Driveway Repair

Concrete driveways can be repaired. Driveway repair work is a good option if partial sections of the driveway only need restoration. Generally, council approval is not needed for a driveway fix. At Concreting Sydney, we do concrete driveway repairs and can fix broken driveways.

Depending on your insurance policy, driveway repair can be covered. In most cases driveway insurance usually covers for sudden unexpected events only, such as a tree falling on the driveway after a severe storm.

Residential driveway repair before selling your house is a good option. As the driveway is a prominent feature of your home, an unsightly and unsafe driveway will be used by potential buyers as a bargaining chip on property price.

Repairing an industrial driveway is a suitable option where limiting driveway downtime is important. An industrial driveway serves many purposes in running a factory or commercial premises.

The constant beating of trucks, trailers and heavy loads on the concrete can wear down and shorten the longevity of an industrial driveway. If the industrial driveway is not designed to handle heavy weight, concrete can sink, shift or crumble away. An industrial driveway in these states can create a hazardous work environment.

Forklifts can jump over uneven concrete surfaces making an unsafe passage for the forklift operator. Also a sunken industrial driveway can impact with services under the concrete such as gas and water. If disturbed, this can cause a flow on of disruption in business operations.

An industrial driveway does not need to be fixed in one go as this can be a lengthy process. An industrial driveway can be repaired in stages, with the most important areas addressed first.

Loading bays are usually the priority for industrial driveway repair. Receiving and dispatching goods at all hours of the day, the quality and design of the concrete in this space is crucial in running a business efficiently.

How to repair driveway damage is sometimes unrelated to the performance of the concrete. Homeowners seeking to fix a driveway may need to address other issues before concrete driveway repairs.

Driveway damaged by tree roots is common in some parts of Sydney. A driveway lifted by tree roots creates a tripping hazard. If the existing concrete does not have reinforcement mesh, it is more likely that a vigorous tree root over time will crack and raise the concrete into many sharp and unstable pieces. A driveway repair tree roots plan may involve assessing how to mitigate tree root influence and possible slight relocation of the concrete driveway repair.

Residential driveway repair is sometimes due to a leaking or broken pipe underneath the concrete. Over time the leaking water can erode the sub base underneath the concrete. Hollow voids can be created by the erosion and cause the concrete to sink. Repairing driveway in these circumstances is more prominently found on sloped blocks where sub base erosion can accelerate if it extends to the concrete driveway edge. This creates a channel for the erosion to continue away from the concrete.

As residential driveways are smaller in scale compared with industrial driveways, if there are a lot of sections of the driveway required to replace, it may indicate the general condition of the concrete to be in a poor state. In this scenario, driveway repair vs replacement needs to be considered. Driveway repair cost may be similar between the two options.

Replacing footpaths can also be done with replacing sections of the driveway. Replacing and adjusting footpaths at the same time will usually provide a permanent footpath and driveway fix, with no further concrete maintenance needed.

Give us a call for your driveway repairs Sydney and see what options are available to you.

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Concrete Driveways Sydney Design

There are many options and designs that can be used for driveways. Concrete for your drive is a great option. As a concreter in Sydney, concrete is the primary choice for the region. Concrete for driveways is used as it is durable and easy to clean.

Concrete can be shaped and designed to suit your home. Driveways can be moulded to different shapes and sizes to get the most out of your outdoor space.

As concrete is a custom building experience other architectural elements of your home can be complemented or matched with. We can also create a custom design with your ideas. We aim to get your driveway built to get the most out of your property.

Driveway concreting comes in many options such as plain concrete, coloured concrete and decorative concrete.

Driveways in plain concrete usually is a more practical option. A driveway in plain concrete is the traditional look. Plain concrete is also optioned to create a minimalist look for modern homes.

Driveways are also available in a wide range of concrete colours. Usually to match the colour scheme of your home. It makes such a difference to your home aesthetically and it improves the overall presentation of your home.

Concreting a drive with colour concrete is where the colour is pre-mixed into the concrete. The colour is added to the concrete before it is delivered onsite. There is no need to add additional colour during pouring. Colour concreting with this method is a good option as the colour is all the way thru the concrete. This ensures the longevity of the colour.

Colour concreting is great as you get to pick a colour for your driveway for a custom look. The concrete colour chosen can emphasis the driveway or can highlight your home. These are usually the main two considerations and can assist in deciding which colour to choose for your driveway.

The chosen concrete colour is ordered specifically for your driveway prior to pouring. At Concreting Sydney we have a large range of colours to choose from to get the right look for your home.

