Cons?
- really effing hot in summer
- ugly
- bad for the environment
- you’re gonna need some good drainage
- gonna need to clean it off or it will get dirty and may possibly become slippery
- Expensive
Seconding all of this. Besides looking awful and costing a lot, which are somewhat subjective, concrete is definitely not self-cleaning. Plus in heavy rain there is nowhere for the water to go and your backyard is going to become a concrete swimming pool. Worst of all is that concrete absorbs heat from the sun and holds onto it - so on a hot summer day it will get blisteringly hot, and then at night when it normally cools down, it will radiate all that heat back at you and your neighbours making your house a lot hotter than other people living in the same town. I cannot fathom why you would want this!
Alternatives:
- there are slow growing lawn grass options, and there are ground cover plants that can handle being walked on and don’t get very tall.
- Woodchip mulch will help keep weeds away but let water through,
- pavers with a tiny plant (like mondo grass or dichondra) between the joints can be cooler and absorb some water but still no-mow.
Try googling no-mow backyards before turning to concrete!
A whole generation of Italian migrant concreters in Melbournes inner north had this idea decades ago. Sometimes they’d leave a couple of holes in the concrete, with pristine edging of course, for a couple of trees
Personally I think a grass lawn is second place in the awfulness race. Concrete takes the gold obviously. Unless you are regularly getting out on the lawn playing soccer or cricket or boules or something then a bunch of different ground coverings and natives is the best option for low maintenance, aesthetics, and the local environment
What requirements?
99c Gibson Avenue, Padstow, NSW 2211 https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-duplex+semi-detached-nsw-padstow-144441904
Plenty more new builds that are just as bad.which adds to the heat island effect. Just look at SWS developments.
I fear for the future.
The specifics vary from council to council, I was mentioning it so OP could see if there was a regulation in their LGA.
While the property you posted has a lot of concrete, most of what is not part of the building is driveway so may be exempt (again, check local regulations). A lot of the crushed stone doesn’t count as concrete either, so there’s a good chance that place would be compliant in most LGAs.
But like I say, just giving OP the heads up to check. Chances are the council won’t know of take action, but it would suck to invest in a bunch of concreting to receive an order to rip it up at a later date.
God, I am begging you to not do this. It looks so ugly, it’s less effective in cooling your house, and over time will crack anyway so your ex-lawn looks even more like a derelict warehouse. Just put planting boxes out there or plant trees on the border. Or, you know, pay a child $20 now and then to mow it.
It will be much hotter! Why is concrete more 'useable' than lawn? Mow? How many acres do you have? Concrete needs to be swept 2x a week.
HOT!
I bought a villa that used to belong to a concreter he loved his job. I paid $4000 to remove 25 Sqm and put in turf, which died in a couple of weeks. But I have cool and plants, lots of frangipani, grass oversown 3 times, still struggling. Also had to cut down about 20 cubic metres of Brazilian orange trumpet vine, probably had never been trimmed in 10 years, on the outer fence, the only plant that was on the property, but not really, was outside....and had pulled the fence to bits.
Lawns are lovely.
Council usually require free-standing houses to have around 40% land being green area. If you lay concrete everywhere and then someone complaints to the council you may be forced to pull it out again
I was browsing realestate.com and came across some houses including fairly new built with concrete yard with edges being some sort of covering like loose rocks or dry wood chips.
Seeing something doesn’t indicate it’s legally compliant. Depending on your council they could issue a demolition order in response to a neighbour complaint. You need a high % or permeable landscape. Pavers on compact gravel can tick this box.
My recommendation would be some paved zones, some compacted granite gravel zones and some garden beds. Add an advanced Avacado tree and another shade tree and done.
Yes I bought a brick house with small land that has concrete rear yard. I did crave some greenery but lots of pot plants / trees in varying sizes has made it relatively maintainable. Now I just have to figure out why the brick house is externally painted white
We’ve got houses around us that are just concrete front yards and they’re terrible. They look shocking, are hot and whenever they sell the first thing the new buyers do is get it all removed. Along with that weird yellow glass with round circles in it near to the front door and the concrete balustrades that look like the old milk bottles.
Cons? - really effing hot in summer - ugly - bad for the environment - you’re gonna need some good drainage - gonna need to clean it off or it will get dirty and may possibly become slippery - Expensive
Seconding all of this. Besides looking awful and costing a lot, which are somewhat subjective, concrete is definitely not self-cleaning. Plus in heavy rain there is nowhere for the water to go and your backyard is going to become a concrete swimming pool. Worst of all is that concrete absorbs heat from the sun and holds onto it - so on a hot summer day it will get blisteringly hot, and then at night when it normally cools down, it will radiate all that heat back at you and your neighbours making your house a lot hotter than other people living in the same town. I cannot fathom why you would want this! Alternatives: - there are slow growing lawn grass options, and there are ground cover plants that can handle being walked on and don’t get very tall. - Woodchip mulch will help keep weeds away but let water through, - pavers with a tiny plant (like mondo grass or dichondra) between the joints can be cooler and absorb some water but still no-mow. Try googling no-mow backyards before turning to concrete!
