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Shed slab cost in Maitland and the Hunter

A shed is only as good as the slab under it, and the slab is where a cheap shed package saves money you cannot see. This guide prices the common Hunter shed sizes at the published rate, explains what the shed engineering adds, and covers the mine subsidence check that decides whether a big shed needs approval.

Checked against council and state sources, 29 September 2026 · about 6 minutes to read

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Shed slab with thickened edges before the frame goes up, Medowie

The sizes the Hunter builds

Shed suppliers sell by the metre and the slab follows. These are the sizes that come up most around Maitland, Cessnock and Port Stephens, priced at the published guide rate of $110 to $150 per m² supplied and laid:

Shed	Slab area	Guide range
3 m by 3 m garden shed	9 m²	about $1,300 to $1,600, small pour at the top of the rate
6 m by 6 m single garage or double carport	36 m²	$3,960 to $5,400
7 m by 6 m double garage	42 m²	$4,620 to $6,300
9 m by 6 m shed	54 m²	$5,940 to $8,100
10 m by 8 m shed with workshop	80 m²	$8,800 to $12,000
12 m by 9 m machinery or caravan shed	108 m²	$11,880 to $16,200

The ranges assume a flat, accessible pad on ground that only needs trimming and compacting. The calculator will run any other size.

What the engineering adds

The shed supplier’s drawings govern the slab, and they add three things to a plain pad. Thickened edges, commonly 300 mm or deeper, run under the frame to carry the columns and the hold-down bolts. A rebate along the roller-door line drops the outside level so rain does not run in. And where the drawing shows a hoist, a heavy vehicle bay or a mezzanine post, the slab is thickened locally under it. All three are inside the guide rate on a normal domestic shed. What sits outside it is site work.

Have the shed drawings already? Send the size, the suburb and the supplier and a local concreter will measure the pad and quote in writing to the engineering.

Request a measure and quote Read about shed slabs

What moves the price

The ground. On the floodplain clay of Maitland, Morpeth, Tenambit and Raymond Terrace the pad is cut to firm material and the fill compacted in layers. On the ridge lots of Bolwarra Heights, Gillieston Heights and Chisholm the pad is benched into a slope and the low side may need a retaining edge. On Medowie and Nelson Bay sand the base compacts well but the edges want confining.
Access. Most back yards in Thornton and Rutherford have a side gate a mini excavator fits through. Some do not, and a concrete pump or a long barrow run is a line on the quote.
Removal. An old slab, a collapsed shed base or a stack of pavers coming out first adds about $35 per m². See removal and replacement.
The extras on the same pour. A driveway or hard stand to the door, a path to the house, and an apron in exposed aggregate all cost less per metre when the crew is already there.

Mine subsidence

Much of the Maitland and Cessnock council areas sits inside declared mine subsidence districts, among them Maitland West, East Maitland, Louth Park and Greta. For the slab under a small shed this rarely changes anything: Subsidence Advisory NSW’s exempt development list includes garden sheds up to 50 m² under every guideline and garages up to 50 m² under all except guidelines 1, 1A and 7, provided no services are connected. Machinery and hay sheds in steel or timber are exempt under the same guidelines with the columns isolated from the slab. A larger shed on a lot under one of the stricter guidelines may need to meet that guideline, which can change the slab design. Search the address on the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer before the kit is ordered and take the answer to the supplier.

Reading a shed slab quote

Ask for the thickness, the mesh, the edge beam depth, the concrete strength and the base preparation in writing, and for the words “poured to the supplier’s engineering drawing”. Hold the answer against the specification and the cost guide. If the shed’s driveway crosses the verge, read the Section 138 guide as well, because that strip needs council approval in all three council areas.

Questions

Shed slab questions

What is the cost of a shed slab per square metre in Maitland?

Guide rate $110 to $150 per square metre supplied and laid, which covers a slab poured to the shed supplier's engineering with thickened edges, a rebate at the door and bolt positions set out. Site cut on a sloping block, a retaining edge, a pump where the truck cannot reach and removal of an old slab are the usual additions and are quoted after the site visit.

Is a 6 by 6 garage slab a small job?

It is a 36 square metre pour, which is a medium job that a crew does in a day once the pad is prepared. At the published rate it brackets at about $4,000 to $5,400. Small garden shed slabs under about 15 square metres sit at the top of the rate because the fixed costs of a truck and a crew do not shrink with the slab.

Does my shed need Subsidence Advisory approval?

Only if the lot is inside a mine subsidence district and the shed is outside the exemptions. Subsidence Advisory NSW's list dated April 2023 exempts garden sheds up to 50 square metres under all of its guidelines and garages up to 50 square metres under all except guidelines 1, 1A and 7, with no services connected. Steel or timber machinery and hay sheds are exempt except under guidelines 1, 1A and 7, with the columns isolated from the slab. Check the address on the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer.

Does the shed slab need a DA?

The shed itself may, depending on size, height, setback and zoning, and many domestic sheds go through as exempt or complying development. That is a question for the shed supplier and a certifier, not this site. The slab follows the shed's approval and engineering. If the shed's driveway reaches the street, the crossing needs Section 138 approval from council in every case.

Next step

Get the slab quoted to your shed drawings

Maitland Concrete Works is a referral service. Each enquiry goes to one independent concreter working the Maitland, Cessnock and Port Stephens council areas, who visits the block, measures, quotes in writing and does the work.