Permeable Concrete Perth
Permeable concrete for Perth driveways, paths, pool surrounds and car parks. Our WA team pours it as one surface.
Prefer to talk? Call 1300 010 499
Permeable concrete in Perth lets the ground do the draining
Dig down almost anywhere on the Swan Coastal Plain and you hit sand. Sand drains. That puts permeable concrete in Perth close to the ideal case. Rain drops through the voids in the slab into a layer of clean screenings, where it sits a moment before soaking down into the sand, all inside the footprint of the paving itself. There's no grate at the bottom of the drive.
You'll also hear it called permeable paving. What we pour is the concrete kind: one slab placed in a single run, rather than pavers set on a bed of sand.
What changes on a Perth block
Start at the garage door. After a winter front comes through in July, the slab in front of it stays dry, clear along the path to the letterbox.
Seal a driveway and every square metre of it behaves like more roof: its rain has to be piped off to a soakwell. Pave it permeable and that area looks after its own water. On the right site that means fewer or smaller soakwells for the paved area, sometimes none. How far that goes turns on your ground and where the roof water goes. Whether the paved area counts in your drainage sums is the council's call, not ours. Our page on permeable concrete and soakwells covers what stays and why.
Where the ground is slower
Not every block is clean sand a metre deep. Clay turns up in pockets through the hills, and some suburbs carry a cemented layer of coffee rock just below the topsoil that water struggles through. By August, the watertable in parts of the metro area sits close enough to the surface to matter.
None of that rules the pavement out. The base gets deeper so it can store more water under the slab, and an under-drain at the bottom lets it go slowly. We're always happy to look and review and go through it with a client. What you've got underneath is checked on site, not guessed from the suburb name.
The slab
Permcon is 25+ MPa concrete, poured 125 mm thick as standard and thicker where heavier vehicles run. The WA mix uses 10 mm aggregate, same as every state except Victoria. It goes down as one joint-free surface.
Rain goes through at 8,000 to 10,000 mm/hr. The surface carries a P4 slip rating. The slab is backed by a 10-year structural warranty. Colours are plain grey, charcoal, soapstone or sandstone.
What we pour in WA
- Driveways, from a single house to a row of townhouses sharing one access. The driveway page goes into the detail.
- Car parks. A sealed surface there would need pits and pipes across the whole lot.
- Footpaths and garden paths.
- Pool surrounds: splashed water drains through instead of lying on the concrete around wet feet.
How a Perth job runs
Ring us or send the address. Someone from the WA team calls back to ask what the surface has to carry and where your water goes now, and then comes out to look. They price the slab and base as one job. The figure comes from what's actually under your block, not a drawing. If you're building, send the plans and drainage design too, so we can see where the soakwells have been drawn.
For the rest of the state, see permeable paving across Western Australia. Engineers designing the drainage will find base profiles and the loading chart on our technical page.
Perth questions
Do you have a team in Perth?+
Yes. Our WA team looks after Perth and regional Western Australia, from the first call through to the pour. Your figure is worked out by the same team that came out and stood on your block.
How much does a permeable driveway in Perth cost?+
We price it once we've seen the site. The base is a big part of the job, and its depth depends on your ground. Area, access, the finish and what has to be dug out all move the number; an old brick-paved drive to break out costs more than a bare sand pad.
Won't Perth sand blow in and clog it?+
It can, if you let it build up. The usual culprit is sand and soil washing off garden beds, so edge the beds below the slab and blow or sweep off whatever lands. Check it monthly, and give it a proper sweep at least once a year. If it ever slows after rain, wash it.
Will it take a ute, a boat trailer or a delivery truck?+
The standard 125 mm slab is used for almost every application. For a delivery truck, see the slab section above: it's the thickness that changes. The loading chart on our technical page gives an estimated axle load for each thickness, so tell us what uses the drive and we'll size it from that.
Get the WA team out to your block
Send the address and what you want paved. We'll come and check the soil and the fall, then give you a figure worked out for your site.
Check if permeable concrete suits your site
A few quick questions about your site. You get a straight answer about whether permeable concrete is the right call, including when it isn't, before anyone asks for your details.
What are you surfacing?
Tell us about your project
Tell us where the site is and what you're planning. An estimator from your state team will call you back, look at the site with you and give you a real figure, from a single driveway to a council car park.
Poured in one run
