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Paving slabs: production, selection and installation methods

This WordPress post elucidates the production of paving slabs, the factors to consider while selecting the right paving material, and the methods for installation. The production process of paving slabs involves forming them into desired shapes and pressing them with extremely high pressure to produce robust, superior-strength slabs. During selection, homeowners should consider durability, porosity, and color. Among the popular installation methods, dry-laying can provide a cost-effective solution for homeowners; although, mortar-laying provides a more durable surface. With its installation methods, high-strength production process, and wide-range of selection options, paving slabs offer homeowners an affordable and long-lasting outdoor flooring solution.

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In this article: why paving slab coatings can turn out to be of poor quality, paving slab production technology, how to distinguish high-quality tiles from low-quality tiles when buying, tile characteristics according to GOST, how many tiles you need to buy, how tiles are laid, how to cut tiles, average cost paving slabs.

Production of paving slabs

The Greeks and Romans were the first to pave the roads with stones; many centuries have passed since then. For more than 100 years, the roads in our cities have been completely covered with asphalt pavement โ€“ certainly functional, but so gray and boring. The streets of modern cities have lost their individuality, have become the same โ€“ a dignity that can only be appreciated by the inhabitants of the land of the rising sun, who worship monotony. Therefore, in the last decade, bridge pavement has returned to the streets, it has become more practical and cheaper than natural stone โ€“ this is paving slabs .

Now some readers of the article are smiling incredulously โ€“ they are sure that paving slabs cannot be compared with asphalt or concrete pavements, because they have seen with their own eyes sidewalks paved with such tiles and platforms with completely broken tiles brisked with sharp gravel. And I completely agree with this group of readers, because until a certain time I myself was skeptical about paving slabs, observing the broken, sagging or swollen pavement, in places completely overgrown with grass and plants. Why is this happening? Are paving slabs not suitable as a good road surface??

The thing is that the quite natural desire of city municipalities, utilities, as well as legal entities and individuals to save money on landscaping by purchasing the cheapest paving slabs and hiring, to put it mildly, โ€œamateursโ€ to lay it, fully corresponds to the old saying โ€œstingy pays twice. โ€ But in order to understand how high-quality paving slabs are produced, how to determine its quality when choosing and which tile laying technology will be correct โ€“ you need to read this article.

Advantages of concrete paving stone coatings

Donโ€™t be confused, this is one of the names of paving slabs. This type of coverage allows you to lay out tracks of any length and platforms of any size. Compared to traditional asphalt paving, paving slabs have several advantages (provided that they are well laid):

  • the formation of puddles is completely excluded, since water leaves through the inter-tile slots;
  • in the warm season, paving slabs heats up less than asphalt; does not soften, volatile compounds are completely absent;
  • such a coating does not interfere with soil air and water exchange, which has a positive effect on green spaces;
  • recurring needs for the laying or repair of underground utilities does not mean a complete replacement of the road surface โ€“ the tiles can be carefully removed, and at the end of the work, put back in their original place.

How paving slabs are made

There are two production technologies: vibrocompression and vibrocasting, in the first case, a rigid mixture is used containing a small amount of water in relation to cement, in the second, plasticizers are added to the mixture.

Production of paving slabs

Both tile production technologies are practically the same in terms of the quality of the products, the result is a low-porous concrete tile. And yet, it is necessary to pay tribute to the vibrocasting production technology โ€“ plasticizers introduced into the composition of the concrete mixture ensure the best quality of the concrete stone.

Paving slabs are manufactured in accordance with GOST 17608-91, they must be frost-resistant โ€“ withstand at least 200 freeze / thaw cycles, durable โ€“ over 30 MPa, abrasion resistant โ€“ maximum 0.7 g / cm2, impervious to moisture โ€“ max. 5%.

In its production, Portland cement of the M500DO brand is used, sand with a fraction of no more than 2 mm, crushed stone with a fraction of 5 to 10 mm. To increase the strength properties, a plasticizer is introduced into the concrete composition. For the color of paving slabs, pigments are used that are resistant to sunlight and atmospheric influences, the best pigments are the products of the German company Bayer and the Czech company Usov and Prohese.

