, where set-up, skip hire and sealing spread across more metres; MyJobQuote's includes a 30m² drive, where the same fixed costs sit on fewer. The first rule of imprinted pricing: the rate per square metre falls as the drive gets bigger.
| Source (date) | Drive size behind the figure | Per m² installed |
|---|---|---|
| Checkatrade cost guide (June 2026) | 40–100m² | £75–£90, around £80 |
| Checkatrade Birmingham listings (2026) | 40m² £3,500; 60m² £5,250; 100m² £8,750 | £75–£90 (a flat £87.50 in the totals) |
| MyJobQuote (September 2026) | 30m² at £3,500–£4,500 | £117–£150 |
| MyJobQuote (September 2026) | 60m² at £6,200–£8,000; 90m² at £9,000–£11,500 | £100–£133 |
Read down the MyJobQuote rows and the rate falls from £117–£150 per m² at 30m² to £100–£133 at 60–90m².
What a Whole Imprinted Drive Costs: 20 to 100m²
These are the totals we work from when someone rings with a size and a postcode; the range matches our imprinted concrete driveways page, and the right-hand column shows what the national guides publish.
| Drive size | Typical use | 2026 guide total (installed) | What the national guides publish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20m² | Single car, terrace frontage | £2,300–£3,200 | None price an imprinted drive this small; Checkatrade's April 2026 table puts a plain 20m² concrete drive at £2,300 |
| 30m² | Two cars, typical 1930s semi | £3,000–£4,500 | MyJobQuote £3,500–£4,500; WhatCost about £3,800 |
| 40m² | Two cars plus a path | £3,500–£5,200 | Checkatrade around £3,750; £3,500 in its Birmingham listings |
| 60m² | Wide frontage, three or four cars | £5,000–£8,000 | Checkatrade Birmingham £5,250; WhatCost £4,950–£5,150; MyJobQuote £6,200–£8,000 |
| 100m² | Corner plot or full front garden | £8,000–£11,500 | Checkatrade around £7,900, or £8,750 in Birmingham; MyJobQuote £9,000–£11,500 for 90m² |
Checkatrade's June 2026 average for a 40–100m² drive is around £5,825; its earlier imprinted guide spans £3,900–£8,050. Totals exclude a new dropped kerb, and VAT unless the quote says otherwise; your installation partner's written quote is the price.
Materials vs Labour on an Imprinted Drive
The two guides split the job differently. Checkatrade's June 2026 guide puts materials at £1,125–£2,400 and labour at £2,625–£5,500 for a 40–100m² drive, so labour is roughly 70% of the bill; MyJobQuote prices a 30m² drive at £1,900–£2,400 of materials and £1,600–£2,100 of labour, nearer 55/45. Where yours falls depends on the digging, how far the concrete travels from the truck, and how complicated the pattern and borders are.
The concrete is a smaller line than most people expect. An imprinted drive is a 100mm slab, so 30m² needs about 3m³; at our delivery partners' air-entrained C25/30 driveway mix from £115 per m³ plus VAT, that is roughly £345 plus VAT, around a tenth of the installed price. Colour hardener (about 1.5kg per m²), release agent (about 200g per m²) and two coats of acrylic sealer are priced inside the installer's rate; a 20-litre DIY tub of sealer is £55–£110 for scale.
| Item on a 30m² imprinted drive | 2026 guide rate | For 30m² |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete: 100mm fibre-reinforced, air-entrained C25/30 (3m³) | From £115 per m³ plus VAT (our driveway mix) | About £345 plus VAT |
| MOT Type 1 sub-base, 100–150mm compacted | £15–£25 per m² (MyJobQuote) | £450–£750 |
| Edging or edge restraint | £15–£40 per linear metre (MyJobQuote) | Depends on the perimeter |
| Skip for the spoil | £240–£550 (MyJobQuote); £125–£320 a week (Checkatrade) | One or two skips |
Labour is priced by the day or the metre: £45–£65 per m² for imprinted work or £300–£500 a day for a crew of two or more (MyJobQuote), £200–£350 a day (Homebuilding & Renovating), £150–£200 a day per person (WhatCost). A 30m² drive is three to four days on site, 60m² five to six, and Checkatrade allows five to seven days "plus drying time".
What Changes the Price of an Imprinted Driveway
- Excavation and removal. Removing an existing drive is £500–£2,000, a skip £240–£550 and a mini-digger £150–£220 a day (MyJobQuote); Checkatrade gives groundworks at £20–£100 per m². A lawn is the cheapest start, an old concrete slab the dearest.