Building driveways is usually associated with concreters who have many years of experience in the industry. Driveways have many types of concrete construction and finishing methods. For complete driveway implementation, an experience concreter professional can incorporate many structural, practical and decorative concrete options.

Combining these elements creates unique driveway results tailored to suit your property. Driveway design is flexible. It achieves a custom end result as you can include as many concrete design elements as needed.

Concrete for your driveway can incorporate other features on your property. Designs tends to suit the characteristics of your land. It can also include designing concrete to complement your garden. Creating a flower bed around a driveway adds an architectural element and is one of many ideas that you can include.

The concrete for the driveway acts as a garden bed. The driveway edge eliminates the need to box up a garden bed with timber. This creates a cleaner garden bed look. Plants are more prominent as they can be landscaped to match with the level of the drive.

Garden beds for plants are usually located near the front door to soften the entrance. Another commonplace for a driveway edge gap is along the fence line. A concrete edge works well along a sunny fence line as most plants like a sunny position to grow. A driveway edge plays an important part to differentiate different landscape elements.

A concrete driveway edge provides an outline for your lawn. The edge stops your lawn spreading to other parts of the garden. A concrete edge gives your lawn its own space for it to grow and this helps create a robust lawn. It also speeds up mowing time.

A concrete edge acts as a border so you are only cutting the lawn with the mower. The edge can be designed to be higher or lower than your lawn cutting height. Most people preference the edge to be a little higher than the lawn cutting height. A driveway edge built this way helps keep dirt off the concrete drive. This is especially the case during wet weather. It is a simple and effective barrier.

During construction, the layout is marked out to build the body of the drive. A benefit of building with concrete is that the layout of the driveway can be changed during the construction phase. We can reposition the layout onsite so you can decide what works best.

This is part of the personalised building experience that you get with concrete. Driveways are built to suit your property and lifestyle needs. As the majority of the building process is onsite, concrete gives you a high level of customisation compared with other materials.

Style-wise, concrete driveways tend to be built to suit and enhance the appearance of homes. Driveways vary greatly from one home to another and usually address site-specific needs. Driveways are sometimes influenced by the nature of the land it is built on. Most of the time concrete driveways are influenced by the prominent colours on your home.

Building a drive needs thorough planning. With concreting driveways, most of the planning is done prior to pouring of concrete. When concreting a drive there is a limited time to pour and finish concrete. There are unique skill requirements when concreting driveways. Our experience will provide the expertise for your next project.

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Plain Concrete to Coloured Concrete in Sydney

Sydney concrete designs vary greatly between the regions. Sydney concrete design is influenced by the varied landscape and architecture that can be found in Sydney. From the hilly topography in the Hills District, federation style homes on the North Shore and to the large modern homes of Western Sydney, concrete gives flexibility in design options.

As driveway specialist concreters for over 40 years, Concreting Sydney has designed thousands of concrete solutions. A benefit of concrete construction is that concrete can be shaped and styled in a multitude of ways. Creating a design brief for us concreters is exploring the different options to create a plan that suits the layout and look of your home.

In driveway and concrete design, traditionally was focused on structural purpose and improved practicality. The introduction of concrete colouring gave us concreters the flexibility in designing driveways to blend aesthetically with its surrounds.

Prior to the introduction of concrete colouring, driveway finishes where based on the natural grey colour of concrete.

Cement colours basically come in varying shades of grey. Building concrete driveways up until the late 80’s in Sydney was for the most part with traditional grey concrete or also known as plain concrete.

Designing concrete driveways on the North Shore for us concreters usually is in plain concrete. With all the different driveway options available, plain concrete is still a popular in the northern suburbs.

Plain concrete works well on the North Shore as it maintains the traditional presentation style of properties. The Lower North Shore makes use of plain concrete more greatly than the upper North Shore. Projects in Chatswood are usually designed with plain concrete. Concreting Sydney has designed more plain concrete driveways in Chatswood than any other locality on the North Shore.

The ornate brickwork of many homes on the North Shore channels design as a driveway renovation. Plain concrete is used as it is a subtle driveway finish. Plain or grey concrete keeps the emphasis on the façade of your home and makes brickwork visually stand out.

Interestingly, driveways in the Hills District is split between traditional plain concrete driveways and decorative concrete driveways. With many new homes built in the late 80’s in the Hills District, designing concrete driveways for us concreters at this time focused on layout. Colour concrete finishes for driveways in Sydney where yet to emerge, design focused on utilising space as many homes in the Hills District where built on large blocks.

