Mirrabooka driveways and soakwells, about 6 km from our base
Mirrabooka is about 6 km south of IBP Paving in Landsdale, measured in a straight line, which puts it among the closest City of Stirling suburbs we cover. Most of the paving here has reached middle age, so the work here is likely to be mainly driveway re-lays, replacement soakwells, new paths down the side of the house and paved areas out the back. We lay clay and concrete pavers, limestone and other natural stone, and every job comes with our lifetime workmanship warranty and the experience of over 20 years in the trade.
From Yirrigan bushland to a suburb of 1980s and 1990s homes
Until 1980 this area was known as Yirrigan, and much of it was bushland. After the rename it was subdivided rapidly through the 1980s and 1990s, with the streets north of Yirrigan Drive filling especially fast. Mirrabooka Square, the shopping centre, opened a year before the new name, in 1979.
That build history sets the age of the paving. A driveway laid with a house in 1988 or 1995 has carried cars for decades, and the typical faults are dips along the wheel tracks, pavers creeping at the edges and a low patch over the soakwell lid. Where the pavers themselves are sound, a lift and relay on a recompacted base is the economical answer. Where they are chipped, faded or simply dated, we take them up and lay a new driveway in 60 mm units over a fresh limestone base. Many of these homes still drain into their original soakwells, which may be smaller than the current rules ask for once a patio roof or extra paving has been added, so soakwell replacement is often quoted with the driveway.
Grey sand under most of the suburb
Most of Mirrabooka is likely to sit on Bassendean sand, the deep, pale grey sand found under much of Perth's inner north. It is loose and drains freely, which suits soakwells: water usually disappears into the ground fast, and on the dune sands the water table is generally several metres down. There is no named wetland inside the suburb to design around.
The same looseness means the ground has to be prepared properly before paving. We dampen and compact the subgrade in layers, add crushed limestone under anything that will carry a vehicle, and set firm edge restraints so the bedding sand cannot migrate out from under the pavers. Mirrabooka is roughly 10 km from the coast, so salt does not normally affect paver choice. Parts of the suburb may sit near remnant bushland, and the City of Stirling's advice during the 2021 Wooroloo fire named Mirrabooka and Balga, so on bushland edges we suggest a band of non combustible paving against the house in place of mulch or timber.
What the City of Stirling asks of a Mirrabooka soakwell
The City of Stirling sets out its on site drainage rules more fully than most Perth councils, and the parts that matter for a house are short enough to list.
All rain falling on the lot must be held on site, in soakwells or another system the City approves. A standard lot is sized for at least a 1 in 1 year, 60 minute storm, about 15 mm across the site, so the storage needed in cubic metres is the impervious area in square metres times 0.015. The smallest soakwell accepted for roof water is 900 mm in diameter and 600 mm deep, and units sit at least 1 m from structures and boundaries.
Source: City of Stirling, On Site Stormwater Drainage Criteria (June 2024).
For a Mirrabooka home with 160 square metres of roof and 60 square metres of driveway and paths, that is 220 square metres and 3.3 cubic metres of storage. Roof water and paving runoff are infiltrated in separate systems, and any soakwell under the driveway or carport must be trafficable and sit on an approved base. Our City of Stirling soakwell requirements page covers the full criteria, and soakwell cost and sizing explains how volumes turn into units.
Replacing the crossover with the driveway
When a driveway is renewed, the crossover between the boundary and the kerb often goes too. The City needs a Crossover Installation Application approved before a crossover is built or modified, and a single house may have one between 3.0 and 6.0 m wide. If the property has never had a first crossover built, the City subsidises half the cost of a standard 3 m grey concrete one, as long as the claim arrives within 12 months of completion.
Source: City of Stirling, Crossover Policy; Crossover Guidelines Residential and Non Residential.
Around Mirrabooka
Mirrabooka is ringed by Balga, Koondoola, Girrawheen, Dianella and Nollamara, with Westminster close by. We service all of them from Landsdale; the full list is on areas we service.
