Alfresco Cost Calculator

Understanding alfresco costs in Australia

What an alfresco costs in Australia in 2026

An alfresco is priced per square metre of covered area, and the range is wide because the specification range is wide. A simple covered outdoor area with a Colorbond skillion roof over existing paving starts around $400 to $600 per square metre, which puts a 25 square metre space at roughly $10,000 to $15,000. A well specified alfresco with an insulated roof panel, a new slab, outdoor tiling, lighting and fans typically runs $700 to $1,100 per square metre, or $18,000 to $28,000 for the same area. Add a full outdoor kitchen, cafe blinds, heating and a louvred roof and you are into $1,300 to $2,200 per square metre, meaning $32,000 to $55,000 for a 25 square metre space. Fully enclosing with glazing to create an all weather room pushes past $60,000 on a mid sized area and moves the project into a different approval category.

Roofing systems and how they differ

The roof is the largest single decision. An open pergola with battens is the cheapest and gives dappled shade and airflow, but it offers no rain protection and limited summer relief. A plain Colorbond flat or skillion roof is the most common budget option and keeps the rain off, but bare steel in full sun radiates a remarkable amount of heat downward, which is why so many plain roofed alfrescos go unused between one and four in the afternoon. An insulated roof panel, essentially a sandwich panel with a foam core, costs roughly 15 to 20 per cent more and transforms the comfort of the space. A louvred opening roof, where motorised aluminium blades rotate to let sun in or seal against rain, is the premium option at 70 to 80 per cent above a fixed insulated roof, and it genuinely earns that in a north or west facing courtyard where you want winter sun and summer shade. Extending the existing house roof line looks the best of all, but it is the most structurally involved and the most likely to leak if the flashing detail is done poorly.

Floors, and the drainage detail nobody mentions

Floor surface is a smaller share of the budget than people expect but it drives the look. Plain concrete is the base case. Outdoor tiles over a slab are the most common finish and cost $80 to $160 per square metre supplied and laid depending on tile choice, with the important requirement being a slip rating suitable for wet external use. Exposed aggregate and honed concrete look excellent and avoid the tile joint maintenance. Timber and composite decking suits raised alfrescos and sloping sites and costs $250 to $450 per square metre. The detail that matters more than the surface is fall and drainage. An alfresco slab must fall away from the house at an adequate grade, the finished level must sit below the internal floor level and below the damp proof course, and there needs to be a drainage path for wind driven rain. Getting this wrong produces water tracking back into the house, which is the most expensive alfresco defect there is.

Outdoor kitchens and what they really cost

The outdoor kitchen is where budgets expand quietly. A basic arrangement of a masonry or framed bench with a built in barbecue and some storage runs $4,000 to $9,000. Add a sink with plumbing, a bar fridge with power, proper weatherproof cabinetry and a stone benchtop and you are at $12,000 to $25,000. A premium build with a full appliance suite, a pizza oven and integrated joinery goes beyond that comfortably. The hidden costs are the trades rather than the cabinetry. A sink needs a legal wastewater connection rather than a hose into the garden bed. A gas appliance needs a licensed gasfitter and a compliance certificate. Fixed cooking appliances under a roof need clearances to combustible materials and adequate ventilation. Cabinetry has to be genuinely rated for external use, because standard kitchen carcasses swell and delaminate outdoors within a couple of seasons regardless of how good they look on day one.

Enclosing an alfresco and the approval consequences

There is a meaningful legal difference between a covered outdoor area and an enclosed room, and it catches people out. An open sided alfresco is usually treated as an outdoor structure and in many councils sits within exempt or complying development. The moment it is fully enclosed with glazing or solid walls, it can be assessed as habitable floor area, which brings in building code requirements for natural light and ventilation, energy efficiency provisions, potentially fire separation from boundaries, and almost always a development application rather than an exemption. It also counts toward site coverage and floor space ratio calculations, which on a tight suburban block can be the constraint that stops the project. Retractable cafe blinds and ziptrak screens are the middle path, giving weather protection without changing the legal classification, and at $250 to $450 per square metre of screen they are considerably cheaper than glazing as well.

Timing, sequencing and building it with the house

The most reliable saving in this entire category is sequencing. Building the alfresco as part of a new home build or a major renovation means the slab is poured in the same pour, the roof ties into the house structure while the framing is open and accessible, the electrical and plumbing rough in happens with those trades already on site, and there is only one set of site establishment costs. Doing exactly the same alfresco as a standalone project two years later typically costs 25 to 40 per cent more, needs its own approval, and involves cutting into finished surfaces. If budget will not stretch to the full specification now, the right compromise is to build the structure and the slab with all services roughed in and capped, then add the kitchen, screens and finishes later.

Choosing a builder and comparing quotes

Alfresco work sits at the boundary between builders, landscapers and patio companies, and the quality range reflects that. For anything that ties into the house roof or is enclosed, use a licensed builder, because the structural connection and the flashing are where failures happen. Ask each quote to itemise the structure and roof, the slab and floor finish, the electrical, the plumbing and gas, and any joinery separately, and confirm whether engineering, approval fees and site works are included or excluded. Check the slip rating on any proposed tile, confirm the fall and drainage strategy in writing, and get the roof system named by product rather than described generically. Use the estimator here for a realistic bracket, then let the itemised quotes tell you who has thought about the water.