Residential Permeable Concrete.

Plenty of them do more than carry a sedan. We pour the same Permcon mix under caravan-park roads and commercial car parks, just at a different thickness. On a domestic drive it's 125 mm as standard, a 25+ MPa slab over a base of clean screenings that shares the load rather than only handling water. Add a trailer or a caravan and we simply go thicker. Before any of that we check the ground, because what's underneath decides both drainage and how much weight the surface can carry.

The base under a Permcon path or driveway is doing real work here: it stores rain and lets it soak away rather than shedding it straight to the kerb. That's why permeable concrete counts toward permeable area on plenty of domestic sites, where the council accepts the design, and it's often the reason a project is even proposed. A driveway that soaks away can shrink or remove the detention tank a sealed one would need. If a council wants a stormwater model, Permcon is MUSIC certified. Rules differ from council to council, so check yours before pricing.

A downpour isn't what catches a Permcon surface out. It's rated at 8,000 to 10,000 mm/hr, so the slab itself is rarely the constraint. The real limit is underneath: every 100 mm of clean screenings holds 28 litres per square metre at 85 per cent design capacity. On a block that floods or sits on clay, we go deeper on the base and add an under-drain, so water leaves slowly instead of banking up. We can't fix water rolling in from next door, but we can stop your own paving adding to it. Soil testing sets the base depth.

Leaf litter and garden run-off are the two things worth watching. Clear leaves and debris off the surface as they build up, and keep mulch or garden soil from washing across the pavement from nearby beds. Sediment is what actually clogs the voids. If you notice puddles sitting instead of draining away, a wash usually sorts it. Once a year, sweep the whole thing and check the voids for moss or organic build-up, then clear it out.

A 10-year structural warranty sits behind a design life in excess of 30 years, and the two numbers point at different things. Leaves and grit left to sit eventually pack the voids, and a clogged slab stops draining the way it's meant to. Heading that off just takes a monthly glance and one proper sweep a year. Genuine structural failure gets assessed, and we remove and replace under warranty.

Ripping out the old slab is the biggest part of this job, not laying the new one. Concrete and whatever base is under it both have to go, because permeable concrete needs its own layer of clean screenings underneath to drain into, and it can't be laid over the old sealed surface. With the ground open, we check soil type and levels before building that new base. On a clay block, the base stores water and an under-drain releases it slowly rather than letting it pool. Heavy or awkward ground just changes the base design. It doesn't rule the job out.