Granite
In todays blog in our Paverology series we take a look at Granite, just like with Bluestone we have many types of Granite that comes form many different regions, it is a beautiful stone with many types of colours and generally comes Flame finished/Exfoliated finish.
When choosing your finish you need to consider where the paver will be places with flamed surface giving you great slip resistance, this is great for around pools and sloping areas.
When it comes to choice of colours, there are many available to suit lots of different design trends or colour schemes.
Lets focus on pools and discuss why this is a great option, as we have already mentioned the pavers being Flamed gives us some slip resistance, we have a wide range of colours and paver size choices. What this does is gives us the chance to be a little more creative when it comes to our paver design and layout, we may choose a large format drop down pool coper as one colour then choose a cobble paver in a different colour as the body of the paving. This layout has been used many times to great effect. Granite is a very hard wearing surface that is very dense this makes it a great choice when confronted with areas where there is a chance for staining as it is less susceptible then other natural stone products. In saying this as with most natural stones we always recommended to seal granite around pools though to ensure maximum life span and to keep you pool paving looking great.
Some of the most popular choices in granite choice we have found over the years has been the Raven black, Salt and Pepper and also lighter sandstone tones.
As with any natural stone product its important to choose the size and thickness of the paver to suit the area being paved, for areas around pools 20mm thickness will work and be suitable though if you go to a larger format ie: 1000mmx500mm you may want to increase the thickness to 30mm plus. For most domestic situations where the pavers are 800x400mm or 600mmx400mm a 20mm paver will be fine. If you are looking at using Granite pavers on your driveway it is generally accepted that using minimum 30mm pavers for this as it allows for the extra weight and movement of heavy vehicles.
One of our favourites would have to be the famous granite cobble, can you get a more distinguished look. Granite cobbles add a touch of exclusivity to any landscape design, when laid correctly will give an ageless look. Along with the many pattern and designs that can be incorporated there are not too many pavers on the market that will produce such an elusive and tasteful finish. When granite cobbles are ordered you can go for natural split face or get Flamed finish, size wise for cobbles the common size is 90x90mm or 230x115mm or variances of these sizes.
Maintenance on Granite is similar to all types of natural stones, it's important to remove all spills, wine, oils etcetera as soon as possible even when sealed. General cleaning with high pressure or general outdoor cleaning products are fine.
