Driveways and alfresco paving two kilometres from our base
Darch shares a boundary with Landsdale, where IBP Paving is based, so the suburb is about 1.9 km from our yard and we are in it most weeks. We lay brick and concrete block paving for driveways, travertine and limestone for alfresco areas, and we install and replace the soakwells that take the water off both. Over 20 years of paving in Perth's north and a lifetime workmanship warranty come with every job, whether it is a full driveway or a single sunken section by the garage.
One downpipe for every 15 square metres: the rule behind Darch soakwells
The number people miss when they plan paving in Darch is not the soakwell size but the downpipe count. The City of Wanneroo's stormwater information sheet puts it plainly.
"One downpipe is required for approximately 15 square metres of roof area. The distance between downpipes should not exceed 12 metres in accordance with the Building Code of Australia."
Source: City of Wanneroo, Stormwater Runoff Information Sheet (correct as of July 2019).
Why does that matter for paving? Because each downpipe is a discharge point that needs its own soakwell or a drain run to one, and a new alfresco roof adds roof area, which can add a downpipe. When we quote an outdoor area in Darch we count the downpipes first, then size the soakwells from the City's capacity table, which starts at a 600 mm unit for about 14 square metres and tops out at an 1800 mm by 1200 mm unit for about 250 square metres.
The same sheet carries the underlying obligation: owners have a statutory duty under common law precedents and the Local Government Act 1995 to keep runoff within their own boundaries. The rest of the City's rules are set out on our City of Wanneroo soakwell requirements page.
Fast draining sand and base preparation
Darch is on the Bassendean sand unit: grey, deep and quick to drain. For soakwells that is ideal. For paving it cuts both ways. Water disappears so fast that a base compacted dry will never settle properly, so we wet and plate compact the sand in layers before the bedding sand goes down, and we edge restrain every driveway so the sand cannot migrate sideways under traffic. Done that way the paving stays flat; skipped, it is the reason so many 2000s driveways in the suburb have a dip at the wheel tracks.
There is no major wetland in Darch and the Gnangara Mound water table is well below soakwell depth. The coast is about 12 km west, far outside the zone where salt wind affects pavers. The one environmental note is the Landsdale Park bushland reserve on the suburb's edge, covered below.
Darch's 2000s brick and tile stock at the mid-life mark
The suburb was rural until the late 1990s and was named in 1997, then built out quickly with single storey brick and tile and double storey homes through the 2000s. Twenty years on, the paving laid with those houses is at the point where it either gets relaid or replaced.
- Lift and relay of driveways that have sunk along the wheel tracks or beside a soakwell lid. If the pavers are sound we reuse them on a new compacted base.
- Alfresco extensions off the back of the house, often in travertine or large format concrete pavers, with falls set away from the slab.
- Extra soakwell capacity for the new roof and paved area, and grated drains where the alfresco meets the lawn.
Homes that back onto Landsdale Park
Landsdale Park, the bushland reserve on the Darch side of the boundary, puts a line of houses against native vegetation. For those homes we steer the paving choice towards non combustible surfaces on the reserve facing side: brick, concrete or stone pavers right up to the wall rather than timber decking or mulch. It is also a low maintenance choice, since leaf litter sweeps off paving in minutes.
At the street, the City of Wanneroo's City Tree Policy requires a crossover to sit at least 1.5 metres from a City tree, and a tree being in the way of a verge paving treatment is not accepted as a reason to remove it. If your driveway plan runs close to a verge tree, we lay it out around the tree before anything is dug.
Source: City of Wanneroo, City Tree Policy (approved 10 December 2024).
Surrounding suburbs
Darch sits between Landsdale and Madeley, with Marangaroo and Alexander Heights to the south and the Wangara industrial estate to the north. We service all of them from Landsdale; the full list is on the areas we service page.
