Tiled floors - nowadays a key part of the design of a modern home and not just a floor
If you're planning a night on the tiles, how can you be sure to find the best paving tiles for your home?
Paving tiles really make a difference to the hard landscaping of your home. Once garden paths were just a long slab of dreary grey concrete laid with the obligatory tamped finish to give some degree of non-slip surface texture with the ridiculously heavy flagstones only an option for the more well-heeled of us.
More recently the in-situ concrete path has been replaced with precast concrete paving slabs; usually either grey or beige in color and occasionally with a riven texture finish. But these, too, have made way for more modern surfaces such as concrete block paving and paving bricks. Latterly, and in from the continent where they have always been popular, are the paving tiles which stem back to Roman days.
Like all other products, paving tiles come in a wide range of color, texture and quality. Where they differ from the old paving slab is in their thinness - paving tiles are typically only 20mm thick whereas a paving slab is at least 50mm. This thinness means that there is less excavation and, provided it is laid on a mortar bed on top of a concrete slab, you will have a good-looking surface that will last you many years.
But which paving tiles should you choose for your home? Well, you are in the fortunate position that as long as they are laid and bedded properly, even the cheapest paving tiles are likely to be an asset to your property. Expect to pay around £10 ($20) per m2 for the cheapest paving tiles and about double that for the dearest ones. The difference between the two is that the more expensive ones have the color and the texture ingrained right the way through the tile and not just printed on the surface. This is important if your surface is going to be subject to high levels of pedestrian traffic or even vehicles either of which might otherwise cause the top layer to erode leaving a smooth, slippery and bland tile underneath.
If you can't afford the top of the range then all is not lost. In the middle of the price bracket you will find an assortment of quality solid paving tiles which will give many years of service. Choose a color which complements that of your house but which has sufficient contrast to highlight your path.
If you really can't decide which color to choose, then what about some brindled mosaic tiles. These paving tiles are made to appear as if they are made up of lots of smaller mosaic tiles. They work well for modern houses with a 'period' look and are considerably cheaper to buy and lay than the mosaic tiles which they appear to be.
Paving tiles provide a non-slip, textured, practical and yet most attractive finish to a home. They have been around for thousands of years and, no doubt, with the introduction of under floor heating (yet another Roman invention), they are here to stay. We hope that this short article whetted your appetite for this highly desirable form of hard landscaping and helped you on your way to choosing the right ones for you.
... and if you're passing, why not pop in and see our paving tiles?
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