Paving Material Buying Guide

Choosing the best paving material for your garden can be a daunting task, especially given how many paving options there are on the market nowadays. To help make this process as easy as possible, the team at Landscaping Supplies Direct have put together this handy guide to highlight the benefits of each style of paving. Let’s get started!

Porcelain Paving

Porcelain paving - also called vitrified paving - has taken the landscaping industry by storm in the past two years, thanks to its countless benefits. Porcelain paving is virtually maintenance free, requiring no sealing and is far easier to clean than natural stone. It is free from efflorescence and are highly resistant to stains, dirt, algae and damage that would commonly affect natural stone with time, such as cracking. A question that we are often asked about porcelain paving is if it looks like natural stone. The answer is a confident yes, as porcelain paving provides a very accurate replication of a natural stone finish. What’s more, this style of paving can be used indoors and outdoors due to its resistance to erosion and wear. Porcelain paving slabs always come exact to measurements, which is harder to guarantee with natural stone that is designed to be a little more unique.

Key Points on Porcelain Paving

• Almost identical to natural stone
• Resistant to stains, wear & cracking
• Easier to clean than natural stone
• Can be used indoors & outdoors
 

Recommended Vitrified Porcelain Paving Products

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Natural Stone Paving

Natural stone is always a popular choice due to its versatility, and no matter how realistic porcelain paving gets, there’s something special about having natural stone under your feet. Materials such as Indian sandstone and limestone are great for traditional paving looks, while granite, slate and quartzite slabs make for a more contemporary alternative. Natural stone is the most widely sold paving style and comes in a range of styles. While natural stone absorbs more water than porcelain and is therefore more prone to damage, top quality paving such as Indian sandstone reduces water absorbency and the effects of weathering. 

Key Points on Natural Stone Paving

• Each flagstone is individually cut, with each being slightly unique
• LSD paving is always source from sustainable, high quality sources
• More prone to natural wear & damage than porcelain
• Authentic stone is arguably the most attractive paving option

 

Popular Natural Stone Paving Products

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Concrete Paving

Concrete paving is a popular budget material, providing a simple, durable paving option. Concrete paving comes in a massive variety of styles, from basic council paving to more expensive, premium products. All of our concrete products are manufactured in the UK using local materials from sustainable sources, using hand made moulds. This ensures high quality and individuality in your slabs, but not all providers of concrete paving will take these steps to produce a higher quality product. This leads to a lot of concrete paving being cheap and lacking in quality. Overall, many leading paving manufacturers believe that concrete products form a more durable material for driveway paving. 

Key Points on Concrete Paving

• Often cheaper than natural stone paving
• More durable for driveway paving
• Provide a simpler look than natural stone
• Often mass produced by councils throughout the UK

 

Recomended Concrete Paving Products

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Paving Cobbles & Setts

Cobbles and setts are a great option for breaking up your garden with a more irregular surface. Cobbles are generally quite individually unique, while setts tend to be made evenly sized. Cobbles and setts can be harder to lay than other paving materials, and are more prone to damage due to more of the ground around them being exposed to the elements. They are most commonly used as borders and surrounding feature areas, and are a great way to break up the design of your garden. 

Key Points on Cobbles & Setts

• Best utilised as a border or to emphasis certain sections of your garden
• Are more prone to a weathering due to having smaller stones
• Available in a range of styles, with granite setts being very popular



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For More Information...

We hope that this has given you a bit of insight into the benefits of the main paving materials. This is not an exhaustive list, and each option will have paving that appeals to some more than others. Garden design is after all, very subjective. The team at Landscaping Supplies Direct are more than happy to make choosing the best paving material as easy as possible, and to have a chat about your individual requirements. Browse our online range today, or get in touch with our sales team with any questions you may have.