Paving Sorrento, about 10.7 km from Landsdale
Sorrento is the oldest of the City of Joondalup's beach suburbs, settled from the early 1950s and part of Marmion until it took its own name in 1981. It is about 10.7 km west of IBP Paving's base in Landsdale, and it generates two sorts of paving work. One is the replacement of worn out driveways, paths and pool surrounds on 1950s to 1970s lots. The other is the paving that follows a knock down rebuild, which is common here as original cottages give way to two storey homes built for the ocean view. Both come with a lifetime workmanship warranty and the benefit of over 20 years laying pavers in Perth's coastal suburbs.
Salt, surf and paver grade on the Sorrento coast
Everything in Sorrento is within about 1.5 km of the ocean, and most of it is within 1 km. Salt carried on the sea breeze settles on paving and draws out as white efflorescence; over years it crusts and spalls the surface of a paver that was not made for it. The question of which paver is therefore the first one we answer in Sorrento.
The brick industry's durability classification under AS/NZS 4456.10 defines "Severe Marine" as land within 1 km of a surf coast, requiring exposure grade units, and "Marine" as 1 to 10 km from a surf coast, requiring general purpose grade. The table is written for bricks and walls; no supplier publishes a salt grade for pavers, though UrbanStone lists its pool pavers as general purpose durability class.
Source: Midland Brick and Think Brick, Brick Durability factsheet (August 2025); AS/NZS 4456.10.
Our practice follows from that. West of Marmion Avenue we specify exposure grade clay pavers or dense wet-cast concrete, we bed them on washed sand so no salt is built into the joint, we leave the joints sand swept rather than mortared so moisture can escape, and we seal driveways, alfresco areas and pool surrounds once they have cured. Sealing is not permanent and the sealing and cleaning page explains the interval. Bore water adds its own iron stain and we avoid it on new paving.
Quindalup shell sand and limestone cliffs
The ground changes across the suburb. At the foreshore it is Quindalup sand, the white, limey shell sand of the youngest dune system. A few hundred metres inland it becomes Spearwood sand over Tamala Limestone, and that limestone is what forms the cliffs along West Coast Drive. For paving the sand compacts well and drains instantly. For soakwells the limestone is the issue: an excavation in Sorrento can hit caprock, and the answer is a wider, shallower unit or two units rather than one. Groundwater here is a saltwater wedge that reaches no more than about 250 metres inland, so it does not affect infiltration on most lots. The Harman Park and Porteous Park bushland pockets give a few streets a bushfire interface where brick, stone or concrete paving against the house is a sensible non combustible surface.
Rebuilding on a 1950s lot: crossovers and the footpath rule
A rebuild means a new crossover, and the City of Joondalup's guidelines decide what it can be made of. Residential crossovers may be grey pre-mix concrete, coloured concrete including exposed aggregate, segmented or square clay or concrete pavers, or flagstone and similar products. They may not be asphalt, gravel, crushed brick, compacted limestone, loose stone or polished concrete. Whatever the crossover surface, the apron and kerb must be plain grey pre-mix. The City's footpath "must remain continuous through the crossover", and a brick paved crossover must either carry the path through or define it with a contrasting brick border. The usual size limits apply: 3 to 6 metres wide, 0.5 metres from the side boundary, mountable or apron kerbing. A first crossover or a bitumen replacement earns the City's $375 payment.
Source: City of Joondalup, Crossover Guidelines Residential and Non-Residential (May 2026); Verges and crossovers web page.
Pools, travertine and the view side
Sorrento's paving budget goes to the outdoor areas. Pool surrounds in travertine or limestone are the signature job, with salt in mind for both the stone and the coping. On older lots the driveway is a full replacement after sixty years, usually with a change from the original clay to a large format concrete or stone paver. Soakwells follow the City's residential sheet: runoff confined to the lot, a downpipe for roughly every 15 square metres of roof, six standard sizes and the width based setback, all on our Joondalup soakwell requirements page. Marmion and Watermans Bay, the two small coastal suburbs south of Sorrento, are covered from here.
Nearby suburbs
Sorrento has Hillarys to the north, Duncraig inland to the east and Karrinyup further south in the City of Stirling, with Marmion and Watermans Bay in between. See areas we service.
