Whether you’re building a house or planning a long-overdue home makeover, you might be thinking about renovating your driveway.

But when is the best time to do it?

While pouring the perfect concrete might be an exact science, when to do it certainly isn’t.

So there is no hard and fast answer. The best time to renovate, is any time that best suits you.

Although this means you can build a concrete driveway, entertainment or alfresco area any time of the year, there are still some considerations to take into account to help you choose the perfect time to pour.

Weather

While it is ideal to have optimal weather conditions for pouring concrete, there are many benefits to renovating driveways and outdoor areas in the cooler months too.

Perhaps best of all, getting your outdoor spaces finished in the winter means more time to enjoy it with friends and family when summer comes around.

Home Value

Upgrading the outside of your home with renovations such as a new driveway or pathways could help increase the value of your home sooner, improving the curbside appeal of your home for potential buyers, should you decide to sell.

Timing

Will you be working on the renovations yourself? If you’re hiring contractors and planning a big project, do you have time to oversee it? Or will you need to engage a site manager?

These are important but often overlooked considerations to factor in when deciding on a timeline for your project.

Budget

Your budget can also influence when the best time will be for your concrete pour. Can you afford to do it now, or do you need more time to save?

A common mistake renovators make is leaving the outdoor jobs until it’s too late. They prioritise walls, floors and doors, break the budget inside, leaving outside looking old and outdated.

If you have the budget available, stick to your limits, set deadlines, and avoid ending up with an unfinished driveway, garden or outdoor area.

Double Up

Staged renovating is popular for budget-conscious renovators. You might be planning to build a new driveway now, saving for some garden steps in six months and a new entertaining area next year.

But you could save more money by combining all of these projects into one.

Geostone offers decorative concrete in a range of coloured concrete and exposed aggregate finishes for a wide array of outdoor projects, including pool surrounds and footpaths, as well as honed and polished concrete to add style and sophistication to your home.

So the best time to renovate your driveway might be right now.

Contact Geostone today and we’ll help get you on your way to a brand new driveway.

Decorative concrete provides a surface with long-term appeal, and we’re not just talking about the way it looks. As an investment, it could pay off handsomely down the track, thanks to its durability and value adding qualities.

A prime example of how decorative concrete can add value is the driveway. A great looking driveway is seen as a major street appeal enhancer, and this can raise home values accordingly. Given that a driveway is such an unmissable feature at the front of the home, it should be obvious that an investment in its visual appeal is a very smart one. Smarter still when you use the same material on an accompanying walkway, another prominent feature that can add lots of street appeal.

The trend towards using decorative concrete in other parts of the house further reflects the demand of potential home buyers who want surfaces that combine practicality with visual appeal; concrete pool surrounds not only provide a seamless exterior flow, they’re skid and UV resistant. Honed internal floors in wet areas such as laundries and bathrooms are a big selling point as they might be considered to be safer surfaces in family homes thanks to their skid resistance.

One of concrete’s greatest strengths is just that – strength. It can be a hard-wearing, long-lasting feature when installed properly and, with an eye to the future, this is another of its benefits. A lower maintenance surface, and one that will stay low-maintenance for a long period of time, is attractive to all parties: home owners and home buyers. At the same time, a strong and durable surface – a driveway for example – that looks as though it won’t need repairing or replacing any time soon is yet another example of value-adding street appeal.

More and more of us, as homebuyers, are looking for something other than labour-intensive and time-consuming homes requiring a regular dose of maintenance. While there is still a market for properties that need doing up, a growing percentage of the population just want to move in and start living. Time spent on working on a home is time not spent doing the things we enjoy. Therefore, investing in home improvements, that fit that low-maintenance, easy lifestyle ethos, are good for you as an owner and, one day, as a potential vendor. Using something as durable and as strong as decorative concrete is a big step in that direction, simply because it can be applied in so many areas: driveways, walkways, patios, pool decks, external floors, and internal floors in both living areas and wet areas. That’s a whole lot of lower maintenance in one home!

Whether you intend to stay in your home for life, or whether you want to improve it with an eye to the market, decorative concrete appeals as a good long-term investment. It can save time and money, and add value and downtime. As an investment, it’s hard to beat those sorts of dividends.

