What a driveway around here should be made of

Base

Concrete only ever performs as well as what is under it. Topsoil, turf and soft fill come out to firm natural ground. On the clay that underlies most of the inland suburbs, a layer of road base of about 100 mm is spread and compacted in one lift, and where the ground is wet or the block is cut at one side and built up with fill at the other, the fill side is compacted in layers rather than trusted. On the sand near the coast the base is thinner but the edges are confined, because sand runs. Whatever the ground, the finished base is level, compacted and slightly above any water that collects on the block.

Steel

SL72 mesh, the standard residential driveway sheet, set on bar chairs so that it sits in the upper part of the slab with cover on all sides. Mesh laid on the ground and "pulled up" during the pour ends up on the ground, doing nothing. Sheets are lapped by at least two squares. Where the slab thickens at an edge or a heavy load is expected, trench mesh or bars are added.

Thickness

100 mm inside the boundary for cars and light vehicles. 125 mm where a boat trailer, a caravan or a heavy van will park, and always at a Lake Macquarie crossing. 150 mm only where a truck will run, which for a house is rare. A quote that says 75 mm or "standard thickness" without a number is a quote to query.

Concrete

25 MPa at 28 days, which is what both councils specify for the crossing and what this site expects for the whole driveway. Slump and aggregate size are the concreter's call for the finish; what matters to you is that water is not added on site to make the pour easier, because added water is lost strength.

Joints

All concrete shrinks and cracks. Joints decide where. Control joints are cut or tooled at no more than 3 metres in each direction, at least a quarter of the slab deep, laid out so that no panel is much longer than it is wide and so that the cuts line up with the corners of the garage and any pits. Isolation joints separate the driveway from the garage slab, the house and any pit. The council crossing gets a joint at the boundary, which is also where a decorative finish stops.

Falls and drainage

Water leaves a driveway by design or by accident. The slab falls away from the garage and the house at not less than 1 in 100, and where the block falls towards the garage a grated strip drain across the threshold catches what the fall sends down. Lake Macquarie caps the crossing grade at 20 percent; both councils expect the transitions at the kerb and the garage to follow AS 2890.1 so that a car does not scrape.

Finish

Plain is broom finished across the direction of travel with tooled edges. Coloured is oxide through the mix, broom finished, sealed if wanted. Exposed aggregate is retarded, washed the next day to a depth that leaves the stone held, then sealed. On the crossing the finish is whatever the council allows, which is set out below.

The crossing, council by council

	City of Newcastle	Lake Macquarie City Council
Application	Section 138 (Type 1) application for a driveway and, if needed, a road opening permit	Minor Public Works application, "Application for access to property", under Section 138
Slab	100 mm minimum, 25 MPa	125 mm minimum, 25 MPa, dowelled to the kerb
Mesh	SL72 in the top of the slab, 40 mm cover	SL72
Width	2.5 to 3.0 m for a single, 2.5 to 4.5 m for a double, set square to the kerb	Between 3.0 m and 4.0 m at the kerb, wings not counted, up to 5.0 m at the boundary
Grade	Set by the approval letter with AS 2890.1; a 1.2 m band at 1 in 40 kept for a footpath	No steeper than 1 in 5 unless council allows it; transitions to AS/NZS 2890.1
Finish	Plain broom finish. Coloured, exposed aggregate and stencilled may be considered. Stamped concrete and sealer not permitted.	Plain preferred. Coloured or stencilled when sealed non-slip. Exposed aggregate only with 75 percent or more rhyolite or basalt. Council reinstates plain grey only.
Inspection	Formwork inspection before the pour, booked with council	Before or after the pour, as the approval letter names

The application for each is covered in the Section 138 guide. Checked September 2026.

Mine subsidence

A large part of both council areas sits inside a proclaimed mine subsidence district. For a driveway that changes little: Subsidence Advisory NSW exempts driveways and hard stand spaces from its approval under every surface development guideline other than 4 and 5. A garage, a shed or a retaining wall over a metre high is a different question. The district maps are general; the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer gives a property answer.

Curing and first use

Concrete gains its strength over about four weeks and most of it in the first. The slab is kept from drying too fast for the first days, foot traffic is fine the day after, and cars stay off it for about a week, longer in cold weather. Sealer on a decorative finish goes on once the slab has dried through.

What to have written on a quote

1. Slab thickness inside the boundary and at the crossing, in millimetres.
2. Mesh type and that it is on chairs.
3. Concrete strength in MPa.
4. Base material and depth.
5. Joint spacing.
6. Finish, and where a decorative finish stops.
7. Who prepares, lodges and pays for the council application.
8. Whether removal of the old slab is included, and at what rate.

Price the job against the cost guide once those eight lines are in.