- Pattern and colour. A single ashlar or slate pattern in one colour is the baseline; borders, a second colour and detailed cobble patterns take longer to press and seal. See our colours, patterns and sealing guide.
- Edging. £15–£40 per linear metre (MyJobQuote); a 5m × 6m drive has 22m of perimeter before you take off the house wall and the road edge.
- Drainage. A channel at the low edge to a soakaway, or on clay to the roof-water drain, is the difference between a lawful drive and a planning application; Checkatrade carries drainage and a £150 planning application as separate lines.
- Levels, slope and access. Retaining edges, steps and a slope steeper than 1 in 10 add labour; a drive the volumetric truck can pour straight onto is cheaper than one barrowed through a side gate.
- A new dropped kerb. Never in the driveway price: £800–£2,500 for construction nationally (droppedkerbplanning.co.uk, 2026), £2,000 in MyJobQuote's allowance. Birmingham's fees are below.
Resealing: What an Imprinted Drive Costs Over 10 Years
The sealer is the wearing layer: it gives the colour its depth, keeps water and oil out, and it wears. MyJobQuote prices professional resealing at £4–£8 per m² every three to five years, so £240–£480 for a 60m² drive; Checkatrade's Birmingham page gives the same cycle. Pavingexpert is more cautious: every two to four years, with acrylic sealers lasting two to five.
| Drive | Installed (2026 guide) | Each reseal at £4–£8 per m² | Reseals in 10 years | 10-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30m² | £3,000–£4,500 | £120–£240 | 2–3 | £3,240–£5,220 |
| 40m² | £3,500–£5,200 | £160–£320 | 2–3 | £3,820–£6,160 |
| 60m² | £5,000–£8,000 | £240–£480 | 2–3 | £5,480–£9,440 |
Not in the table: small crack repairs at £100–£300 (MyJobQuote), worth doing early before water and frost open them, and resurfacing a worn drive at £40–£70 per m², the route for one that went unsealed for a decade. Our repair and resealing page covers both.
Imprinted Concrete vs Block Paving, Resin, Tarmac and Gravel
| Surface | 2026 guide per m² installed | 50–60m² drive, 2026 guides | Upkeep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pattern imprinted concrete | £75–£130 | 60m²: £5,000–£8,000 | Reseal every 3–5 years; no weeds, no sinking |
| Plain concrete | £85–£125 | 50m²: £4,750 (Checkatrade); 60m²: £5,000–£7,500 (MyJobQuote) | Very low; sealing optional |
| Block paving | £100–£150 | 50m²: £5,000–£7,500 (BookaBuilderUK); 60m²: £4,500–£7,500 (MyJobQuote) | Weeding, re-sanding, relaying sunken blocks |
| Resin bound | £90–£140 | 50m²: £4,500–£7,000 (BookaBuilderUK); 60m²: £3,500–£5,500 (MyJobQuote) | Occasional pressure wash; the base decides its life |
| Tarmac | £60–£90 | 50m²: £3,000–£4,500 (BookaBuilderUK); 60m²: £2,500–£5,000 (MyJobQuote) | Softens in heat, marks under tyres |
| Gravel | £40–£70 | 50m²: £3,000 (Checkatrade); 60m²: £2,100–£4,800 (MyJobQuote) | Raking and topping up; must be retained at the kerb |
Imprinted concrete sits mid-pack on price and near the top on how little it asks of you afterwards. Verdicts by situation are in imprinted concrete vs block paving vs resin; plain-concrete numbers in the concrete driveway cost guide.
Birmingham and the West Midlands
Birmingham quotes sit inside the national band, usually towards its lower half. Checkatrade's Birmingham imprinted listings price at £75–£90 per m²: £3,500 for 40m², £5,250 for 60m² and £8,750 for 100m². The concrete is cheaper here too; our ready mix prices guide explains why Midlands per-m³ rates run 15–20% below London's.
What pushes a local quote up is the ground. Around 30% of the city's homes are interwar, 106,000 houses, mostly 1930s semis with a front garden, and under most of those gardens is clay: Mercia Mudstone whose top metre or two behaves as shrinkable clay, or clayey glacial till across the south-west of the city. Both hold water, so a properly priced quote has 100–150mm of compacted Type 1 under the slab rather than 50mm, and a drainage line that keeps rainwater on your own land: a channel to a soakaway or, on clay, to the drain that takes your roof water. Birmingham City Council calls water running off a drive across the pavement illegal.
