Concreters in Bolwarra, 2320
Bolwarra is 6.8 km north-north-east of Maitland across the Hunter River, and Bolwarra Heights climbs the ridge beyond it about 5 km north of the CBD. Paterson Road skirts the old village and runs past the lookout towards Dunmore House, the Lang brothers’ Georgian homestead, and Westbourne Road was laid out by 1876 as an approach to Bolwarra House. It is two markets: a village of timber-clad houses inside a heritage conservation area, and a newer family suburb on the Heights where more than half of homes carry a mortgage.
A spur, a ridge and the floodway
Council’s heritage guidelines describe residential Bolwarra as a rectangular spur above the floodplain, west of Paterson Road, edged by Flat Road, Ekert Lane and Oakhampton Road, and the Heights sit on a ridge overlooking the Paterson River. NSW SES notes that the Bolwarra floodway steers floodwater away from Maitland through spillways and control banks, and lists both suburbs as flooding frequently. The spur is likely the firmer ground; the lane edges are river soil that needs a compacted base, falls and joints.
Work on generous lots
Bolwarra Heights is still adding large-lot subdivisions on Tocal Road, Lang Drive and Paterson Road, so much of the work is a first driveway on a cut and filled block, then a shed or garage slab, with the fill confirmed as compacted before the pour. In the village the jobs are paths and replacement driveways on the smaller lots subdivided after the 1955 flood, a patio or alfresco slab under a new roof, and removal and replacement on the post-1970s streets.
Finishes for a village and a ridge
Inside the Bolwarra Heritage Conservation Area council’s guidelines take an interest in what fronts the street, and Maitland’s heritage crossing drawings call for Morpeth Mix concrete with kerb stones left in place, so a front driveway or path there may carry extra conditions and should be quoted to the heritage drawing if council requires it. Most Bolwarra streets have concrete kerb and gutter with lawn verges, which keeps the crossing itself standard. Plain broom finish belongs on the timber-clad streets, coloured concrete suits the post-1955 subdivisions, and exposed aggregate matches the big new homes on the Heights.
Bolwarra and Bolwarra Heights rates
Supplied and laid, the square-metre rates are $90 to $130 for paths, $95 to $185 for a driveway depending on finish, $130 to $185 for exposed aggregate, $100 to $180 for patios and alfresco, shed and garage slabs at $110 to $150, and about $35 more for removal. The price mover on the Heights is the long driveway, since a large lot means more metres from kerb to garage; in the village, the heritage crossing. Try the calculator first, then the cost guide, followed by the Section 138 guide, the specification, and the Hunter clay guide before pouring on the low edges.
Nearby: Maitland, Aberglasslyn, Morpeth