Paving & retaining in Mount Tarcoola.
Mount Tarcoola sits up on the rise south of the Geraldton city centre, and that elevation is the whole story for paving here: the blocks slope, the views are the reason people buy, and a lot of jobs need an engineered retaining wall before the paving even starts. We do both, on the same job.
The Mount Tarcoola paving story.
Sloping blocks mean retaining comes first.
More than anywhere else we work in Geraldton, a Mount Tarcoola job tends to start with a retaining wall. The suburb's elevation, which gives those sought after views out toward the Indian Ocean, also means a lot of blocks fall away across their width or depth. To get a level driveway, a level lawn or a usable backyard, you first have to hold the cut. That is structural work: over 500mm, or holding back a driveway or a neighbour's higher ground, it needs an engineer's design and a City of Greater Geraldton building permit. We size and lodge the retaining wall, then pave the level area it creates.
Driveways on a grade.
Sloping blocks also make for steeper driveways and crossovers. A paved driveway on a grade needs extra attention to falls, drainage and edge restraint so that water sheets off cleanly and the pavers cannot creep downhill over the years. We lay these in interlocking herringbone for the locking strength, with a concrete-haunched edge on the low side. It is the kind of detail that separates a driveway that still looks good in fifteen years from one that has crept and dished.
Wind and salt, even up here.
Mount Tarcoola is inland of the immediate coast, but the Geraldton sea breeze still reaches it most summer afternoons, and the elevation can mean it catches the wind harder, not softer. We use stabilised jointing sand and a properly compacted sub-base on every job so the joints do not scour out. For homes here we most often pave in clay brick for driveways and paths, with cool pale limestone for entries and any pool surround.
Typical Mount Tarcoola jobs.
- Engineered retaining wall plus a level paved area above it ($8K to $16K combined)
- Sloping-block driveway re-pave in interlocking herringbone
- Limestone pool surround on a terraced backyard
- Front-entry limestone with a matching brick path
- Terraced garden walls to create usable lawn on a falling block
Other service areas.
Free Mount Tarcoola measure and quote.
Sloping block? We will assess the cut, the retaining and the paving together, and price it as one job.