If you will drive over the footway, budget for the council's vehicle crossing. Birmingham City Council's figures, updated April 2026: a £125 non-refundable application fee, a £375 administration fee, and construction priced after inspection, with the quote within 28 working days and installation at least 16 weeks after payment. Only the council's authorised contractors may build it, the hardstanding must be at least 4.75m deep and drained first, and a slope steeper than 1 in 10 or a healthy tree nearby gets the application refused. Nationally, droppedkerbplanning.co.uk puts construction at £800–£2,500. Our driveway rules and dropped kerbs guide has the process.
Our installation partners quote across the city and the West Midlands, including Sutton Coldfield, Solihull, Lichfield and Walsall.
How to Read an Imprinted Concrete Quote
A good quote is itemised, and each item is a check against the build-up that gives an imprinted drive its 25–30 years.
Excavation and disposal
A 200–250mm dig, spoil to skip, and whether removing the old surface is included.
Sub-base
100–150mm of MOT Type 1, compacted in layers, with a membrane. "Hardcore" with no depth is not a specification.
The concrete
100mm minimum, fibre-reinforced, air-entrained, C30-strength with 10mm aggregate, and the volume: 30m² needs about 3m³.
Colour, pattern and joints
Pattern, base colour and release colour named; hardener at about 1.5kg per m²; control joints at roughly 3m centres.
Sealer and drainage
Two coats of acrylic sealer, and the channel, soakaway or roof-water connection as a line of its own.
Exclusions, VAT and timing
The dropped kerb, any planning application, VAT, days on site, seven days before parking, and the guarantee: five to ten years is normal among Birmingham installers.
Be wary of a quote promising the job in one or two days (the guides say three to seven), of "hardcore" with no depth, of missing joints, or of an offer to drop the kerb as part of the job: the council removes unauthorised crossings and bills the owner. Water added on site to make the concrete flow is the commonest cause of a weak, flaky surface.
Imprinted Concrete Cost FAQs
How much does an imprinted concrete driveway cost per m² in 2026?
£75–£130 per square metre installed: Checkatrade's June 2026 guide says £75–£90 for 40–100m² drives, MyJobQuote's September 2026 guide £100–£130 including labour. The rate falls as the drive grows, because set-up, skip and sealing costs spread over more metres.
How much is a 30m² imprinted concrete driveway?
£3,000–£4,500 as a 2026 guide. MyJobQuote prices a 30m² drive at £3,500–£4,500 over three to four days; WhatCost says about £3,800. Removing an old drive adds £500–£2,000, and a dropped kerb is priced separately by the council.
Is imprinted concrete cheaper than block paving?
Usually. The 2026 guides put block paving at £100–£150 per m² installed against £75–£130 for imprinted concrete, and a 50m² block-paved drive at £5,000–£7,500 (BookaBuilderUK). Resin bound is £90–£140 per m²; tarmac (£60–£90) and gravel (£40–£70) are cheaper than all three, with more upkeep.
Why is labour such a large share of the price?
Because most of the job is digging, compacting, pressing and sealing. Checkatrade's June 2026 guide splits a 40–100m² drive into £1,125–£2,400 of materials and £2,625–£5,500 of labour over five to seven days. The concrete is a small line: about 3m³ for a 30m² drive, roughly £345 plus VAT.
How much does resealing cost and how often is it needed?
MyJobQuote prices professional resealing at £4–£8 per m² every three to five years: £120–£240 a time on a 30m² drive, or £240–£720 over ten years. Pavingexpert says every two to four years. A 20-litre tub of DIY sealer is £55–£110.
Does the price include a dropped kerb or VAT?
No, unless the quote says so. In Birmingham the crossing is built by the council's authorised contractors for a £125 application fee, a £375 administration fee and a construction price set after inspection; nationally construction is £800–£2,500. Concrete supply is always quoted plus VAT, so ask whether an installed quote includes it.
Getting an Imprinted Driveway Priced
Tell us the size, the postcode and the look you want and we price it the same working day from the rates above, then arrange a vetted local installation partner to survey it and quote in writing. Installed work is carried out by a vetted local partner; you'll be told who is attending before the job is booked.
Already have a contractor? Our delivery partners can batch the fibre-reinforced, air-entrained mix on your street: see concrete for driveways and the concrete calculator. If a plain or brushed finish would do, our concrete driveways page covers it.
Want Your Drive Priced Today?
Size, postcode and the pattern you like — we'll price it the same working day from the 2026 rates above and arrange a vetted local partner to survey it.