Paving repairs and soakwells in Girrawheen
Most people looking for paving in Girrawheen want something fixed rather than something new: a driveway heaved by a verge tree, a path that has broken up, or a yard that floods because the house never had a proper soakwell. IBP Paving handles all of it from Landsdale, about 4.4 km to the north east, along with full driveway replacement and the repaving that follows a duplex or triplex build. Over 20 years in the trade and a lifetime workmanship warranty, on repairs as much as on new work.
Street trees, crossovers and lifted pavers under the City Tree Policy
Girrawheen's streets were planted when the suburb was built in the early 1970s, which means fifty year old trees with root systems that run under footpaths, verges and the front metres of driveways. The City of Wanneroo's City Tree Policy, approved in December 2024, sets the ground rules for what happens when roots and paving collide.
- A crossover must be at least 1.5 metres from a City tree. A reduction to 1.0 metre may be considered depending on alternatives, species, sight lines and traffic safety.
- A tree being "in the way of a non-essential crossover or verge paving/treatment option" is not accepted as a reason to remove it.
- Where a new or altered crossover would require removing a City tree, or sit within 1.0 metre of one, the City assesses the tree. If removal is approved it happens at the applicant's expense and a replacement is planted, also at the applicant's expense.
- For root damage the City will consider root pruning, exploratory trenching or root barriers. It may repair small areas of paving or concrete at its discretion, but will not repair walls, fences, large concrete areas or damage to a dwelling.
- Damaging or removing a City tree without a licence is prohibited under the City's Public Places and Local Government Property Local Law 2015, and residents are not permitted to prune street trees.
Source: City of Wanneroo, City Tree Policy (approved 10 December 2024); City of Wanneroo, Trees web page.
What this means on a Girrawheen job is that we design around the tree. For pavers lifted by roots we lift the affected run, bridge or sleeve the root where the City allows, relay on a flexible sand bed that can be lifted again, and keep the crossover 1.5 metres clear. Cutting the root is a City decision, not ours or yours.
Fifty year old driveways: replacement, infill and duplex paving
Girrawheen was rezoned in 1969 under the Mirrabooka satellite city scheme and built largely by the State Housing Commission, with its schools opening between 1971 and 1975. That gives it the oldest housing stock in our Tier 1 area and a different job mix from the 2000s suburbs around Landsdale.
Original driveways here are often poured concrete or thin slab pavers that have cracked beyond relaying, so the work is full replacement rather than lift and relay: out with the old surface, in with a compacted base, edge restraints and 60 mm pavers that will see out another fifty years. Infill is the other driver. Many quarter acre lots have been split for a duplex or triplex, and the shared driveway, bin pads and courtyards all need paving laid to a drainage plan. Where the split leaves a level change between lots, a limestone retaining wall goes in first. All our paving repair services apply here, from a single broken paver to a whole frontage. Koondoola, the adjoining suburb to the north east with housing of the same age, is covered from this page.
Soakwell rules for Girrawheen homes
Houses from the early 1970s were built to a looser standard of stormwater control, and some Girrawheen yards still drain over the footpath or into the neighbour's garden. The City of Wanneroo's stormwater information sheet states that property owners have a statutory obligation under common law precedents and the Local Government Act 1995 to confine runoff within their property boundaries, so a driveway replacement is the moment to put soakwells in. We size them from the City's capacity table, which runs from a 600 mm unit for about 14 square metres up to an 1800 mm by 1200 mm unit for about 250 square metres, and set them back from footings and boundaries by their own width. Our City of Wanneroo soakwell requirements page sets out the full rules.
Source: City of Wanneroo, Stormwater Runoff Information Sheet (correct as of July 2019).
Sand and drainage in Girrawheen
The suburb lies on Bassendean sand over the Gnangara Mound, with no wetland or lake inside its boundaries, so the ground is uniformly deep, grey and free draining. Soakwells perform well and excavation is easy. The coast is about 8 km west, outside the strip where salt wind weathers pavers, and there is no bushland interface in the suburb to influence material choice. The failures we see are therefore about the original build: sand that was never compacted, bedding laid too thick, and no edge restraint to hold the pavers against fifty years of car traffic.
Suburbs around Girrawheen
Marangaroo borders Girrawheen to the north east and Balga to the south, with Koondoola to the east, Mirrabooka to the south east and Hamersley to the west. Alexander Heights is a few minutes further north. All are serviced from Landsdale; see areas we service.
