Once you are to pave your patio and other outdoor location, you may feel it is difficult to select a good paving material. This is primarily because pavers are hard to be removed after installation, the selection process must be frugal. Another reason is that there are many materials in the market, hence, it is hard for non-professionals to choose the appropriate ones. To help you address this issue, we have prepared this guide.

The Common Paving Materials

Concrete and natural stone are the most frequently used paving materials. Among others, concrete can be used directly or made into concrete pavers.

Poured Concrete

Poured concrete is the most economical material. It can be formed into any shape and thickness that you want. If the area you need to pave is distinctive, the poured concrete is most suitable for you! Besides, for someone who prefer simplicity, it may be a good choice because concrete only have solid grey color. Also, it is eco-friendly for it is made from limestone which is a tremendous natural resource. But if you want more styles and patterns, you can have it stamped, scored and colored. Usually, the price of poured concrete is $4.00 per square foot. The cost would be higher to $12.00 per square foot stamped scored or colored concrete.

Concrete Pavers

Concrete pavers have many designs for you to select, from traditional to modern. They can be seen everywhere from sidewalk to park, from driveway to garden. Traditional style pavers with the look of brick is benefiting for classic or historic house. However, the modern style that has multifarious shapes and and precision cuts is suitable for modern architectures and landscapes as it is easy to adapt for use in more contemporary designs. The concrete pattern is usually made into square, rectangle shape. Irregular shape is also available. It can be laid in many patterns, including different animal image, wave, geometric pattern and other creative shapes. The key attraction lies in its colors. Concrete has rich colors, from common colors like red, blue to particular colors such as beige, light tan. Thus, it is convenient for you to design any patterns as you want. The cost of concrete is between $22-25 square foot depending on the shapes, sizes and amount of the project.

Natural Stone

The raw material of natural stone paver is abundant, raging from Granite, limestone, flagstone, slate to travertine. Their colors are natural. Mostly are dark grey, black and red. The surface can be flamed, polished and honed. The shapes are also versatile. Uniform tetragonum slabs are most popular.But if your demand is special polygon block or round-edged stone, they can also be produced. So even the material is crude, you can use them to make different visual effect. If you are still not sure which one to choose, please remember that the type of natural stone pavers you buy should be highly related with the style and feel of your pavement and its surrounding environment. Natural stone usually cost $ 20-24.00 per square foot.

Factors Influencing Purchasing

Even though you have learned clearly about the materials of pavement, many factors need to be considered before you make the purchase decision. The core factors include price, quality, appearance and cost of maintenance.

Price

Price is the highest priority to be considered. The cheapest material is poured concrete. While the costs of the other two are similar. If you only want to pave road without any unique requirements, the lowest one is enough. Nonetheless, you barely have limited budget, but you still want a exotic or unusual pattern, less expensive natural stone sett or concrete paver are fine choices.

Quality

Quality is another important factor that most people care. In the short term, all the three materials are as solid as strong, while their durability are diverse from each other. Notably, the hardness of natural stone is obviously higher than concrete. The pressure that a paving stone can withstand is up to to 8,000 PSI, which is much higher than the one that a concrete paver can hold up - 2500PSI.

Thus, if the area you should floor will often be run over by heavy vehicle , it may be advisable to use strong natural stone pavers to keep for a longer time.

Appearance

The effects caused by each material are quite different. Even for the same material, if it is processed in a completely new way, the result that it displays would be a far cry from others.

Before purchasing, you need to judge that what style of your scenery is and what kinds of surface is perfect collocation. The road covered with poured concrete looks orderly and simple. Thus, it is usually used in modern landscape. Concrete pavers have aboudant colors and patterns, hence, it is suitable for any situation, from abstract modern image to classic surface, any style you want can be made. As for the natural paving stone, it is mostly applied in modern street and vintage garden or alley. Of course, the advice from a hardscape specialist is best. As a professional paving stone manufacturer, we are glad to help customer find the right materials.

Maintenance Cost

Maintenance cost is a problem that easy to be overlooked. Consumers pay more attention to immediate interests than long term interests. Although the price of poured concrete is not dear, the cost of repair is high as time goes. This is because the force area of concrete is large, once there are cracks, the surface being damaged would be big,as well. Just the opposite, the concrete pavers and natural stone are separate entity with small area, thus if some part of the pavement are destroyed, it’s convenient to replace the single ones that needed.

Located in Xiamen, China, we produce different stone products and serve global customers. We have own factory and a number of skilled workers. Paving stone, natural marble slabs, headstones are our main products. Call us at +0086-595-87676673 or send email to Leo@xmmason.com. Our service team and design group will help you fulfill your request.