Features of Concrete Driveways

Generally, a driveway is a private road used to access buildings or sites on a property. Typically a concrete driveway leads to a house, garage or carport.

There are many elements to consider when constructing a new driveway. Concreting Sydney have been building driveways for over 40 years. With our experience building driveways in Sydney, let’s take a look at some of the features of a concrete driveway by using each letter in the word driveway to create words that highlight this. These are some of the elements that Concreting Sydney incorporates when constructing your new concrete driveway:

Design of a driveway balances both practicality and aesthetics. A driveway is a focal point that mergers the design of your home and its surrounding landscape. Size and layout is relative to space needed and ease of usability.

Road to utilise your property. When building a new concrete driveway, there is a detailed construction process like other forms of road building with the difference is having a customised area to suit your needs. After the planning and design process, excavation can begin to prepare the area. Formwork and steel fixing is then completed in preparation for concreting your new driveway.

Increase the value of your home. A concrete driveway will improve the street appeal of your home. One of the first things a buyer sees when inspecting your home is your driveway. A concrete driveway that compliments the property sets a positive tone when selling. A well designed and constructed driveway extends living space. A concrete driveway acts as a bridge between your indoor and outdoor spaces and improves the convenience of your home.

Vehicle access to property. Concrete is strong and durable, it can handle the heavy weight of your car and is an ideal material for driveways. A concrete driveway is designed to handle vehicle traffic use and will not change in shape. A concrete driveway can also be designed to incorporate parking spaces to create more room for extra vehicles, boats, caravans and trailers.

Entrance to make use of your property. When planning for a new concrete driveway, there are numerous access points created that move you from one point to another seamlessly. New driveway design makes access from the street to your property easy. Driveways are also part of the passage to enter your front door. Driveways can be shaped to link the entrance of your home with the driveway. Furthermore, driveways can be constructed to include a concrete footpath to connect to your front door.

Weather conditions demonstrate versatility of concrete. Concrete being a hard surface performs well in all types of weather. Concrete gives you the ability to access and use your property no matter the weather. A concrete driveway gives you a clean surface to walk on in wet and dry weather. Concrete limits dust, dirt and mud from entering your home. Concrete driveways make the upkeep of your property an easier task.

Appearance of concrete is personalised. Getting a new concrete driveway gives you the opportunity to create a unique look for your property. Concrete is flexible in appearance choices. From plain concrete, coloured concrete, exposed aggregate concrete to decorative patterned concrete; the combination of textures, colours, stones and patterns available gives the opportunity in creating a pleasant and inviting look.

Year after year of service. The processes involved in concrete driveway construction create a durable, functional, and attractive area that can be appreciated for many years. The strength and longevity of driveways built with concrete results in minimal maintenance and greater ability to utilise your property.

- Concreting Sydney

Building Concrete Driveway Crossovers

If your concrete driveway project requires a new concrete crossover driveway, this can be done at the same time when building your concrete driveway that is inside your property.

Driveway crossovers are also known as vehicular crossings. Most local councils in Sydney use either phrase.

There is also a growing trend for concrete driveway crossovers to be wider. A wider concrete crossover driveway makes it easier to steer a vehicle when entering and exiting a property.

A crossover driveway can also be built for an existing home to improve vehicular access to a property. If there is an existing serviceable concrete driveway crossover for the property, this can be used without the need for building a new concrete driveway crossover.

Concrete Parramatta Council for example has different crossover driveway requirements to Concrete Hornsby Council, Concrete Ku-ring-gai Council and Concrete Ryde Council.

All of these local councils are in close proximity to each other however vary greatly. As a concreter in Sydney for 40 years, we can guide you for your particular council concrete driveway crossover requirements. Our service takes care of all the council DA processes when building a concrete driveway crossover.

We also design and build concrete driveway crossovers that suit the terrain of your property. This is particularly important for Hornsby Council as this region has a varied hilly terrain. We can excavate your crossover driveway to improve vehicular access on slope blocks. Hornsby Council’s vehicular crossing designs are unique to other parts of Sydney concrete.