Equipment and conditions for the production of concrete tiles

Such production is not particularly large-scale: a closed area of โ€‹โ€‹100 to 300 m is required2, three-phase power supply, two forming tables, concrete mixer, stripping table and several sets of plastic molds.

Tile production process

Forms for the formation of tiles are lubricated with special lubricants, prepared concrete mixture is placed in them. The filled molds are then placed on a vibrating table to compact it. After vibration molding, plastic (rubber, polyurethane) molds with tiles are stacked and covered with a polyethylene film. Exposure in forms takes a day at a temperature of at least 15aboutFROM.

The extraction of finished tiles from the molds is carried out on a vibrating table, the molds are preliminarily heated in hot water baths at 45-50 taboutC โ€“ if heating is not performed, then the life of the tile is reduced by a third and leads to a large percentage of rejects.

The final stage of the production of paving slabs: paving slabs taken out of the molds are placed on euro pallets, tied with packaging tape and covered with stretch film (or shrink wrap). After 7 days in summer or 28 days in winter (from the moment the concrete solution was prepared), the paving slabs are ready for use.

Laying paving slabs

Before purchasing the required amount of tiles and materials for laying it, you need to decide on the laying pattern, and only then choose tiles of a suitable shape and colors.

Laying paving slabs

When choosing the form of laying, one point must be taken into account: if the tile is smaller or larger than the elements of the selected pattern, then it will have to be cut, which means high material costs, a large percentage of waste and more time to complete the work.

How to choose quality paving slabs

The question is difficult โ€“ it is difficult to determine the quality of tiles without special devices and testing in a laboratory. In order not to miscalculate, you need to know some features of the appearance of the tiles:

  1. There are two ways to give the paving slabs a mirror surface โ€“ by adding special additives to the concrete composition or by introducing more water. It is immediately clear that adding water will cost the manufacturer much less than the introduction of expensive Western-made additives, but water significantly reduces the strength of the tile. You can determine the cause of specularity in this way โ€“ by lightly hitting two tiles together, we listen to the sound. If the sound is ringing โ€“ the tile is made with the introduction of special additives, if it is deaf โ€“ more water is added.
  2. The color of concrete paving stones should be rich and bright. If the tile has an excessively bright color, this indicates an increased presence of dye pigments and does not impart strength to the tile..
  3. The price of paving slabs cannot be low if it is produced on modern equipment and high-quality, tested materials are used in its production..
  4. The tile must be made only in accordance with the conditions of GOST 17608-91, as evidenced by the manufacturerโ€™s stamp (quality certificate). Choosing a cheaper paving slabs made according to technical specifications does not guarantee its quality and long service life..

Before buying, it is necessary to accurately calculate the required amount of paving slabs, since it will be difficult to buy it in addition โ€“ the color of the tiles is of the same type, but from different parties does not match in tone (and in some cases โ€“ in size).

Calculation of the number of paving slabs

Any batch of paving slabs contains a certain percentage of scrap โ€“ international standards allow up to 5% of scrap in each batch.

Purchase a larger square of tiles than required โ€“ by 7-10%, it is quite possible that it will have to be cut and some will go to waste.

The percentage of additional tiles depends on the chosen installation method: circular or diagonal installation will require more concrete tiles than parallel ones. It will be correct to leave 1-1.5 m in reserve2 tiles for replacing damaged during operation.

Tiling technology

There are three ways of laying paving slabs, differing in the strength of the underlying layer, the choice of which depends on the purpose of the areas covered by the tiles. The initial stage of tiling work is the same for all methods..

At the first (initial) stage of the work, the following tools will be required: bayonet and shovels, rakes, garden hose with a spray (respectively, a source of water supply), rammer (manual or electric), level, metal ruler, geotextile filter.

It is necessary to remove the sod layer over the entire area covered by the tiles โ€“ to a depth of 100-150 mm. Carefully level and tamp the bottom of the resulting pit, give it a slope for precipitation flow โ€“ 10 mm per 1 m2 area. If the soil is too hard and difficult to excavate, you need to fill its surface with water from a garden hose and wait a day. On the sides, open ditches for the side curbs, tamp the bottom, then fill with a 50 mm layer of sand, place the curbs in them with cement mortar (cement: sand: water as 1: 3: 0.5). Cover the pit with geotextile fabric over its entire area.

