Paving stones are a powerful way to enhance the beauty of your home. It is a fantastic alternative to the conventional concrete or asphalt driveways which may eventually chip and crack thus lessening the beauty of your home. If you are thinking about getting paving stones for either your driveway, patio, poolside or whichever part of the house, there are a lot of types of paving stones to choose from. The four main categories of paving stones are:
- Natural paver stones – Natural stone pavers are naturally occurring rocks that are obtained from quarries or rock outcrops. It is rather more expensive than brick and concrete pavers. However, natural stone paving is still the most common way of paving due to its sheer beauty and aesthetic quality.
Advantages of using natural stone pavers are the fact that they are extremely durable, weather resistant, and may quite frankly, outlast all of us. It can also hold an enormous amount of weight. With natural stone pavers, you may even choose to have what they call as “crazy paving”, wherein the stones are laid while retaining their natural shape. The irregular shapes of natural stones will be keen to use as garden paving stones.
- Concrete paver stones– Concrete paving stones, in contrast to natural paving stones, are manufactured. This being the case, concrete stone pavers offer a wide variety of colors, style, textures, patterns and shapes. With such a wide assortment of choice, getting that perfect combination to use as driveway paving stones will certainly be made a lot easier.
An advantage of using concrete paving stones is the relatively low cost. Size and color are mainly consistent, making paving stone installation fairly easy. Chips and breakage in stones can be easily replaced thus aiding in maintenance. - Brick paver stones – There are two types of brick stone pavers. One is made from clay materials, while the other is made from concrete and its aggregates. Many homeowners prefer the use of clay bricks as it produces natural shades of red, brown, and orange tones giving the home a more cozy feel… Beautiful to use as patio paving stones.
Advantages of brick pavers are its durability and strength, easy installation, low cost and maintenance and environmental responsibility. However, bricks can be subjected to discoloration and dullness as time passes. If this occurs, you may wash them with soap and water, which can bring back its vibrant colors. - Interlocking paver stones – Interlocking paving stones are by far the easiest to install since they do not require mortar. They basically install themselves already. By definition, interlocking paving stones are manufactured in such a way that each stone prevents the other from moving.
Interlocking pavers have a wide range of geometrical designs to choose from. They are also easy to repair, have a low incidence of cracking as compared to bricks and concrete, durable, and environmentally friendly.
With these types of paving stones in mind, you may now start planning your stone paving. Visualize ahead how you would want your patio or driveway to look like, what the pavement will be used for (will it be for people to walk on or will it be used for cars?), and your budget. Having all these in mind will aid you in choosing the type of paving stones you will be using, thus eliminating long hours of going over catalogs.
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