Building construction in the Hills District at this time was when home footprint sizes began to expand in Sydney; it was the predecessor and influenced large home design of Western Sydney. Typically concrete driveway design for large homes is based on decorative finishes.

The Hills District is unique in that large homes can be found with plain concrete driveways. A legacy of this concrete and homebuilding design period is new driveways in the Hills District are often designed with plain concrete. It is still common in Baulkham Hills to build driveways in plain concrete. This preference is due to many homes in Baulkham Hills where built just prior to the introduction of coloured concrete in Sydney.

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Influence of The Hills District, Parklea, Glenwood and Ryde on Driveway Design

Concrete driveways have taken a greater role in the presentation of homes. Driveways in Sydney at a time were associated with the grey colour of traditional plain concrete. Driveways are commonly built with concrete as it is a practical and durable material.

As concreters for 40 years, we have seen concrete driveway design progress from essentially a functional space to where driveways are now seen as a design element in the presentation of your property.

Plain concrete being naturally grey in colour is the traditional look of concrete. Plain concrete is a timeless finish with a utilitarian appearance. Plain concrete can work as an aesthetic design element, however today there are a multitude of decorative finishes that you can use to easily blend with your home and landscape design.        

Concrete driveways in Sydney aesthetically became more prominent in the early 90’s. The Hills District, Parklea and Glenwood now part of the North West Sydney region, where the pioneering areas for decorative concrete.

Decorative concrete became the go to choice for residential concreting. With the high volume of new home construction in the Hills District as well as the residential development of North West Sydney at the time, new home owners in this period where at the forefront in optioning custom decorative driveway design.

Designing a driveway became an extension of the new home construction process. New home owners in this period leaned towards driveway options that carried over the characteristics of their home building design.

The concrete designer driveway period was born. Driveway aesthetic designs in this period leaned towards brick pattern driveways that resembled the brickwork style of the home. Colouring was also based on the brickwork colour of the home.

Driveway colours such as brick red, burgundy, sandstone, sandy beige and terracotta were well liked during this driveway design period. In contrast, a green colour concrete driveway although not common was seen as a way to differentiate from the common favorites.

Uniquely, driveways in Ryde was where the majority of green coloured concrete construction projects were completed. The preference for green coloured concrete sets Ryde apart in concrete design.
  
The suburbs surrounding Ryde such as West Ryde, Denistone, Denistone East, Denistone West, Eastwood and Marsfield have the highest concentration of green coloured concrete driveways in Sydney.

Understanding how the Ryde area developed this preference for green coloured concrete is difficult to pinpoint as it was different to the driveway design preferences of the time.

Historically Ryde was an agricultural district. This agricultural past of Ryde is evident today in the greenness of parks and open spaces compared with other localities in Sydney. Continuing with the green theme, the origins of the Granny Smith apple came from within the Ryde district in Eastwood.

Another nod to the past is Ryde Council and its use of green colour in signage and infrastructure throughout the Ryde local government area. The Ryde district and its affinity for the colour green go hand in hand with its historical past and geographical features.

Ryde has left its mark on concrete design language in Sydney.

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Benefits of a Concrete Driveway

Choosing to build your driveway with concrete is a wise choice.
Below is a list of benefits building a driveway in concrete:

- The most popular material to build a new driveway is with concrete.
- A concrete driveway increases outdoor useable space.
- A concrete driveway is designed to handle the heavy weight of vehicles.
- Gives a clean passage, a concrete driveway limits dust and dirt from entering your home.
- Increases your home value. A concrete driveway also makes it easier to sell your home.
- Highly customisable with many designs and textures to create a unique concrete driveway.
- A concrete driveway is structural strong. Concrete mesh is used to make concrete keep its shape.
- Adds curb appeal. A concrete driveway creates a clean and manicured look.
- Minimal maintenance is needed for a concrete driveway, save time and money on ongoing upkeep.
- Works well in any weather, wet or hot weather a concrete driveway is a durable and reliable material.
- Can be cast to any shape to make your concrete driveway suit with its surrounds.
- Concrete driveways are eco-friendly and recyclable.
- Large range of concrete colours available to get the right look for your concrete driveway.
- A concrete driveway can be styled to suit traditional and modern homes.
- A concrete driveway reflects heat making it comfortable to walk on during summer.
- A new concrete driveway build is a quick and easy renovation project.
- A concrete driveway improves the way you interact with your home.
- On slope blocks a concrete driveway can be built for added grip to improve usability.
- A concrete driveway absorbs vibration and sound transfer from vehicles to minimise noise pollution.
- A concrete driveway is resistant to rain, fire, wind and also termites.
- Concrete is an inert construction material. A concrete driveway will not burn, rot, feed mildew or off-gas volatile organic compounds.
- With stamped concrete, a concrete driveway can look like pavers or cobblestone without the ongoing maintenance of block paving.

