| Material |
Cost |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
| Bark |
Low |
- Low cost
- Flexible
- Soft
- Water permeable
|
- Tends to spread about
- Needs edging
|
| Gravel |
Low |
- Low cost
- Flexible
- Comes in a very wide variety of colours and shapes
- Water permeable
|
- Tends to move about
- Needs edging
- If to soft it will quickly disintegrate
- Only suitable for level areas
|
| Plain concrete flags |
Low to medium |
- Low cost
- Readily available
- Provides a smooth surface
- Does not need pointing
- Good under sheds and for utility areas
|
- Visually unattractive
- Very heavy
|
| Coloured concrete flags |
Low to medium |
- Low Cost
- Readily available
- Provides a smooth surface
- Do not need pointing
|
- Visually unattractive
- Very heavy
- Colours fade – particularly reds
|
| Buget riven flags |
Low to medium |
- Low cost
- More attractive than plain flags
- Do not need pointing
|
- Not as attractive as the more expense flags
- Limited range of colours and sizes
- Poor finish
- Limited range of patterns
|
| Premium riven flags |
Medium |
- Very wide range to choose from
- Large range of flags shapes and sizes
|
- Can be as expensive as imported flags
- Care needed to ensure they are laid with the correct fall
- Limited life
|
| Imported stone flags |
Medium |
- Almost limitless life
- Very hard wearing
- Cost is equivalent to/or less than premium manmade flags
|
- Needs a diamond blade to cut them
- Brittle so hard to work
|
| Block paving |
Medium to high |
- Very wide range of colours and patterns
- Very hard wearing
- Small size makes them very flexible
|
- Must be securely edged
- Red ones fade
- Large areas can look like parking even if its not
- Cannot be cleaned by pressure washing
- The surface must be 600mm above the watertable
|
| Stone setts |
High |
- Hard to very hard wearing
- Small size makes them very flexible
|
- Difficult to lay
- Need a very solid base
- Expensive
- Need to be pointed
|
| New sandstone flags |
High |
- Almost limitless life
- Natural product
- Very attractive
|
- Heavy
- Expensive
- Requires skill to be laid well
|
| Reclaimed sandstone flags |
Very high |
- Almost limitless life
- Laid well are very attractive
|
- Particularly prone to becoming slippery
- Very heavy
- Very expensive
- Require skill to lay them well
|
| Mosaics |
High to very high |
- Can look very attractive
- Unusual
|
|
| Sandstone crazy paving |
Medium |
- Flexible
- A cost effective alternative to sandstone flags
|
- Needs skill to lay it well
- Can be hard to source
|
| Tarmac |
High |
- Makes an excellent hardwearing surface
- Smooth
- Flexible
- Comes in a range of colours
|
- Requires specialist skills to lay
- Only practical if sufficiently large area
- Must have a secure edging
- Limited range of colours
- Not very attractive
|
| Cobble paving |
High |
- Can look very good in the correct setting
|
- Hard to source good warn cobbles
- Very uneven surface
- Prone to being slippery
- Requires a lot of skill to lay it well
|
| Decking |
Medium |
- Can be laid in a range of patterns
- Comes in a range of finishes
- Very good for levelling sloping sites
- Flexible
|
- Prone to being slippery
- Limited life
- Requires more maintenance
- Needs to be lifted off the ground
- Any decking surface over 300mm above the ground level requires permission from your local authority
|
| Concrete slab |
Medium |
- Smooth
- Can be textured
- Laid well it is very durable
- Capable of supporting heavy loads
- Very good for utility areas
|
- Requires skill to lay
- Large areas require good access
- Difficult to make good if it is damaged
|
| Pattern impressed concrete |
Medium |
- Visually much better than plain concrete
|
- Is only a surface treatment so prone to surface damage
- Very difficult to make good if damaged
- The colour will wear away where car wheels repeatedly run over it
|
| Brick |
High |
- Small units allow flexible designs
- Small thier small sizes makes trhem good for small areas
|
- Bricks must be carefully chosen because of the risk of frost damage
- Skill required to lay
|
| Reinforced grass |
Medium |
- Provides a visually “soft” appearance
- Water permeable
|
- Only really suitable for car parking or intensely used footpaths
|
