Porcelain Pavers Are Perfect to Create a Great Update to a Home. Many people are quick to consider concrete or natural stone when updating their yard or patio, but each option comes with significant disadvantages. While natural stone pavers are sought out by many due to their superior aesthetic appeal, they have become increasingly scarce and exceedingly costly over the years. On the other hand, concrete pavers may be among the most cost-effective options, but they lack personality and aesthetic appeal. They’re also more prone to cracks and breakage than most other options.
Fortunately, there’s an option that delivers the best of both worlds, making it an ideal solution for updating your home—introducing porcelain pavers.
What are Porcelain Pavers?
Porcelain pavers are made from high-grade porcelain, which is fired at extreme temperatures. This often-overlooked material comes with an array of benefits for updating an outdoor space. While porcelain tends to be thought of as a material for indoor flooring or outdoor roofing, there are many other ways it can be used. They offer an ideal solution for adding an element of uniqueness to an outdoor living space.
Porcelain pavers make an ideal alternative to concrete and natural stone. They can be installed anywhere, from existing pool decks and concrete surfaces to grass, gravel, and more, making them an excellent choice for any outdoor project. They come in slabs of varying thicknesses and can be installed using various application techniques. Since they’re manufactured, they can also be customized to take on the appearance of other materials like marble or wood.
Porcelain Paver Styles
Porcelain pavers are highly customizable, making them an ideal alternative to concrete and natural stone for everything from steps and terraces to patios and decks. Most porcelain pavers are designed to mimic the appearance of natural stone, and several options are made to look like wood planks, which creates even more opportunities for its use.
Solid Appearance
Solid porcelain pavers are sleek, stylish, and durable. They offer an aesthetically pleasing design that can withstand high levels of foot traffic and brave the elements no matter the weather conditions.
Stone Appearance
Stone-look porcelain pavers feature sleek, modern designs and can be used inside and outside, making them an ideal option for creating transitional spaces and walkways.
Wood Appearance
Wood-look porcelain pavers are made from glazed porcelain tile and designed to take on the appearance of petrified wood. Inkjet technology is even used on the surface to create a rough, textured, bark-like appearance. They make it possible to create a wood-like surface anywhere on your property.
Patterned and Mosaic Surfaces
Porcelain pavers with patterned and mosaic designs can be used to create sophisticated, eclectic-looking outdoor spaces. These stylish options are ideal for balancing two styles, such as rustic and modern.
Benefits of Porcelain Pavers
Porcelain pavers come with many benefits for any outdoor remodeling project. Some of the most significant benefits of choosing these stylish modern pavers include the following:
- Non-slip surface
- Low maintenance
- Fade resistant
- Versatility in style and color
- Durable
- Climate resistant
- Water Resistant
Whether upgrading your pool deck, building a new patio, or adding a backyard kitchen to your property, porcelain pavers are an attractive, durable, cost-effective, and economical option. Porcelain Pavers Are Perfect to Create a Great Update to a Home
Porcelain Paver Design Ideas
In addition to the many practical benefits that porcelain pavers offer, they’re also preferred for their contemporary style and ability to create transitional spaces between indoors and outside. They can be used in various ways, as part of a design project incorporating mixed materials or on their own. If you want to create a gorgeous update to your home and are looking for some inspiration, read on for some creative design ideas using porcelain pavers.
Create a Sleek, High-Quality Patio or Outdoor Living Space
Porcelain pavers can be customized to mimic the look of both stone and wood, making them a perfect medium for creating a sleek, high-quality patio or outdoor living space. Use wood-look porcelain pavers to create an elevated design with the aesthetic of wood planks without worrying about splintering or chipping.
Set Your Home Apart with an Elegant Porch
Use porcelain pavers to elevate the look of your front porch to set your home apart from your neighbors or to update a back porch to have a sophisticated place to host guests. Porcelain pavers can easily mirror indoor flooring, making them especially ideal for creating attractive indoor-outdoor transitions from the home out to a back porch or patio. Use coordinating porcelain wall veneers to match indoor tiles for a truly seamless transition.
