Forum

Replies

• 

  Kirsty Blair February 23, 2010 at 9:17pm

  Sandstone - ethically sourced of course, of no particular brand as they all come from about the same place - I love it and use it in new and old gardens, can look modern as well as traditional.
  
  Not a great fan of concrete based slabs - used a few recently and seriously not impressed. Look gd layed but when you look closely the surface of them is not great. They're made to look natural and they're trying way too hard - none of the slabs are uniform thicknesses and the surfaces are uneven/have big humps and break far too easily - more than natural products. Edges look crap if you have to cut them.
• 

  Lawncare-4u.co.uk February 23, 2010 at 10:01pm

  Bradstone are the best i know about / my stockists have
• 

  Nick Hill February 23, 2010 at 10:16pm

  Our local merchant stocks Stonemarket products, so they always seem to have some of their natural sandstone on offer. I use this when I can as it is all ethically sourced and now are all a regular thickness. I find Stonemarket sandstone consistantly of good quality, unlike some of the real cheap stuff you can get.
  
  Used to use Marshalls Heritage before the indian sandstone was so easily sourced. I have seen some of these take a real battering with the recent cold weather though.
• 

  Jackson's Landscape Design February 23, 2010 at 10:22pm

  Phil
  
  I'll base my answer since I stood on my own feet, I'll take you back to 2002. I shall let you know both paving (P)and block paving (BP)
  
  2002-2004
  BP Brindle standard 200x100x50mm
  P Cheap precast slabs with the more up market coming into play in 2004
  
  2004-2006
  BP 3 size tumbled
  P middle of the road precast
  
  2006-2008
  BP 3 size tumbled
  P Granite, Travertine, Slate
  
  2008-2010
  BP Nowt the government put a stop to that. All SUDS now like grid force, gravel, permeable.
  P Granite, Travertine, Slate, Sandstone
  
  2010
  P I trust that the Jerusalem stone will play a role within our creations
  
  Strange really that even though I discuss the carbon footprint of each product and the ethically sourced units, none of them really care.
• 

  Colin@Green Room Gardens February 25, 2010 at 10:33pm

  For me it has got to be natural sandstone- many colours available and each slab has its own mixture of colour and patterns, a lot better than the mass produced dull concrete "textured" slabs- and in most cases sandstone works out the same price or cheaper. (well it does for me anyway!) I am only a few miles from a natural stone supplier (Bannolds Cambridge) and tend to steer my customers to go & view their top show gardens.
• 

  Jackson's Landscape Design February 25, 2010 at 11:05pm

  The reason why the slabs break so easy is down to the installer trying to smash the units into a bed with a possible void below.
  
  if any unit has a hair line crack in it this will be noticed when picking up the unit prior to installing, as the paving will break up and no doubt drop to the installers shin.
  
  All paving should be laid on full beds with a few light taps with a rubber mallet, after all our profession is all about preparation and this applies right across the board.
  
  Don't get me wrong here I'm no Paving Expert but Ive learnt through my own faults that you cant force any unit down when the bed is to high.
• 

  David Beasley Garden Design February 25, 2010 at 11:38pm

  It's a contraversial offering from me!
  
  900 x 600 x 50 mm BS Grey Pressed Concete Flags ("Council Flags", "Sleeping Tablets").
  
  * competitively priced (all merchants do them)
  * very strong.
  * big area covered pretty quickly.
  * no pointing.
  * will always be manufactured.
  * brutally contemporary and can be 'jazzed up' by mixing with charcoal concrete block paving etc.
  
  Oh yes - they are quite heavy......
  
  Other current faves include 20mm thick granite 'tiles', blue/black slate and Indian sandstone (all bought from Nustone in Hull).
• 

  Kirsty Blair February 25, 2010 at 11:48pm

  Very controversial - we do refer to them as council slabs! Can see it if they would stay the colour when first new but think they look a bit rubbish after the colour fades. I prefer natural, like your granite choice though!
  
  david beasley said:

  It's a contraversial offering from me!
  
  900 x 600 x 50 mm BS Grey Pressed Concete Flags ("Council Flags", "Sleeping Tablets").
  
  * competitively priced (all merchants do them)
  * very strong.
  * big area covered pretty quickly.
  * no pointing.
  * will always be manufactured.
  * brutally contemporary and can be 'jazzed up' by mixing with charcoal concrete block paving etc.
  
  Oh yes - they are quite heavy......
  
  Other current faves include 20mm thick granite 'tiles', blue/black slate and Indian sandstone (all bought from Nustone in Hull).
• 

  Tracy McQue February 26, 2010 at 12:32am

  I do a lot of contemporary gardens and constantly getting asked for stone that is uniform (!) and smooth. Used this Buff & Sawn Sandstone from CED a lot and it is great. http://www.ced.ltd.uk/indexM.htm?SuppliesWebProductsIndex.htm
  
  
  
• PRO

  Phil Voice February 26, 2010 at 8:02am

  We did quite a few jobs using second hand grey granite - I particularly liked the old imperial sizes with textured surface.