Asking the internet for the right flatwork rate is asking strangers what your costs are. Nobody knows your mix price, your crew, or your market. What you can take from a guide is the method. Here it is.
Build the rate from the ground up
For a plain broom finish, add up what one square foot costs you:
- Concrete. Your delivered price per yard, divided by the square feet a yard covers at your pour depth. At 4 inches, a yard covers 81 square feet. At 6 inches, 54. Depth changes everything, which is why one rate for all jobs is a trap.
- Labor. Crew hours on a typical job (form, pour, finish, strip) times loaded labor cost, divided by the job’s footage.
- Materials and consumables. Forms, stakes, cure, expansion, blades.
- Overhead. Truck, insurance, fuel, phone, the unsexy stuff. It’s real; put it in the rate.
- Margin. Profit is a line item, not whatever’s left.
That sum is your floor for broom finish. Price below it knowingly or not at all.
Tier your finishes
Decorative work isn’t broom plus a little. Color adds material. Stamping adds material, labor, and skill risk. Exposed aggregate adds wash and seal steps. Set each finish as its own rate, not a vibe-based bump.
Why one flatwork rate does not fit every job
Run the build-up above once per job type, not once for your whole business. These are the things that make one square foot of flatwork cost more to produce than another, so they are the things that should split your rates apart.
| Flatwork type | Common pour depth | Reinforcement | What pushes its rate above a plain slab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patio | 4 in | Fiber or wire | Finish choice, and more form and edge footage per square foot on small or shaped pours |
| Sidewalk or walkway | 4 in | Light or none | Narrow pour, so forming, edging, and jointing eat the hours while the footage stays small |
| Driveway | 5 to 6 in | Wire or rebar | Half again more mud per square foot at 6 in, plus reinforcement and the apron detail |
| Garage floor or shed slab | 4 to 6 in | Wire or rebar | Thickened edges, and a flatness standard the customer will notice |
| Stamped or colored | Same as the base type | Same as the base type | Added material, extra labor steps, and the risk that a bad stamp is not fixable |
Read down the last column and the pattern is the same every time: depth, steel, and steps. Those three drive your cost, so they should drive your rate. What the customer thinks a finish is worth does not belong in this table.
Where per-square-foot pricing lies
Small jobs (mobilization dominates), thick pours (depth eats yards), bad access (labor explodes), and heavy tear-out. Handle these as separate line items or minimums. The rate covers the standard job; the modifiers cover reality.
Lock it in once
The point of doing this math is to never do it again on a job-by-job basis. Set your rates, put them in a calculator you carry, and quote from them every time. PriceDesk holds your rates and does the arithmetic on your phone so the number you text is consistent, fast, and yours.
Test your rates against a real job in the free concrete calculators.