Reference: geotextile fabric is a non-woven material made from polypropylene fibers. This material is resistant to the effects of chemical compounds of various aggressiveness, does not lend itself to decay, mold and fungi, prevents the germination of plant root systems and mixing of the underlying layers of the base (reinforcement function), and provides drainage. Prevents rut โ€‹โ€‹formation.

The second stage of improvement โ€“ the formation of the underlying layer

Method 1 is used when overlapping areas intended exclusively for pedestrians with tiles: fill the pit (over the laid geotextile) with sand to the edges (at least 30-40 mm), carefully level it with a rake. The sand needs to be poured with some excess โ€“ it will settle during compaction. If the bottom of the excavation is not even enough, deformations of the position of the paving slabs are inevitable โ€“ in this case, adding 50 kg of cement for every 500 kg of sand will help to solve the problem.

Subbase formation

Methods 2 and subsequent are intended to create coverings for traffic / parking of vehicles:

  • on top of the geotextile flooring, a 100-200 millimeter layer of crushed stone (fraction 5-20 mm) is poured, poured over with water and rammed. Then a layer of sand is poured โ€“ 50 mm;
  • on top of the laid out layer of sand (100 mm), compacted, moistened and leveled, a mesh of reinforcement with a cell of 50ร—50 mm (without a bundle) is laid. A layer of sand (30-40 mm) is laid on top of the reinforcing mesh;
  • on the compacted and leveled layer of crushed stone (100-200 mm, fractions 5-20 mm), ready-made cement mortar (sand: cement as 3: 1) is applied with a layer of 20-30 mm, on which concrete paving stone is laid.

Laying the tiles

The surface of the sand cushion is wetted with water, leveled with a metal ruler โ€“ with smooth, sliding movements. Tiling starts from the building: the tiles are hammered into place with a special rubber hammer. The laying of the first and subsequent rows of tiles is carried out in the โ€œkneelingโ€ position; you cannot lean on the sand with your feet or hands โ€“ use a board for support, moving it along the laid out rows of paving slabs. The tile is not stacked closely (!) โ€“ maintain a gap of 3-5 mm. Carefully check the position of the tiles using a level set on a metal ruler. If there are excessive protrusions of the tile, drown it with a rubber hammer, when lowering it, add a little sand under it.

Upon completion of the installation of the paving slabs, it is necessary to generously fill the entire surface formed by it with sand (fraction 0.2 mm), then sweep the paving stones with a broom, driving the sand into the cracks between the tiles. In this case, caution is necessary โ€“ you can accidentally move the laid out tile, it will not move only after the gaps are completely filled with sand.

At the end, you need to pour water over the entire space with freshly laid tiles, removing excess sand, then give it a day for exposure, blocking the passage along it.

Cutting paving slabs

In the process of forming the pattern and laying the tiles, cutting is inevitable. To cut concrete tiles, use an electric tool โ€“ an angle grinder, better known as a grinder. It needs to be equipped with diamond blades โ€“ they will last longer and provide better cutting depth. Remember to wear a protective mask and gloves during the cutting process, and to reduce dust emissions, the tiles should be doused with water.

Paving slabs โ€“ price

The cost of paving slabs depends on its color and complexity of execution. A concrete-colored tile โ€“ gray, with straight, parallel sides costs an average of 300 rubles. per m2, complex execution (ornate pattern, multifaceted) โ€“ an average of 370 rubles. per m2.

The presence of a coloring pigment in the composition of concrete increases the cost to 400-430 rubles. per m2, and in some cases โ€“ up to 1000 rubles. per m2.

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Comments: 2
  1. Marlowe

    What are the key steps and considerations when it comes to producing, selecting, and installing paving slabs?

    Reply
  2. Isla Jenkins

    What are the key factors to consider when it comes to producing, selecting, and installing paving slabs? Any specific techniques or materials that should be prioritized for optimal results?

    Reply
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