Wantirna Concrete

A long local history

Wantirna was first settled by Europeans in 1840, when Madeline Scott set up the "Bushy Park" cattle run on the banks of Dandenong Creek. Other pioneers followed in the 1870s. By 1912 the growing population needed a school, so a timber schoolhouse opened on land donated by the Finger family on what is now Mountain Highway. Council set aside Wantirna Reserve in 1925. In December 1939, after the outbreak of the Second World War, West Prussia Road was renamed Wantirna Road.

Wantirna homes and their concrete

At the 2021 Census, about 90% of Wantirna's occupied dwellings were separate houses. Nearly half (49%) had four or more bedrooms, and the average household was 2.8 people. Townhouses made up just under 10% of dwellings, and flats were almost non-existent.

For a suburb of settled, detached family homes, the work we expect to do most often includes (inference from the housing profile):

• Driveway replacement where original driveways have cracked, sunk or been lifted by roots. Driveway replacement →
• Front paths and entry steps that set off a renovated facade. Paths and footpaths → · Steps and stairs →
• Backyard patios replacing old pavers or decking. Concrete patios →
• Garage floors and workshop slabs, including infill and carport slabs. Garage slabs →
• Resurfacing and sealing for concrete that's structurally sound but looks tired. Concrete resurfacing →

Replacing a driveway? The crossover counts too

Many Wantirna owners replacing a driveway also want the council crossover renewed so the whole run from garage to kerb matches. Because the crossover sits in the road reserve, the City of Knox's rules apply:

• Excavating the crossover needs a Road Opening Permit. That applies to replacement as well as new crossings, because the work involves digging in the road reserve.
• Changing the size or position needs written approval. Knox has a separate guideline for altering or widening an existing crossing.
• Boundary offset. Knox's new crossing guideline sets crossings 500 mm from the adjoining title boundary. That affects how close a widened crossing can go to your neighbour's side.
• Minimum width and clearances. At least 2.8 metres wide, and 1 metre from assets such as pits, poles and hydrants.
• Removing a redundant crossing. If your new layout makes an old crossing unnecessary, it's removed and the kerb reinstated at the owner's expense.

The application needs a site plan showing assets such as trees, pits, kerb and drains. Knox inspects before issuing the permit, and approved permits are emailed, usually within five business days. We'll make sure the permit is in place before any concrete in the road reserve is broken out. Knox road reserve works · Vehicle crossovers →

Designing the whole frontage

A new driveway is a good time to rethink the front of the house as a whole rather than one slab at a time. Things worth deciding together:

• One finish or two? Many owners use exposed aggregate or coloured concrete for the driveway and front path, and a plain broom finish for the side path and bin area. Decorative concrete →
• Borders and bands: a contrasting border, or a band of a different finish, can frame the driveway and link it to the path.
• Where the path meets the driveway: a single, well-graded junction is safer than a step or a trip lip.
• Garden edges: concrete garden edging along the driveway keeps mulch and soil off the new surface.
• Lighting and conduits: laying a conduit under the driveway now makes future garden lights, gate motors or irrigation easy.

Break-out and removal, done cleanly

Replacing an old driveway starts with removing it. On a typical Wantirna job, that means:

• saw-cutting a clean line where the new concrete will meet anything that's staying, such as a path, garage slab or neighbour's driveway
• breaking out and removing the old slab, with concrete recycled where facilities allow
• checking the subgrade, removing soft or root-affected material and re-compacting
• laying a new crossover and driveway on a fresh, well-compacted crushed-rock base

Planning the break-out properly protects your garage slab, front garden and the neighbour's side from damage. Old concrete removal →

Ground and drainage

We haven't found a published source on Wantirna's soils at street level, and we won't speculate. Research on Melbourne soils shows reactivity varies widely, even within one soil type. That's why slabs follow a site classification and every driveway gets proper subgrade preparation. Good falls and drainage, directing water away from the house and garage and towards the street or a pit, are part of every job.

Around Wantirna

EastLink runs through Wantirna, with interchanges at Boronia Road and Burwood Highway. Koomba Park, a large native bushland park between Dandenong Creek and EastLink run by Parks Victoria, opened in 1982 and is home to the Australian Jazz Museum. Knox Private Hospital is also in Wantirna. Schools include Wantirna College, Wantirna Primary, Regency Park Primary, Templeton Primary and St Luke's Primary. Neighbouring suburbs include Wantirna South, Vermont South, Vermont, Ringwood, Heathmont and Bayswater.