Every decorative finish on a driveway is an upgrade applied to a slab you are already paying for, so the useful way to price them is as a premium per square foot over a plain broom finish rather than as separate products. They differ in how the colour gets in, how the texture is made, and therefore in how they behave once the slab is chipped, salted or twenty years old.
Colored concrete: how the colour gets in decides how it ages
Integral colour is dosed into the concrete at the plant and runs right through, so a chip shows the same colour underneath. A dry shake hardener is broadcast onto the fresh surface and gives a stronger, denser top with colour in the top layer only. A stain is applied to cured concrete and sits shallower again. All three look similar when new and behave very differently after a decade of traffic and snow shovels.
Concrete finishing textures: broom, salt, exposed aggregate, stamped
A broom finish is the standard, cheap, grippy and unremarkable. A salt finish rolls coarse salt into the surface and washes it out to leave pitting, which gives texture and a distinctive look. Exposed aggregate washes the top paste off to reveal the stone, which is durable and hides dirt. Stamping presses a pattern into plastic concrete and needs the largest crew of the four.
Acid and reactive stains are a chemical, not a paint
Acid or reactive stains react with the concrete rather than coating it, which is why the result is mottled and slightly unpredictable and why it is judged on a test patch rather than on a chart. The variegation is the point. They are more common on patios and interiors than on driveways, because a drive gets more abrasion and more chemicals.
Ribbon drives and planted strips
A ribbon drive pours two wheel tracks with grass or gravel between them, which reduces the paved area, cuts the cost and looks deliberate on a long approach. It needs the setting out to be accurate and it does not suit a drive that is also a parking and turning area. Where it fits, it is the rare decorative choice that costs less rather than more.
What decorative concrete finishes buy, and what they commit you to
More material, more labour, a larger crew working against the set, and usually a sealer. The sealer is the part that continues: on a decorative drive it holds the colour and the sheen, it wears, and it is reapplied periodically. Ask for the plain price, the finished price and the resealing cost together, because all three are the decision.
Questions people ask about decorative concrete driveway
Which types of concrete finishes last best on a driveway?
Exposed aggregate and integrally coloured concrete tend to age most gracefully under traffic, because the appearance is in the body of the slab rather than on its skin. Surface applied colour and heavily sealed finishes look the best when new and depend most on maintenance to stay that way.
Is coloured concrete the same as stained concrete?
No. Coloured concrete has pigment mixed through the material before it is placed, so it is the same colour all the way down. Stained concrete is treated after curing, so the colour is at the surface. On a driveway, where chips and abrasion are certain, that difference shows up sooner than people expect.
Does a textured concrete driveway grip better?
It can, in both directions. Exposed aggregate and salt finishes add texture. Smooth, heavily sealed finishes can be slippery when wet, which is why grit additives exist and why they should be specified for slopes, steps and anywhere shaded and icy rather than added after somebody falls.
Can a decorative finish be added to an existing drive?
Through a decorative overlay on a sound slab, yes; by stamping the existing slab, no, because stamping happens while the concrete is plastic. If a contractor offers to stamp what you already have, ask them to explain which overlay system they mean and what its lifespan is.
Is aggregate concrete the same as an exposed aggregate finish?
In driveway work they mean the same thing. The surface mortar is washed off a normal slab so the stone in the mix becomes the finish, which is why the premium buys texture rather than a separate product.
What do concrete staining services actually apply?
A chemical, not a paint. An acid or reactive stain reacts with the lime in the slab and takes the colour into the surface, which is why it weathers differently from a coating sitting on top of it.