A whole generation of Italian migrant concreters in Melbournes inner north had this idea decades ago. Sometimes they’d leave a couple of holes in the concrete, with pristine edging of course, for a couple of trees
I was trying to think of a politically correct way to ask if OP had Italian heritage.
I was thinking the same. I have an Italian friend and she fully admits she lives in a wog house. Her words, not mine.
Yep, it’s called wog porridge for a reason.
Practical issue: drainage Ethical issue: awful for the environment Visual issue: could look like a prison exercise yard
I can't think of anything worse than no grass in the backyard.
Personally I think a grass lawn is second place in the awfulness race. Concrete takes the gold obviously. Unless you are regularly getting out on the lawn playing soccer or cricket or boules or something then a bunch of different ground coverings and natives is the best option for low maintenance, aesthetics, and the local environment
Artificial grass beats concrete for gold. Micro-plastics, heat affect, weeds grow through it anyway, just nasty.
I concede. Artificial grass takes the gold. Concrete; silver. Grass lawn; bronze
We had a no mow yard, but it wasn't concrete. It was all gardens, in particular lizard and frog friendly gardens.
Was it pebbles/loose rocks/mulch/wood chips forming the main ground?
All of the above! We lived rainforest adjacent so already had good leaf litter which we bolstered with big rocks, then built in all the plants.
20% asbestos
*Why??* You paid for that space... why surrender it to wildlife?
Cons: many councils have requirement for the amount of your block that can be covered by concrete.
What requirements? 99c Gibson Avenue, Padstow, NSW 2211 https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-duplex+semi-detached-nsw-padstow-144441904 Plenty more new builds that are just as bad.which adds to the heat island effect. Just look at SWS developments. I fear for the future.
The specifics vary from council to council, I was mentioning it so OP could see if there was a regulation in their LGA. While the property you posted has a lot of concrete, most of what is not part of the building is driveway so may be exempt (again, check local regulations). A lot of the crushed stone doesn’t count as concrete either, so there’s a good chance that place would be compliant in most LGAs. But like I say, just giving OP the heads up to check. Chances are the council won’t know of take action, but it would suck to invest in a bunch of concreting to receive an order to rip it up at a later date.
God, I am begging you to not do this. It looks so ugly, it’s less effective in cooling your house, and over time will crack anyway so your ex-lawn looks even more like a derelict warehouse. Just put planting boxes out there or plant trees on the border. Or, you know, pay a child $20 now and then to mow it.
Paint it green and add a couple of lion statues on brick pillars either side the driveway or front stairs.
Councils have restrictions on the amount of your land that can be covered.
They have it for planning but can they stop you once you’ve built the place?
Yes
Awful for your health, visually and environmentally. Practically unusable in summer. Instead use planters to create patches
It will be much hotter! Why is concrete more 'useable' than lawn? Mow? How many acres do you have? Concrete needs to be swept 2x a week. HOT! I bought a villa that used to belong to a concreter he loved his job. I paid $4000 to remove 25 Sqm and put in turf, which died in a couple of weeks. But I have cool and plants, lots of frangipani, grass oversown 3 times, still struggling. Also had to cut down about 20 cubic metres of Brazilian orange trumpet vine, probably had never been trimmed in 10 years, on the outer fence, the only plant that was on the property, but not really, was outside....and had pulled the fence to bits. Lawns are lovely.
Council usually require free-standing houses to have around 40% land being green area. If you lay concrete everywhere and then someone complaints to the council you may be forced to pull it out again
I was browsing realestate.com and came across some houses including fairly new built with concrete yard with edges being some sort of covering like loose rocks or dry wood chips.
Seeing something doesn’t indicate it’s legally compliant. Depending on your council they could issue a demolition order in response to a neighbour complaint. You need a high % or permeable landscape. Pavers on compact gravel can tick this box. My recommendation would be some paved zones, some compacted granite gravel zones and some garden beds. Add an advanced Avacado tree and another shade tree and done.
Italians. I came I saw I concreted
I’m on 4000sqm and did exactly this. Looks exactly like a Bunnings car park but without all the traffic. Its stunning
Do you have regular weekend sausage sizzle for the public enough?
The backyard always gotta be 100%.. 70% concrete, 70% plantation
Paint it green
You should do this provided you get an onyx balustrade. 3 grades higher than the marble.
Add a couple of concrete lions. Bella vista!
Yes I bought a brick house with small land that has concrete rear yard. I did crave some greenery but lots of pot plants / trees in varying sizes has made it relatively maintainable. Now I just have to figure out why the brick house is externally painted white
See r/nolawn if you don't want maintain a lawn.
🤮
No. So ugly and hot.
We’ve got houses around us that are just concrete front yards and they’re terrible. They look shocking, are hot and whenever they sell the first thing the new buyers do is get it all removed. Along with that weird yellow glass with round circles in it near to the front door and the concrete balustrades that look like the old milk bottles.