Concrete paths and steps in Ferntree Gully

Paths that follow how you live

Good paths follow the routes you walk every day: car to front door, back door to clothesline, house to shed, bins to the street. On sloping Ferntree Gully blocks, those routes often include steps.

Front paths

A front path sets the tone of the house. Exposed aggregate matching the driveway ties the frontage together; a stencil or stamped path suits weatherboard cottages; a simple broom path suits brick veneer homes.

Side paths

Side paths carry bins and barrows and collect water from roofs and neighbouring yards. We make them wide enough, grippy, and set with falls away from the house to a drain or pit. They must sit below weep holes and leave termite inspection zones visible.

Concrete steps

On sloping blocks, steps are everywhere: from the street to the front door, from the back door to the lawn, between terraces. We set every riser to the same height, make treads deep enough for a full foot, tool the nosings, and use broom or aggregate finishes for grip. Handrails are recommended on longer or steeper flights.

Landings

Landings at doors, gates and changes of direction make steps safer and more comfortable.

Tree roots

Roots lift paths. We route away from big trees where possible and use root barriers where needed.

Accessibility

Gentle grades, level landings and wider paths help older residents and anyone using a walker, wheelchair or pram. Ramps can replace steps where space allows.

Replacing old paths

Older homes often have narrow, cracked or lifted paths and uneven steps. We remove them, fix the base and drainage, and pour new ones at a better width and level.

Services under paths

If garden lighting or irrigation is planned, conduits laid before the pour save cutting later.

Quotes

After a visit we send a written quote listing each path and flight of steps.

Planning steps on a slope

The total rise and length available decide how many steps are needed and how deep each tread can be. On steep Ferntree Gully front yards, we sometimes break a long flight into shorter runs with landings, or wind the path across the slope to reduce the number of steps. Each riser is set to the same height, because an odd step catches people out.

Lighting

Step lights or path lights make steps safer at night. Conduits can be laid before the pour.

Drainage on paths and steps

Each tread falls slightly forward to shed water, and paths fall away from the house to pits or garden beds. Grates at the bottom of steps catch runoff.

Handrails

Handrails can be fixed into the concrete or onto footings beside the steps. We plan their position before the pour.

Matching steps to the house

Steps can be finished to match a driveway, a patio or the front porch. Stone-look stamped treads suit older homes, while crisp honed or broom steps with square edges suit modern facades. Contrasting nosing strips help people see each edge in low light.

Paths around pools and play areas

Pool surrounds and play areas need non-slip finishes and smooth, rounded edges. We keep paths clear of pool fence footings and leave room for gates to swing.

Foothill ground, rain and councils

Ferntree Gully sits where the Knox plains run up into the Dandenong Ranges. Below the lawns on the lower streets you usually find heavy grey and orange clay that holds water through winter and splits open in a hot February. Higher up toward Upper Ferntree Gully, Upwey and The Basin, the soil is a stony, brown hillside clay over weathered rock, and the slopes send a surprising amount of water downhill every time it rains. Old cut-and-fill from earlier house builds adds another variable. We dig a test hole on every property, take the soft material out, rebuild with compacted crushed rock chosen for what we found, and shape the surface so water always has somewhere to go.

Inside your own boundary, most driveways, paths and patios need no permit. The crossover, kerb and council footpath always do, and that consent comes from Knox City Council for most of our area or the Shire of Yarra Ranges for Upwey and parts of Upper Ferntree Gully, Lysterfield and The Basin fringe. House slabs, large garages and many retaining walls go through a building surveyor with engineering. Bushfire and vegetation overlays affect parts of the hills. Your quote names whatever applies.

What our Ferntree Gully quotes spell out

You will not get a single number scribbled on a business card. Our written quote breaks the job into the pieces that actually drive the outcome: the area in square metres, breaking out and disposing of whatever is there now, how far down we dig, the class and depth of crushed rock, slab thickness and the steel inside it, the finish or stone blend you chose, the joint plan, each drain, pit and length of pipe, step and edge work, sealing, and any Knox or Yarra Ranges paperwork. If the site needs a line pump, a long barrow run or protection for a neighbour's driveway, that is listed too.

We keep square-metre rates off this website on purpose. In the foothills, the work hidden below the finished surface varies hugely between two blocks in the same street: one might be firm and flat, the next steep, wet and full of old fill. Pricing sight unseen means guessing, and a guess ends up either padded or short. After a visit we can price the real job.