Paving is not the same as paving… Paving blocks do not always perform their function equally well. Much depends, among other things, on the raw material from which it is made. For example, clinker pavers are superior to concrete pavers in terms of durability, abrasion resistance and colour stability. It combines tremendous durability with a noble appearance, while maintaining an affordable price. What else makes clinker a winner over other types of paving?
High-strength clinker pavers
Clinker pavers present extremely favourable technical qualities and functional advantages compared to other available solutions. Why? Clinker is made from mixtures of clays that fire naturally into different colours. The firing process at a temperature of around 1,000°C produces a sinter with parameters that the most durable natural stone would not be proud of. One of these is a compressive strength of up to 200 MPa already at a thickness of 47 mm. In practice, this means that the thinner clinker pavers have almost twice the strength of the thicker, 80mm concrete blocks
Pavers that don’t lose their colour
Clinker pavers retain both their full functional advantages and their beauty – including their colour – for life, as the colour of clinker is a result of the raw material used (different types of clay are responsible for the individual shades) and the precisely regulated firing temperature. This makes it easy to lay even the most elaborate designs, while at the same time ensuring that the road, driveway, pavement or terrace will continue to delight the eyes of many generations of users with its carefully chosen colour and thoughtful layout.
Wear-resistant pavers
The way clinker is manufactured also makes this type of paving the highest class of abrasion resistance. This is because a feature of sintered ceramics is the extremely strong bonding of the grains that make them up, which are extremely difficult to separate and detach. Unline concrete pavers, among others, clinker pavers do not abrade Even with heavy traffic, it does not emit harmful dust. And it does not need refreshing, painting or cyclical replacement every couple of decades due to wear and tear.
Slip-resistant pavers
This is one of the most important performance features, as it ensures safe use. Here, clinker paving achieves the highest possible resistance class. In this competition, it wins not only over concrete paving, which is polished by use, but also over granite blocks, which often have an uneven surface texture, causing problems both when clearing snow from the pavement and when walking in high-heeled shoes.
Pavers cheap to install and to use
Clinker pavers can be laid in a number of ways, but the construction method known as flexible paving (on compacted aggregate sub-bases, without permanently binding the pavers to the substrate with cement ) deserves special recommendation. With the right choice of aggregate of different fractions, it gives the pavement a high bearing capacity – without pouring an expensive concrete slab or stabilising the ground with cement. In addition, the use of base paving blocks for kerbs and steps will reduce investment costs. This is possible because clinker paving has as many as five aesthetic surfaces – both flat surfaces, two ‘heads’ (shorter sides) and one ‘wagon’ (longer side). This feature allows the product to be used more widely than its intended use. Of course, the durability of the clinker and its resistance to soiling are key here – keeping it clean usually ensures that it is simply bathed in rain. However, if, for example, paint were to spill on the driveway, the damaged cubes simply need to be turned to the other, clean side. They will not be distinguished by texture or shade!
Pavers with good grip
We expect road surfaces, driveways, but also pavements or terraces, to not easily become slippery for either the wheels of cars or the footwear of pedestrians. Clinker has the advantage – and that is both dry and wet. And because, as mentioned earlier, it is distinguished by its excellent abrasion resistance, it also has no tendency to so-called ‘wear and tear’. . Even after decades of use, its surface will not develop a dangerous (especially after rain) smoothness, which is sometimes the cause of slipping, as it happens on granite slabs or stone paving.
Pavers with a wide range of colours and patterns
Clinker pavers obtain their colour through a natural process. We offer a great variety of colours in the LHL Klinkier and Patoka brands – from yellows, through oranges and a great variety of reds, to browns and the currently fashionable graphites. In addition to cubes with a fairly uniform colour, shimmering shades are also available – examples include the yellow-brown Alt Solaris Patoka, the coral-red Lava LHL, the red-grey Mosaic and the red-cherry Antika Patoka with numerous burnouts. Added to this are the diverse formats. The typical dimension of the plane is 200×100mm, but, for example, the paving blocks with the designation ‘Alt’ from the Patoka range in their name are narrower and have a plane of 200×48.5mm, while Mozaika or Tile Classic also from the Patoka range have been given a square shape. This diversity translates into enormous design possibilities – a multitude of patterns can be created from a seemingly ‘simple’ cube, and these can be single, double or even multi-coloured.
Paving that increases property value
Clinker pavers look great for years to come – which is not only important for aesthetes, but also for those coolly estimating the value of a property. As a noble material and perceived as expensive, if a house with a clinker driveway or terrace is sold, it makes it easier to attract the interest of an offer from a customer with exacting requirements and to obtain a better transaction price. The crowning argument here is, of course, the durability of clinker, which means the aforementioned zero running costs.
