Five: clay brick pavers, concrete pavers, limestone, travertine and porcelain. Clay and concrete take the bulk of it, because that is what the Western Australian manufacturers make — Midland Brick, Brikmakers and Austral Bricks all sell paving out of WA yards (checked August 2026). Limestone, travertine and porcelain turn up on patios, pool surrounds and paths far more often than on driveways. Well Laid Paving Perth lays across the Perth metro area: all our paving services.
Clay brick pavers
A clay paver is a brick fired from natural clay, so the colour is the fired body rather than a coating on top of it. Midland Brick’s heavy duty clay pavers are 60 mm thick and are specified for domestic driveways with a suitable sub-base, and for paths, patios, courtyards and alfresco areas (midlandbrick.com.au, checked August 2026). That one unit covers most of what a Perth house needs.
Midland Brick states its products meet dimensional tolerances under AS/NZS 4455, the standard for masonry units and pavers (checked August 2026). You cannot see tolerance in a display yard, but it decides whether a few hundred square metres holds its joint lines.
Clay is what Well Laid Paving Perth lays most of, in Yokine, Guildford, Spearwood, Gosnells, Nollamara and Forrestfield — usually a light field with a darker contrasting border, and never a charcoal where bare feet cross an unroofed area.
Concrete pavers
A concrete paver is cast rather than fired, and its colour comes from oxide pigment mixed through the concrete. That difference has one honest consequence, stated plainly by the manufacturer: Midland Brick’s guidance is that “concrete pavers may fade over time, sealing is recommended to reduce staining and preserve colour” (midlandbrick.com.au, checked August 2026).
What concrete gives back is format. Brikmakers, at South Guildford, sells concrete segmental paving alongside clay bricks and limestone blocks (brikmakers.com, checked August 2026), in large flagstone and plank sizes that fired clay does not come in.
Is clay or concrete the better paver in Perth?
Neither, in the abstract. It comes down to three things: whether you will ever seal the paving, what size unit you want, and what your council accepts on the crossover. Clay holds colour because the colour is the fired clay itself; concrete offers the bigger formats and its own maker recommends sealing.
Both are laid the same way, on the same base, by the same crew. The driveway side of the decision is in brick, concrete and liquid limestone compared for Perth driveways.
Limestone
In Perth, limestone means two different products. Limestone blocks build retaining walls and garden edging, which is where Well Laid Paving Perth uses it — walls in Karrinyup and Ellenbrook. Reconstituted limestone pavers are a cast product made to read as the local stone: UrbanStone’s Limestone Reef standard paver is 400 × 400 × 40 mm (urbanstone.com.au, checked August 2026).
It is also the rock under a lot of Perth. Geoscience Australia’s Perth Basin geology review (2005) records the Tamala Limestone underlying the Spearwood dune system and leached at its upper surface, which is why the coastal and north-western suburbs sit on cap rock at shallow depth — what’s under your paving in this part of Perth.
Limestone is calcium carbonate, so acid attacks it, and Midland Brick advises sealing pavers “to protect against wear, staining, and salt attack, especially in coastal or harsh environments” (checked August 2026). See limestone retaining walls and garden edging.
Travertine
Travertine is a natural stone laid down by mineral springs rather than in the sea. The US Geological Survey’s Yellowstone Volcano Observatory article of 23 May 2021 defines it as “a form of limestone composed of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are both made of calcium carbonate”. Perth buys it pale and tumbled, usually in the four-size French pattern — the North Perth path Well Laid Paving Perth laid is one.
Being a carbonate stone, it behaves like limestone: porous, and etched by acid. Never let muriatic acid or a sandblaster near either — how to clean and care for pavers.
Porcelain
Porcelain pavers are fired ceramic made at the low-absorption end of the ceramic classification. ISO 13006:2018 (third edition, September 2018) places dry-pressed tiles absorbing 0.5% of their mass in water or less into Group BIa. Low absorption is why porcelain resists staining and salt, which is what puts it around pools. Outdoor porcelain sells as a 20 mm paver rather than as indoor tile (Australian supplier ranges checked August 2026).
You will also be quoted a figure for porcelain absorbing a set percentage less heat than stone. We have not traced it to a manufacturer’s test, so we do not repeat it — the evidence that does exist is in which pavers stay coolest underfoot in Perth.
Perth paving materials compared
The five materials a Perth homeowner chooses between, and the thing to watch on each.
| Material | What it is | Where it suits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clay pavers | Fired clay; colour is the body | Driveways, crossovers, paths, alfrescos | Brick formats only; batch variation |
| Concrete pavers | Cast concrete; oxide pigment in the mix | Driveways, patios, large-format work | Maker recommends sealing for colour |
| Limestone | Blocks for walls; cast units for paving | Retaining walls, edging, paths, patios | Porous; etched by acid |
| Travertine | Natural spring-deposited limestone | Patios, pool surrounds, French pattern paths | Porous; needs sealing |
| Porcelain | Fired ceramic, 20 mm outdoor paver format | Patios, pool surrounds | Not named on crossover material lists |
Which materials can go on a driveway or crossover?
Clay and concrete pavers, on the councils we work to. The City of Stirling’s residential crossover guidelines (revision 6 January 2023) name clay or concrete pavers rated for heavy duty vehicular traffic, plain grey pre-mix and colour-incorporated concrete, flagstone, and — subject to AS 1379 — liquid limestone and exposed aggregate. Porcelain is not named on that list, and asphalt is not permitted at all.
Thickness is set separately. The City of Wanneroo’s brick paved residential crossover information sheet (correct as of July 2025) requires a minimum 60 mm heavy duty paving unit over a minimum 100 mm crushed limestone or rock sub-base. We lay 60 mm across the whole driveway, not just the verge. Council by council: what your council requires for a crossover.
Grip, heat and salt: what changes with the material
Slip resistance is measured, not guessed. AS 4586 classifies new pedestrian surface materials from P0 to P5 on the wet pendulum test, and A, B or C on the wet barefoot ramp test. ACO Australia’s slip resistance guide (acodrain.com.au, checked August 2026), reproducing the HB 198 recommendations, sets a minimum of P4 and B for swimming pool surrounds and P5 and C for pool ramps and stairs.
Ask the yard for the classification in writing before you order for a pool surround. Heat is the other one people get wrong: colour beats material, and everything on this page runs hot in charcoal.
What Well Laid Paving Perth lays
Clay and concrete pavers are the bulk of it, across the Perth metro, for homeowners and builders including Summit Projects, Dale Alcock Homes, Atrium Homes and Promenade Construction. We also build limestone retaining walls and edging, and lay natural stone. Marc Radaic quotes every job himself and we never sub-contract.
Get a free quote
Tell us the area in square metres, what the space is used for and which materials you are weighing up, and Marc will price them against each other on site. Bring a sample if you have one. Well Laid Paving Perth works across the Perth metro, Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 5:00pm. Call 0448 440 229 or get a free paving quote. What we do: all our paving services.
Sources checked: August 2026.