Paving Ashfield

Paving in Ashfield, taken on by arrangement

Ashfield is a small riverside suburb of about 1,400 people, roughly 14 km in a straight line from IBP Paving's base in Landsdale. That is beyond our everyday run, so we take Ashfield jobs by arrangement and ask for the details first: what you want paved or drained, the rough size, and a few photos of the site. With that in hand we can tell you quickly whether the job suits us and book a visit. Paths, driveways, courtyards and soakwells are all part of the offer, laid by a team with over 20 years of experience and covered by a lifetime workmanship warranty.

Railway houses, 1950s state housing and late 1990s infill

Ashfield grew in layers. Railway houses came first, then around 400 State Housing Commission homes were built in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A redevelopment in the late 1990s replaced some of those, building five to seven homes for every three it removed, so the suburb now mixes older detached houses with tighter infill lots.

Each layer brings its own paving work. On the older homes, paths and driveways laid decades ago have typically sunk, cracked or lost their edges, and we either lift and relay the sunken sections or carry out a full replacement on a new base. On the 1990s infill, the jobs are smaller and more detailed: a narrow driveway squeezed beside a neighbour's wall, or a rear courtyard where every square metre of paving has to drain somewhere within a small lot.

Ground conditions beside the river flats

Ashfield's soils typically follow the pattern found across this part of the Swan: Bassendean sand over Guildford Formation clay, with river alluvium on the flats themselves. The sand is the easy part. Where it is thin, or where a lot sits low beside the flats, the clay and a shallow water table sit close below the surface. We dig a test hole on those sites, fill it and time it, because a soakwell in slow ground needs more volume or a different position. If the result is poor, we design drainage with grated channels across the driveway and pipes to the best draining corner of the lot. Under the paving, a soft subgrade gets a thicker compacted limestone base so pavers do not settle in the first wet winter.

Town of Bassendean drainage and verge rules

Ashfield sits in the Town of Bassendean, and the Town expects stormwater to stay on the property. The only exemption is where a geotechnical investigation, permeability testing and a site classification show infiltration will not work, which is a real possibility on some low Ashfield lots. Where a system is built on site, a qualified stormwater engineer has to approve it, and it must handle a 1 in 20 year event including everything that runs off buildings and hardstand.

Changing or building a crossover starts with an application to the Town, assessed before work begins and valid for a year once approved. Street trees are protected firmly: a crossover keeps at least 2.0 m clear of one, and where the two conflict the tree takes precedence. Beyond the verge garden treatments the Town lists, any verge works need its prior written approval. Our Perth soakwell requirements page covers the wider picture.

Source: Town of Bassendean, Local Planning Policy 14 Stormwater; Crossover Specification (December 2016), section 3.3; Crossover Policy (November 2024); Crossovers, Verges and Stormwater web page.

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Ashfield Flats and Ashfield Reserve

The suburb's defining feature is the Ashfield Flats, the largest river flat still remaining in the Perth metropolitan area, with Ashfield Reserve nearby. Homes on the streets closest to the flats are the ones where we take most care with levels. Paving should fall away from the house, never toward it, and finished surfaces sit high enough that a wet winter does not bring water to the back step.

Bassendean, Bayswater and South Guildford

Ashfield is close to Bassendean, Bayswater and South Guildford. We cover all three, and the rest are listed on the areas we service page.