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Concreting Ryde

Concreting Sydey has completed many driveways in Ryde. We have a long partnership with Ryde Council completing their concreting projects.

As an established concreter in Ryde, we have completed concrete projects to a varying degree and scale. The Ryde area has such a mixed land use. Concrete projects range from concreting for a heritage cottage to heavy duty concrete for a commercial estate.

Concreting in Ryde and for Ryde Council, are our most custom projects in Sydney. Our experience can assist getting your project meet site specific Ryde Council standards.

As Ryde has many land uses, concreting for Ryde Council looks at standardising driveway finishes. Style wise this makes our residential and commercial concrete contractor projects for Ryde Council be in plain concrete.

What is unique about concreting in Ryde is that residential and commercial zones are intertwined. This makes plain concrete more suitable for Ryde as a blending of concrete standards aesthetically work better with plain concrete.

Due to Ryde being much older than other Sydney districts, land zoning took a different approach. Ryde commercial zones were designed as many little localised hubs. As the Ryde district covers a large land area this made sense as transport options where limited at the time. As population grew, the concrete Ryde style meant that commercial and residential concrete needed to compliment each other. This mix of land uses close to each other makes our experience concreting in Ryde get your project completed seamlessly.

Concrete driveway options for residential and commercial projects in Ryde are different to other localities. Ryde has its own unique requirements. Our residential concrete work in Ryde is where driveway finishes are more flexible. Driveway finishes inside the property boundary can include decorative or coloured concrete.

A coloured concrete driveway is a popular option. Coloured concrete like a charcoal driveway or black driveway can be done in the Ryde district. In contrast to a charcoal and black driveway is green coloured concrete. Green coloured concrete is popular for driveway concreting in Ryde. Whereas black concrete is the go to choice in other parts of Sydney, this is not the case in Ryde where green colour concrete is more popular than black concrete.

Our concreter Ryde projects is where the most green coloured concrete is used in Sydney.

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All About Slabs Concrete

A concrete slab driveway is a type of an ground slab. We use specialised form work for concreting a drive. Our form work covers long spans which is important for driveway work.

Form work can be rigid timber or made from flexible plastic. Form work for a driveway is usually placed on the outside perimeter. The form work for a driveway slab is supported by the ground it rests on.

We tend to use hardwood timber pegs to hold the formwork in place for concrete pouring. Timber pegs are hammered into the ground. This is important as it keeps form work rigid, level and in place during a drive pour.

The steel collar on timber pegs that you may have seen on construction sites is to increase the strength and durability of the peg. Metal collars also reduce the chance of timber pegs splitting and helps maintain the square shape of the peg.

For slabs concrete, we can also use other anchoring devices to keep form work edge boards in position. Steel form work pins are used in such places where there is minimal space to hammer and secure form work in place. Star pickets can also be used in the same way.

There are instances where slabs concrete does not require form work at all. A semi in ground pool slab is an example where we do not need to place form work. As the slab is placed in a excavated hole under the ground, the perimeter of the excavated hole acts as the form work in these type of slabs. As there is no form work to provide a guide during concrete pouring, we use a laser level to get a semi in ground pool slab flat and to the required height.

Another example where a slab does not need form work is basement storage space slabs. To get a basement concrete slab ready for pouring usually involves excavating and removing the soil from under the house. The brick work foundation walls act as the form work.

Basement concrete slabs are usually built as added storage space for large items. Slab pouring in these types of settings require a level concrete surface. This achieves increased floor space for your home without the need to do extensive home renovations.

We can build and form numerous shapes for slabs. The traditional shapes for concrete slabs are square and rectangle. Square and rectangle concrete slabs are well suited for carport slabs and shed slabs. Slabs concrete is a base for building a structure above it. A flat concrete slab makes it easier to build something onto it such as for spa slabs and basement slabs.

Slabs concrete get its structural strength from the steel reinforcement in the slab. The type of steel reinforcement used for slabs can vary. A concrete slab driveway requires different steel reinforcement specifications to a concrete slab roof.

Concreting a drive, does not require slab pouring with concrete foundations. Concreting a drive such as a plain concrete driveway is the most basic form of slabs concrete. Driveway slabs need less steel reinforcing requirements compared with other types of slabs. This makes driveway slabs cost less than other types of concrete slabs.

If you are after an economical concrete quote, as concrete experts we do numerous plain concrete driveway styles.

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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