People are often too quick to overlook the very real benefits of natural stone, not realising what a huge difference it can make to a gardenscape. Far from being fragile and delicate, many homeowners are often surprised to learn that natural stone is often more durable and longer-lasting than manmade options, not to mention far more attractive thanks to its natural aesthetics. Curious to know exactly why natural stone is better than concrete? Keep reading to discover at least a few good reasons why you should be choosing natural stone over concrete paving!
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1. Flexural Strength
If you want to determine the level at which a paving product can handle bending stress without breakage, “flexural strength” is the criteria you are looking for. It tells you the amount of pressure paving units can take before becoming unusable – and in short, natural stone tends to be much stronger than manufactured paving. Put another way, paving is much better and stronger when the number of flexural strength units increases. And limestone and sandstone paving like the ‘Premiastone’ Ivory collection, for instance, generally averages around 25 Mpa. Much stronger than concrete, with an average flexural strength of around 5 Mpa.
2. Water Absorption
Low water absorption values mean a higher danger of visible water, damp, and algae blemishes when your paving is exposed to the elements. Natural stone such as the ‘Premiastone’ Platinum or ‘Classicstone’ Charcoal lines usually have a water absorption value under 2%. This is a great deal less than concrete paving – with an average water absorption value of ~6% – and thus means cleaner, newer-looking tiles for longer.
3. Durability
When it comes to reliability, natural stone is far more durable on the whole than concrete paving; one sign of this better durability is that it doesn’t wear as easily as concrete. That’s apparent in practice, but natural stone’s hard-wearing nature can also be ascertained through high-temperature testing procedures, and it rarely, if ever, cracks before manmade paving. A great example is the ‘Classicstone’ Lakeland range of Natural Paving slabs, which as resilient as it is visually striking (and that’s a good thing)!
4. More Attractive
In most cases, you’ll find that manufactured paving products have an easily-identifiable, artificial, and very plain look. More often than not, concrete paving is quite simply a monochromatic slab. With natural stone, every piece remains unique, where the tones and colour will give your garden or living area a real boost in design. There’s not much more to be said here – a quick look at the two side by side says it all!
5. Cheaper And Quicker Installation
Regular concrete and natural stone paving installation strategies are pretty much the same. With natural stone, however, it’s easy to save time in that you don’t need to learn advanced installation techniques to ensure a perfect fit; almost all natural stone products now come with gauged thicknesses and pre-cut, uniform shapes. Long story short, any DIY-er can lay natural stone – don’t let the professional, stylish aesthetics of the ‘Classicstone’ Harvest and ‘Classicstone’ Golden Fossil collection fool you!
6. Easier To Maintain
The maintenance for natural stone is minute in comparison to the concrete even though it needs occasional cleaning to bring its original colour to light. On the topic of maintaining concrete, its susceptibility to fading means repainting is quite frequently unavoidable – with the ‘De Terra’ Sahara collection and other natural stone products, touch-ups are far and few between.
7. Environmentally Friendly
As the name suggests, natural stone is one of the most sustainable building materials around these days. Not only is it biodegradable, but it involves far less processing than manmade paving and concrete, giving it a smaller carbon footprint. For the eco-friendly homeowner, that means little more than responsible disposal at the end of your paving’s working life.
8. Better Investment
If you are looking for a better way to add value to your living area or property, then natural stone is the way to go. It helps boost the quality and attractiveness of your entire home. In most cases, you’ll soon discover that the cost of natural stone might not be much more expensive than concrete and that it can actually add value to your property. The truth is the aesthetic, unique, and original value that natural stone offers is inimitable – and it costs only a fraction more!