WHY CHOOSE NATURAL STONE?
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Natural stone is sometimes wrongly considered as a delicate and fragile material to be avoided if children are playing on bikes in the yard or you need to use the area for vehicles. It may come as a surprise, but the natural stone we offer is often up to 10x the strength of concrete pavers!
Like all good quality building materials, paving is tested against specific criteria to ensure it is robust enough to use for the purpose in which it is intended.
These test results show natural stone to be significantly better than concrete and other stone products on all test data.
The chart below shows two of the key indicators of a quality paving material - water absorption and flexural strength. -
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Water Absorption
The lower the water absorption, the lower the risk of algae growth and staining. Natural stone averages at less than 2%. By comparison, concrete paving has an average water absorption of 6%.
Other points to consider
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Natural stone is simple to install
- Natural stone paving may be installed using the same techniques as regular concrete paving
- Does not require cutting to size or the careful positioning needed with other stone products
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Natural stone paving is easier to maintain than concrete paving equivalents
- Concrete requires ongoing maintenance and as it is prone to fading, requires periodic repainting
- Natural stone simply requires cleaning to being it back to its true colors
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Natural stone is a better investment than concrete paving equivalents
- Using natural stone materials will add greater value to your property
- Natural stone will not necessarily cost more than concrete
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Natural stone is more attractive than concrete
- Each piece of natural stone is a unique piece of nature with its original color and tone which makes your garden and driveway completely individual.
- Concrete on the other hand, comes in a regulated, artificially produced mono-color slab where all pieces are identical and comparatively characterless.
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Natural stone is more durable than concrete
- Natural stone is a durable and hardwearing, frost resistant paving material tested to extremes of temperature to ensure it will not crack.
- Natural stone does not wear to expose aggregates like concrete does
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Natural Paving's stone hardscape products are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than concrete paving equivalents
- Natural stone is the most sustainable building material as resources on the earth are vast, plentiful and data back billions of years. Although the regeneration of stone is not as readily available as the regeneration of trees, it is a continuous process with natural stone having an enduring lifecycle.
- Natural stone is exactly that, natural, meaning that our stone products have not been manufactured to the degree that concrete products are.
- As a natural product, stone products are recyclable and can be used as reclaimed paving or crushed for aggregates