How much does a concrete driveway cost in South Carolina?

HomeGuide’s national cost guide puts a new concrete driveway at $6 to $15 per square foot installed. A typical two car driveway runs $2,400 to $8,600 in total. Plain gray concrete with a broom finish sits at the low end. Thicker slabs and stamped or colored finishes push the price up.

Every figure below comes from a published cost guide or a state or county rule. The guides print national ranges, so Midlands ground and local rules matter as much as the tables. Dirt Cheap prices the concrete driveways and patios we pour after seeing the site, and the estimate is free.

What do published guides say a concrete driveway costs per square foot?

HomeGuide puts a standard to basic concrete driveway at $6 to $15 per square foot installed. Plain gray concrete runs $6 to $10. A stamped pattern with two or three colors runs $15 to $20. High end custom work, with multiple patterns and colors, runs $20 to $25 or more per square foot.

All figures in this table come from HomeGuide’s concrete driveway cost guide.

Labor alone runs $3 to $7 per square foot, depending on the job and the region. Larger driveways cost more in total, but HomeGuide notes they often have a lower price per square foot.

What does a two car concrete driveway cost?

HomeGuide puts a two car concrete driveway at $2,400 to $8,600 on average. A 20 by 20 foot drive covers 400 square feet and runs $2,400 to $6,000. A 24 by 24 foot drive covers 576 square feet and runs $3,500 to $8,600. Those totals are for standard to basic concrete.

Totals from HomeGuide, for a standard to basic concrete driveway.

For a long rural drive, multiply its square footage by the per foot ranges above. A curved or circular drive costs more than a straight one, because it takes more labor and materials.

What do concrete patios and slabs cost?

HomeGuide puts a concrete patio at $4 to $12 per square foot installed. A patio from 10 by 20 to 20 by 20 feet totals $1,000 to $6,000. A concrete slab runs $6 to $12 per square foot, with labor at $3 to $5 of that. Decorative finishes can push a patio to $28 per square foot.

The same guide puts a 4 inch slab at $6 to $8 per square foot installed. A 6 inch slab runs $8 to $10. A shed pad from 10 by 10 to 20 by 20 feet runs $600 to $4,800.

What does tearing out the old driveway add?

Published guides put concrete removal at $2 to $6 per square foot. HomeGuide adds that same range to a new driveway when an old one comes out first. Lawn Love puts the national average cost to remove concrete at $1,380. Fixr puts it at $1,856, with an average range of $500 to $5,000.

SCDOT figures reinforced concrete at 150 pounds per cubic foot. At 4 inches thick, a 20 by 20 foot drive comes to about 10 tons of broken concrete.

Contractor loads pay at the Lexington County landfill. It charges business loads $20 a ton for clean concrete, so the fee on that drive comes to about $200. Per the EPA, concrete and rubble are often recycled. A clean load can go to a concrete recycling yard instead.

On a replacement, a full size excavator breaks up the old drive. The broken concrete leaves on our own trucks, and the ground gets packed for the new pour. If nothing new is going back, that job is concrete removal for old drives and slabs.

Which South Carolina and Lexington County rules touch a driveway?

In Lexington County, a plain driveway on your own lot usually needs no building permit. The county’s permit FAQ lists sidewalks, driveways and patios among the items that do not require one. A drive that ties into a state highway is different. Any work in SCDOT’s right of way needs an encroachment permit first.

The rule covers a widened drive too, since it includes revisions to an existing encroachment. SCDOT charges no fee for the permit. Inside town limits, check with the town too.

SCDOT’s driveway directive goes further for a home. SCDOT will permit and build one all-weather driveway inside the state right of way, at its own expense. It has to serve an existing home, or a lot you are building on for your own use.

The standard entrance has up to 16 feet of paved width. Where drainage calls for it, the entrance gets a pipe up to 30 inches across. A wider drive or a bigger pipe is at SCDOT’s discretion, and the extra cost may fall on you.

Where a driveway needs pipe, SCDOT uses pipe 15 inches across or larger. It runs long enough to reach the toe of the backfilled slope. Concrete in the right of way should be at least 6 inches thick over a compacted base.

Your own contractor can build that section instead, at your expense. The approved encroachment permit is the notice to proceed, and SCDOT does a final inspection when the work is done. Setting the pipe is driveway culvert and ditch pipe work, and it comes before the concrete.

What moves the number on a Midlands driveway?

Size sets the starting point. Thickness, steel, the finish and the ground under the slab move it from there. HomeGuide puts a 6 inch drive at $8 to $20 per square foot, against $6 to $15 for 4 inches. On Midlands clay or Sandhills ground, the soft dirt comes out and a firm packed base goes in first.

Thickness. HomeGuide says a home driveway should be at least 4 inches thick for standard vehicles. For RVs or regular commercial traffic, pros recommend 5 to 6 inches. The edges should be 6 to 8 inches to keep them from cracking.

Wire mesh or rebar. Steel rebar adds $1 to $3 per square foot, and HomeGuide says it improves crack resistance. We size wire mesh or rebar to the load.

The ground under it. Columbia sits on the fall line, the boundary between the Piedmont and the coastal plain. One lot is heavy red clay that holds water, and the next is loose sandy soil. A University of South Carolina geography guide notes extremely rapid drainage through the mostly sandy soils of the Sandhills.

Either kind of ground moves under a slab when it is left soft. We strip the soft dirt and pack a firm base before any concrete goes down. HomeGuide puts grading at $700 to $2,500 on average and says many driveway contractors include it in their price. That step is grading and site prep ahead of the pour.

Access for the concrete truck. A concrete truck has to back up close to the forms. A tight side yard means more labor to move the concrete.

Slope and drainage. A drive has to shed water, so the slope gets set before the forms go in. Where it crosses a roadside ditch, the pipe under it carries that water.

Finish. A plain broom finish comes standard and gives good traction. HomeGuide puts a stamped driveway at $8 to $26 per square foot with the pour included. Colored concrete sits at the high end of that range.

How long before you can drive on new concrete?

HomeGuide says you may be able to walk on a new driveway after 24 to 48 hours. Wait at least 7 days before you drive a car on it. Full cure, when the concrete reaches its maximum strength, takes 28 to 30 days. For heavy vehicles, the guide calls waiting the full 30 days ideal.

How do you get a real number for your driveway?

The published ranges are wide because every site is different. A real number comes from measuring the drive and seeing the ground it sits on. Dirt Cheap is family and woman owned, with a shop on Edmund Highway in West Columbia. We pour within about 50 miles of the shop.

Our full size CASE excavators and dozers handle the tear-out and the dirt work before any concrete goes down. One review from Ali Jenkinson reads: “Great communication, great price, would work with them again.” Estimates are free, so call (803) 796-4727 and tell us about the driveway you want poured.