Build Creative Transitions
Indoor-outdoor transitions aren’t the only transitional spaces that can elevate the look of your home. Porcelain pavers can create elegant transitions from one outdoor space to another in the form of steps, stepping squares, and unique walkways. Porcelain Pavers Are Perfect to Create a Great Update to a Home
Design an Outdoor Kitchen
There’s nothing more upscale than an outdoor kitchen. Enhance the livability of your backyard space by designing a kitchen using porcelain pavers. Not only are they attractive and easy to coordinate with other materials, but they’re also stain-resistant, which makes them easy to maintain in a messy kitchen setting.
Play with Fire and Water
Fire and water add life, aesthetic appeal, and a cozy feeling to any outdoor design. Porcelain pavers have a highly impenetrable surface, making them ideal for designing creative water installations. They can also be exposed to extremely high temperatures without becoming damaged, which makes them ideal for in-ground fire pits. While you could never dream of building a fire pit into a wooden deck, you can have the best of both worlds with wood-look porcelain pavers.
Create an Ultra-Contemporary Poolscape
The slip-resistant and low-maintenance qualities of porcelain pavers make them the perfect material for constructing an ultra-contemporary poolscape. Use them alone to create a sleek pool deck, or combine them with other materials to create gorgeous inlaid designs. Porcelain pavers are also ideal for building a stepping-stone pool deck.
Frequently Asked Questions
While porcelain pavers have become exceedingly popular for various outdoor applications, there’s still much confusion surrounding this versatile material. Read on to learn the answers to five of the most popular questions about porcelain pavers.
Do Porcelain Pavers get Hot in the Sun?
Porcelain pavers are weather- and UV-resistant. These qualities make them more resistant to hot temperatures than many other paver materials. That’s one reason they’re ideal for upgrading a pool deck, garden pathway, patio, or other outdoor areas that you’ll want to spend time in during the hot summer months.
Do Porcelain Pavers Stain?
Porcelain pavers never need to be sealed. They’re naturally stain-resistant, even against highly stainable substances like acid, oil, and wine. They’re also fade-resistant and don’t become discolored like natural stone pavers. They require very little maintenance to retain their original appearance. Since they’re manufactured, there’s no color variation between units either.
Can You Drive on Porcelain Pavers?
While natural stone is generally pretty strong, porcelain pavers surpass them all in density and durability due to the extremely high temperatures they’re exposed to during the manufacturing process. They’re also protected by a glazed surface that creates a wear-resistant hard outer layer.
Due to these superior strength qualities combined with their frost-resistant, abrasion-resistant, and scratch-proof nature, porcelain pavers make an excellent material for laying driveways, constructing commercial areas, and building areas that will be exposed to heavy foot traffic.
Can Porcelain Pavers be Laid on Sand?
One of the biggest misconceptions about porcelain pavers is that you shouldn’t lay them on sand. In reality, porcelain pavers can be laid on any compacted sand base. The preferred installation method for most areas that will be exposed to high levels of foot traffic, such as courtyards, walkways, large patios, and terraces, is to dry-lay porcelain pavers on a sand and gravel base.
While porcelain pavers can be laid on sand, some general rules must be followed in order to do so. First, the sand must be pre-compacted, not dry-compacted, and struck off with a screed. To achieve cohesive compacting, the sand must contain a moisture content of five to six percent.
Do Porcelain pavers require sealing?
Most porcelain pavers do not require sealing. One of the best features of these pavers is that they have a non-porous surface, which makes it virtually impossible for moisture to penetrate the surface. Since the purpose of sealing pavers is to protect the material from becoming damaged by moisture, this natural quality makes sealing unnecessary. However, porcelain pavers can be sealed if you choose to do so. Sealing them will protect them further from staining and will make them easier to clean.
This rule does not apply to polished porcelain pavers, which contain microscopic holes in the surface from the polishing process they’re put through. So, if you’re using polished porcelain pavers, they should be sealed. If you fail to seal polished porcelain pavers, they’re subject to something called grout haze. This displeasing effect occurs when adhesive and grout get stuck in the microscopic holes on the surface.
Contact us to find the best porcelain pavers to create a gorgeous update to your home. Our experienced team will work with you to help you choose the right size and style for your project and make sure it gets installed quickly and professionally.