Paving Fremantle
Fremantle sits on limestone under the oldest housing on this list, and paving both at once is the job. Cottages built well before anybody thought about side access, on ground that is often solid rock a spade's depth down.
- Side paths under a metre, so barrow only
- Rock will not soak, so it needs a drain
- Heritage checked before the frontage
Get a price for Fremantle
A photo of the area and a rough size is enough to price it.
The paving we do in Fremantle
Same crew and the same method behind all of it. What changes between these is the base under them, the load they take and how much of the work is cutting.
Pool paving
The surround, laid wet on a full mortar bed so it stays flat and stays put when the ground moves.
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Pool coping and capping
The edge that everyone touches and everyone looks at. Cut to the curve, not forced around it.
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Driveway paving
Large-format porcelain and natural stone, bedded to take a car rather than to look right on day one.
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Alfresco and outdoor living
Inside floor level carried out through the door so the room does not stop at the threshold.
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Replacing failed dry lay
Lifting paving that has sunk, rocked or spread, and relaying it properly. About half of what we do.
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Wet laid, on a full bed
Every paver goes down on a full bed of wet mortar across its whole underside, over a base compacted to carry what will sit on it. No voids under the middle, nothing to rock, nothing for water to get into and sit in.
It is slower than screeding sand and laying onto it, and it costs more on the day. It is also the only version of this that is still flat in ten years, which is why it is the only version we do.
Every paver, every job, on a full bed of mortar.
Limestone, and no way in
Central suburbs
Limestone closer to the surface, older housing stock, mature trees and access measured in centimetres.
Fremantle sits on limestone and it does not sit far above it. On plenty of these blocks a base dig is through a shallow sand cap and straight into rock, which is stable ground and an immovable one.
Building over it means going up rather than down, and it means the water has to be given somewhere to go, because rock will not take it. On a walled courtyard with no fall to a garden bed, that becomes the design question rather than an afterthought.
Then there is the housing. A Fremantle cottage was built to the boundary on both sides in a lot of cases, and the side path is frequently under eight hundred millimetres. Everything comes in and goes out through that.
Three things that change a job in Fremantle
01
Under a metre, both sides
A narrow side path makes it a barrow job, sometimes a bucket job. It is slower and it is quoted honestly rather than discovered on the morning.
02
Heritage on the frontage
Fremantle has extensive heritage listing and character protection. Front paving on a listed property may need approval, and confirming that with the City is the owner's step before material is ordered.
03
Water off a rock base
Courtyards on limestone need a real drainage answer, because the ground underneath will not soak. Falls, a drain, or both, decided at design rather than at the end.
Frequently asked questions about our paving services
Where Fremantle sits
Fremantle and everything around it. If your street is on the edge of the boundary, it makes no difference to us: ask anyway.
We also pave nearby
Every area we cover
Tell us the street in Fremantle and send a photo
The suburb tells us the ground and the likely access. The photo tells us the job. Together they are usually enough to talk about a real number rather than a range.