Ku-ring-gai Council has developed characteristics in line with the bushland environment of the Ku-ring-gai Council region, which can include wide crossover driveways for larger blocks. In most cases, it is designed to be in balance with the bush landscape. Ku-ring-gai Council do not have kerb and gutter for the road as well as council footpath concrete. This has created the effect where most properties front yard lawn extends all the way to the road enhancing the bushland feel. Most homeowners prefer minimal kerb and gutter for crossover driveways, it is seen as a way to maintain the bush and vegetation character of the region.

Parramatta Council has implemented that the crossover to be more standardised throughout the local government area. A new concrete Parramatta driveway layback is usually constructed to minimise the steepness of the concrete crossover driveway. Note a driveway layback is a narrow concrete ramp that connects the road to your concrete crossover driveway. The concrete driveway layback section is incorporated into the road kerb and gutter. Parramatta Council prefers the driveway layback wings to be much larger. This design feature creates more space to manoeuvre your vehicle from different angles into and out of the crossover driveway. The driveway design looks at minimising the height difference of the road and crossover driveway. This is important for all concrete driveway crossovers as this can minimise certain vehicles scrapping.

Ryde Council’s crossovers have different options depending on the location in the Ryde Council district. All types of terrain can be found in Ryde. Parts of Ryde such as Denistone have narrow and hilly blocks. We look at minimising the steepness of driveway crossovers, this usually involves excavation of concrete that lowers the height of the original driveway crossover. Denistone driveways can also involve landscaping surrounding areas from the new concrete driveway crossover. The surrounding lawn for example may be much higher than the new concrete driveway crossover that you have to step up and onto the lawn. We can excavate surrounding areas from the driveway crossover to blend and match the height of the driveway crossover to improve the usability of your property.

Denistone driveways usually have a narrow concrete driveway crossovers. This concrete driveway design feature is to create more on-street parking spaces. Wider concrete driveway crossovers create less on-street parking spaces. In comparison Marsfield are designed quite differently from Denistone. Marsfield is generally flatter than Denistone. As Marsfield has much wider blocks than Denistone, we have more flexibility with concrete construction in Marsfield. Concrete driveway crossovers tend to be wider for concreters Marsfield projects as many properties have large garages. A wider driveway crossover makes it easier to align your vehicle to park inside the garage.

As concreters in Sydney, we have built concrete driveway crossovers all over Sydney with different characteristics and design elements. If your driveway project needs a new crossover, layback, kerb and gutter as well, we can construct all in one time for a complete concreting service.

- Concreting Sydney

New Concrete Driveway Finishes

During a concrete driveway quote, Concreting Sydney often get asked what is the best concrete driveway? This all depends on the level of experience a concrete contractor has.

Concreting Sydney has been in business for 40 years. During a concrete driveway quote we can show you all the options for the best concrete driveway for you. There are many types of driveway finishes. Driveway finishes vary for residential and commercial concrete.

Residential concrete usually is complete driveway renovation construction with decorative concrete. Commercial concrete usually is construction with plain concrete.

Residential concrete comes with numerous driveway finish styles. A unique driveway construction region is the Hills District. In the Hills District, both plain concrete and decorative concrete driveways are popular.

A stamped concrete driveway is an option for a decorative look. Stamped concrete driveways are not constructed by all concrete companies in Sydney.

Concreting Sydney has build many thousands of stamped driveways all over Sydney.

A stamped concrete driveway is the best driveway option for a cobblestone or paved look. Concreting Sydney can create stamped concrete to look like individual cobblestones. Stamped is great as it creates a one piece solid surface compared with traditional cobble and paved techniques.

Getting a stamped concrete driveway means driveway construction starts from a clean slate. Stamped concrete needs driveway excavation as the stamped concrete driveway finish can only be had with freshly poured concrete.

