Carramar paving by arrangement
Carramar is about 14 km from IBP Paving in Landsdale, just past the edge of our regular northern run. We take on work here by arrangement, which means we ask for the job details first so the visit and the crew can be planned around it. The jobs themselves are the ones we do every week: relaying and laying driveways, paving alfresco areas, side paths and verges, and installing soakwells. A lifetime workmanship warranty applies, and our team has over 20 years of experience laying pavers in Perth.
Where grey sand meets yellow
Carramar sits on a soil boundary. Its neighbour Tapping is listed by the City of Wanneroo as Bassendean sand, the grey, quick draining sand of the inland plain, and parts of Carramar probably lean toward Spearwood sand instead, yellower and often over limestone. For paving the difference is small, because both compact well under a limestone base. For drainage it matters more, so we check each lot with a test hole before we size a soakwell.
The suburb lies over the Gnangara Mound groundwater system, and the coast is roughly 6 to 8 km away, out of the salt zone. Bushland is part of Carramar's setting, so check the DFES bushfire prone map, and for homes with a bushland edge we suggest non combustible paving, brick, concrete or stone, against the house on that side.
Council drainage and crossover rules in Carramar
Carramar is in the City of Wanneroo, which expects owners to contain stormwater on their own land using soakwells, spoon drains or similar for runoff from both roof and paving. The City's information sheet works from about one downpipe per 15 square metres of roof, with downpipes no more than 12 metres apart, and a table of concrete soakwell sizes for normal rainfall. Two examples: a 900 by 900 mm soakwell holds 580 litres and serves about 47 square metres, while a 1200 by 1200 mm one holds 1300 litres and serves about 111 square metres. The same sheet warns that clay or limestone ground can cause overflow, which is why the test hole matters on the Spearwood side.
Wanneroo's engineering specification WD5 allows 1 cubic metre of soakwell for every 60 square metres of impervious surface, with infiltration at least 0.3 m above maximum groundwater. Soakwells should be set back from buildings and boundaries by at least their own width.
For the crossover, the City accepts concrete or brick paving, with pavers at least 60 mm heavy duty on a 20 to 40 mm sand bed over at least 100 mm of crushed limestone or rock. Widths run from 3.0 to 6.0 m at the property line, with a 2 percent fall across the verge, 1.0 m from the common boundary and at least 7.5 m from a street corner. Verges may be paved in brick or concrete at a positive 2 percent gradient, but gravel, crushed brick and loose stones are not allowed. A first crossover may attract a council contribution if you apply in writing within six months; the amount is not stated. See City of Wanneroo soakwell requirements for more.
Source: City of Wanneroo, Information Sheet, Stormwater Runoff (July 2019); Development Design Specification WD5 Stormwater Drainage Design (June 2019); Information Sheet, Crossover Brick Paved, Residential (July 2025); Nature Strip (Verge) Treatment Guidelines; City Tree Policy (December 2024).
A Peet estate that more than doubled in ten years
Carramar was created from part of Neerabup in 1995 and named in 1997, and it was developed largely as a Peet Limited estate. Its population went from 2,497 in 2001 to 6,605 in 2011, so a large share of its homes date from that decade of fast building. Their paving is now at the mid life stage. Driveways have sagged at the wheel tracks and the garage lip, which a relay on a recompacted base puts right, and backyards are being reworked with bigger alfresco areas under new patio roofs. Each extra square metre of roof needs soakwell capacity, so we size drainage into the same quote.
Shade of trees and the golf course
The name Carramar is said to mean shade of trees, and trees can be a factor in paving here. Carramar Golf Course, designed by Bob Stanton and opened by the City of Wanneroo in 1994, was carved into native bushland, and the suburb grew up around it. Where tree roots have lifted a path or driveway edge, we treat the cause as well as the pavers; our lifted pavers and tree roots page explains how. On the verge, the City's rule is that the tree stays: a crossover must be at least 1.5 m from a City tree, and the tree is not removed for non essential crossover or verge paving.
Suburbs around Carramar
Next door are Tapping, Banksia Grove and Ashby, with Joondalup and Neerabup close by. The areas we service page lists them all.
