PAVING KIRKSTALL

Porcelain paving comes in a wide variety of colour choices, shapes and sizes. You'd be hard pressed to find a style which doesn't appeal to you. As well as the obvious square or rectangular shapes they are also available in plank styles too. Across the different types of paving slabs you will come across a many subtle shade differences with most focussing on variations of grey - from almost white to black. You will also be able to find that there is a reasonably large range of buff shades but that also designs have also been incorporated into some  paving slabs or an aging, almost metallic, effect has been integrated into the design.

With such a range, Porcelain paving does provide the breadth of designs to go for a very modern, contemporary style but there are also options which will work vey well if you have an older property and are wanting a more traditional cottage look too.

It's also work thinking about the edge of your patio. Choosing a different colour to effectively frame, or border your patio it can give it another dimension and bring out your main paving slabs in more dramatic fashion.

Now that block paving has grown so much in popularity there a a number of block paving options. Firstly let's discuss the material which will either be concrete or clay blocks - or stone imports. Both traditional blocks provide robust surfaces although clay is somewhat tougher making it hard to cut which will add to installation costs. The advantages of cement as a materials will therefore be cost, although there will be a spread of these based on size, shape and colour however, they will be more prone to fading than clay, which will however, be much more limited in colour options. Clay is also a little more prone to to moss growth due to being slightly more permeable than concrete, which therefore provide better drainage. This difference also means that cement block paving is more resistant to spills and stains which is why it is a good choice for driveways. Regarding stone blocks, these could primarily be made up from granite or a sandstone quartz. They are typically reconstituted stone (or engineered stone) meaning that they have be formed using natural stone crushed and then bound together with a resin to form a block this allows them to be made uniformly and provide another material choice.

The amount of colour and shape options for cement block paving is huge however, the most popular are shades of red, blue/black and more recently grey. The beauty of block paving is that you can alternate two or more single colour bricks quite easily or opt for a style commonly referred to as brindle block, which is a single brick which has a blend of colours within it.

Clearly colour will be a personal choice but it is important to look at the existing surroundings and if going for a slightly bolder red or yellow option, using a darker block to edge or border your paving can help it blend into its surroundings a little better.

Regarding shapes, this too will come down to personal choice so as well as the standard rectangular or square block shapes such as S-blocks and W-blocks, hexagonal, axe head shaped. However, they are generally associated with commercial premises or public walkways such as town centres as they become more pedestrianised and they can be ordered in very large quantities in one go.

As well as a number of variations in the colours the edging can also vary for Indian Stone Paving. This will depend on how the stone has been cut. If a saw has been used then you will have neat consistent edges and thickness of your paving slabs, hand cut slabs on the other hand will have much more variance in thickness and edges will be rougher. These hand cut Indian stones work exceptionally well if you are aiming for a old style cottage, rustic look.

As mentioned Indian stone has also grown in popularity for use in driveways. However, if you are looking to have a consistent Indian stone finish from the front to back of your house with a pathway connecting the two you need to ensure that your paving or driveways contractor is not using the exact same Indian paving stones for both your path and patio as well as your driveway.

Indian Stone driveway slabs should be thicker to take the additional weight, movement and more general wear and tear than that on a typical patio. Whilst you could chose to have all areas paved with driveway grade Indian stone, as it is a thicker slab it will be more expensive so this will add to your overall costs and is unlikely to be required - so could be said to be 'over specified' if use for pathways and patios. Clearly it will perform exceptionally well but if you are working to a budget this is worth knowing.

As well as options in thickness and edges the most visual aspect will be the colour options. Some of the good quality trade suppliers will have a range of off white shades, sandstone and darker buff shades to choose from. This will also include stabs which are distinctly a single tone and those which exhibit a couple. However, what is quite popular is to have a mix of several colours and sizes to provide a unique and interesting patio finish.