Concrete kerbing: tidy garden edges without the guesswork

How kerbing gets laid

The crew preps the ground along your marked line — clearing old edging, roots and high spots — then feeds concrete through a kerbing machine that extrudes a continuous profile as it moves. The kerb is finished by hand, control joints are cut so future cracking happens where it's meant to, and any colour or stamped pattern goes on before it cures. Most residential jobs are done in a day.

Because the kerb is extruded in one continuous run, it curves gracefully around beds and paths in a way segmented edging products can't. That's the product's whole charm: no joints working loose, no plastic edging heaving out of the ground.

When is kerbing the wrong tool? It's an edge, not a wall — anything meant to hold back real soil height is a retaining job for a landscaper. And large flat areas are concreting proper, a different trade with different gear.

What moves the price

Kerbing is priced per linear metre, and small jobs sit in the high hundreds while bigger landscaped blocks with long runs climb into the low thousands. The catch worth knowing: the crew brings the same machine, mixer and materials to every job, so very short runs cost noticeably more per metre than long ones. Indicative figures — the calculator here adjusts for your length and finish.

Finish is the other lever. Plain grey is cheapest; oxide colours mixed through the concrete add a little per metre, and stamped patterns add more. Colour through the mix beats paint applied later every time — it can't wear off because it goes all the way through.

Choosing a kerbing contractor

This is an unlicensed finishing trade, so the portfolio is the credential. Kerbing photographs honestly — ask to see recent local jobs, and look at the curves and the joins around obstacles, which is where machine skill shows. A contractor who suggests marking the run out with a rope or hose before quoting is quoting the real length rather than an estimate that grows later.

Ask what ground prep is included. 'Clear and level ground' assumed in a quote becomes a variation the moment the machine meets your buried brick edging from 1987.

Mistakes to avoid

Kerbing is low-drama as trades go, but a few avoidable mistakes cost either money or the finish.

• Getting quotes on a guessed length — mark the run with a hose and measure it properly
• Choosing painted-on colour over through-mix colour to save a few dollars a metre
• Not asking whether removing your existing edging is included in the price
• Running sprinklers or letting pets and kids near the kerb in the first 48 hours while it cures
• Expecting a kerb to act as a retaining wall — it's an edge, not a structure
• Booking a tiny run on its own — batch it with a neighbour or wait until you can do the whole yard