Decades ago, having a large swimming pool installed in the backyard would have made you the talk of the neighbourhood and everyone in your street keenly awaiting an invitation to pop over for a swim and barbecue. A swimming pool back then was such an exciting novelty that not much consideration was given to the décor of the pool’s surrounds. These days the backyard pool, its beautifully manicured decking and surrounding landscape, is seen as an extension of your home; a unique statement about the life you live. Australians love their swimming pools. A survey in 2015 found that more than 20 per cent of Australian families (with children aged 12 to 15) own a swimming pool. Renowned for sweltering summer temperatures that regularly surpass the 40-degree mark, Perth is Australia’s swimming-pool heartland.

Well-built swimming pools can last for years but gradually lose their lustre as the outer surrounds show signs of weathering, the coping edges begin to falter and tiles start to crack and lift. Often all that’s needed is a spruce and freshen up. A resurfacing of the surrounds or refitting of new waterline tiles can make your pool like new again. Sooner or later every pool needs some renewal work done, whether for practical reasons or purely cosmetic ones.

Keeping in mind that any swimming pool construction, renovation, alteration or repairs should only be carried out by certified contractors, here are some things to consider if you’re looking at giving your swimming pool area a makeover.

RENOVATE OR GET A NEW POOL

Do you need to renovate your pool and/or surrounds or would it be more practical to install a whole new one of different size and shape? A dramatic transformation is very much like installing a new pool, but without the added expense of removing the old one. Aesthetics aside, are you happy with the existing pool? Basically, there’s not much you can do in a new pool installation that you can’t do in a remodel, but of course the more extreme the makeover, the more it will cost. A quality renovation that goes beyond resurfacing the pool surrounds and garden landscape may not be much cheaper than the cost of a newly installed pool and landscape. You may need to consider if your pool’s operating mechanisms of pump, filter, plumbing and cleaning systems need an overhaul to bring up to current standards, or if your pool’s interior linings and waterline tiles have to be replaced.

PLAN YOUR POOL RENOVATIONS

So, the pool you once treated as your personal water gymnasium and a place to work out is now primarily a place of relaxation and entertainment. Be mindful of your current lifestyle and how you plan to use the pool. In the planning stages of your pool renovations, consider:

• What your budget is – Does your budget allow for a major pool overhaul, fencing and new garden or are you limited to updating pool surrounds and adding some inexpensive decorative touches like new furniture and LED lights. A concrete pour presents great value for pool surrounds that cover an extensive area, whereas a layout made of pavers and bricks can be an expensive labour-intensive task.
• What types of surrounds – Resurfacing pool surrounds provides excellent value for money in the way it can dramatically improve the look and function of your pool. There are several choices for the outer area of your pool: stone; imitation stone; wood decking; pavers and tiles. Safe skid resistant surfaces are the best choice for wet areas. Decorative concrete is an economically viable choice – it comes in a wide range of colours and textured finishes. Geostone’s wide range of exposed aggregate mixes highlights the raw texture of stone on a skid resistant surface.
• Future maintenance – There are many tough and long-lasting pool paving materials available but most will require regular maintenance in order to keep your pool surrounds in mint condition. Timber decks require re-coatings of protective oils, cracked tiles will need replacing. A well sealed decorative concrete deck should only need the occasional scrub and rinse to keep it as clean and fresh as the day it was installed.

POOL LANDSCAPING

How much space do you need for the pool surrounds? What areas are going to get hot sun for most of the day? Avoid leaf-shedding plants and large trees that will need lopping to prevent them shading the water and dropping materials into the pool. Use plantings to conceal pumps and equipment or unattractive fencing. Your tall exotic palm may be better suited providing shade over your favourite deckchair where you like to lounge and read. Try to balance soft and hard finishes – use pot plants and planters to diminish the harshness of a rendered brick wall.

• Water features – As well as upping the fun factor for you and the kids, pool features such as waterfalls and bubblers, a water slide or diving board are relatively easy to maintain and add to your pool’s visual appeal.
• Pool lighting – Really bring your pool area to life after dark. A wide range of LED, flush-mounted and multi-coloured underwater lights can impact and complement as well as make your pool areas safer.