A stamped concrete driveway built by our many years of stamping experience will create a distinct look for your home. Stamped concrete finish is chosen to create a prestigious look.

- Concreting Sydney

Concrete Driveway Repair

Concrete driveway repair may be the best option where only a partial section needs replacing. Driveway repair is usually completed where there is existing plain concrete. Concrete driveway repair is an easy task.

As most of the existing plain concrete driveway is kept, modification or repair can be achieved relatively quickly in this form of construction. Repair is done in localised sections of the concrete driveway. It is common as part of our concrete removal Parramatta projects to include concrete driveway repair.

Plain concrete for Parramatta Council driveway crossovers is the standard finish. Where possible minimal concrete driveway repair is preferred as the new concrete can match better with the existing plain concrete.

Concrete removal and repair is conducted in all parts of Parramatta. It is needed to maintain or update public infrastructure within the Parramatta Council area.

Our works in Parramatta also include concrete removal and repair for Sydney Water. Sydney Water mains are sometimes located under Parramatta Council driveways. Concrete removal is needed to replace or service water mains. Afterwards, new driveways are poured for Parramatta Council once the maintenance crew have updated the water infrastructure.

Winston Hills and North Rocks are common places where total concrete driveway removal is needed. In Winston Hills and North Rocks many homes are knocked down and rebuilt. As North Rocks and Winston Hills fall within the Parramatta Council region, approval is needed to rebuild a new driveway. We take care of all Parramatta Council requirements. Once approval is granted, we can then start driveway excavation. As we work with Parramatta Council, we can streamline your driveway build.

New concrete driveways in North Rocks and Winston Hills are designed much wider than traditional sizes for those suburbs. The driveway section that is on council land is finished in plain concrete, Parramatta Council only permits plain concrete for your driveway crossover section. The concrete section inside your boundary does not have to be plain concrete. In North Rocks and Winston Hills, coloured concrete is usually chosen for the driveway part that lies inside the boundary. Charcoal and light grey colour driveways are popular in North Rocks and Winston Hills.

In contrast to Winston Hills and North Rocks concreting areas, Constitution Hill and Wentworthville have different concrete styles. Our concreting Constitution Hill and Wentworthville projects are usually on hilly blocks. New homes are typically built on these hilly blocks with basement car parks. Basement concrete is a common feature for Constitution Hill and Wentworthville.

A new Parramatta Council driveway concrete crossover needs to be built to suit. Vehicular traffic has to enter the basement form the Council driveway crossover. In these types of driveways, the driveway slopes downwards to the basement from the boundary. The parking space in these types of driveways is in the basement instead of on the drive.

Driveway excavation for Constitution Hill and Wentworthville involves not only concrete removal, but also soil removal. As concrete basements usually are two metres below the Parramatta Council driveway crossover, soil removal is part of driveway construction. In Constitution Hill and Wentworthville driveway excavation sites have good rich soil. Driveway excavation can include relocating soil around the property to reduce the concrete driveway cost and keep the fertile soil onsite.

Minor concrete driveway repair work around Parramatta is common in North Rocks and Ermington. Minor repair in these suburbs is usually for concrete that has lifted by large eucalyptus trees.

The strong root system is the common cause. In Ermington this is visible on Parramatta Council footpaths. Concrete removal work is needed to restore the council footpath to a useable condition.

Driveway and footpath excavation can include realignment to provide more space for tree roots to grow. This makes Ermington and North Rocks to have unique shaped footpaths within the Parramatta region.

As many eucalyptus trees in North Rocks and Ermington are located close to Parramatta Council driveways and footpaths, design is influenced by the location of eucalyptus trees.

To alleviate ongoing Parramatta Council infrastructure costs, Parramatta Council driveway and footpath designs can take a nonlinear approach for Ermington and North Rocks.

Parramatta Council concrete designs for Ermington and North Rocks have curved concrete edges to provide more room for tree roots. Concrete footpaths are shaped to curve around tree roots and trunks.

- Concreting Sydney