Paver Choices: Sizes, Textures and Patterns

QUALITY PRODUCTS to choose from.

There are so many beautiful choices in the paver products we use and the patterns with which they can be laid. Interlocking concrete pavers are being manufacturered to imitate and replicate natural stone textures and colors. Our design choices and flexibility expands every year.

Come visit our showroom display gardens at 24 Jeffrey Drive in South Windsor, Connecticut, where you will find thousands of square feet of installed paver samples showing various colors, textures and patterns.

Basic Pavers

Basic pavers are an entry level paver in the design field. They are more traditional in the look of the stone and in the patterns in which they lay. Some examples of Basic Pavers are:

• Ideal's Boston Colonial or Techo-Bloc's Victorien which are a standard 4" by 8" brick shape. They are generally laid in a running bond or herringbone pattern, but can also be installed in a basket weave pattern or variations of it.
• Ideal's Yankee Cobble is another basic paver. It comes in 5 different shapes and sizes that can be mixed and matched to from various patterns.
• Techo-Bloc's Parisien comes in a 6" by 9" rectangle and a 6" by 6" square that will work together to make 4 or 5 different patterns, the most popular of which is what we call a Pattern 6. This is a great pattern to be used on a patio or driveway.
• Techo-Bloc's Royale is another basic choice. Technically it is not a "paver" but is called a slab. This is a technical term referring to its size and aspect ratio. royal comes in a 12" by 12" square and a 12" by 24" rectangle. The pattern we usually install this in is a pinwheel pattern.
• Ideal's Uni-Decor is an older style paver that we can get in limited colors. It is one of the first paver styles that was manufactured, and hasn't been as popular in the past 5 years or so. It is slowly being phased out of circulation. This is the paver that is shaped like an octagon with a small square attached to one end. It too can be installed in several patterns.

Paver Upgrades (previously known as "Tumbled Pavers")

A "tumbled paver" in our office has become a little bit of a misnomer. A couple of years ago, that term referred to a paver that was, well... Tumbled. The manufacturers literally would throw the pavers into a big drum and tumble them around. This would give them an aged or distressed look that gave a paver installation a look and feel of the old world. Today paver manufacturers are working hard to be more innovative in their products and most of them are striving to imitate the look of natural stone and they are not actually tumbled. As the pavers and the molds to form them get more advanced and larger in size, so the products become more expensive. We have developed an upgrade pricing system that helps us give our customers the look they want for a fair price. Some examples of the more popular of these product choices are:

• Techo-Bloc's Elena, Athena, Olympia and Allegro all share a simular undulating texture. They are an aged product and each one shows a different pattern and a slightly different scale. The patterns range from a simple running bond pattern (Allegro) to a 5-piece random pattern (Elena or Athena).
• Ideal's Millstone pavers are a smooth textured series of pavers that include 5 different shapes that can be mixed and matched to make various patterns. These pavers have been drum rolled to give them an aged look and old world feel.
• Ideal's Town N' Country pavers are a dimpled textured series of pavers that include 3 different shapes that can be mixed and matched to make various patterns. These pavers have also been drum rolled to give them an aged look and old world feel.
• Techo-Bloc's Blu 60 and Blu 80 have been a very popular look for many of our customers. It is a larger scale product that gives a look of natural cut stone. It is a three piece system that is usually installed in a random pattern. Once installed these products look identical - the numbers following the product name indicate the thickness of it. Blu 60 is technically a slab (not a paver) and is suitable for walkways and patios. The Blu 80 is thick enough to be considered a true paver and can be used for residential driveways.
• Techo-Bloc's Flagstone is a paver that has a very random and irregular natural cut stone look to it. It is suitable for a residential driveway, due to the thickness of each piece. The pieces are large, but have several false joints to make it appear as multiple smaller pieces. Quite innovative on the part of Techo-Bloc.
• There are several very large scale products that have recently been developed that are manufactured a little differently to give them more of a natural stone texture. Techo-Bloc has been working on their series of wet cast products for several years. Their Monticello and Aberdeen products are examples of these.