10 January 2022

What is Slate Paving?

Our natural slate paving is versatile, hard wearing and comes in a variety of different colours including Brazilian Black slate , Indian Blue black slate , Indian Rustic copper slate, Indian Grey slate, These are all riven slate paving and all have different amounts of riven finish and textures.

The perfect base for slate paving

Slate Paving should be laid on a base of Type 1 MOT for the sub base and we would recommend to dig the area out to a depth of 150mm to allow room for the hard-core, mortar and paving slabs. Lay the hard core in three separate stages and compact at each course. Getting the hard-core and leaving 50 to 60mm off finished height of the paving with the correct falls is important so spend time insuring this is do properly raking out any bumps. We recommend using MOT type1 for the sub base and this can be purchased from us if required.

Sealing Slate Paving

Sealing Natural slate paving is not needed as the Riven slate paving is none absorbent and therefor wont discolour. You could use a natural stone enhancer on Black slate to bring out the colours or a wet look sealer on Rustic copper slate to bring out its vivid colours.

Is Slate good for Patios?

Riven Slate paving slabs are an excellent choice for your patio, Black slate and grey slate are the smoothest options, Rustic copper slate and blue black slate are much more textured and riven but offer a different look and feel that will suit some properties better.

Is slate paving slippery?

Riven slate paving is natural in its finish but the surface when wet is not as slippery as you may expect. We only sell the finest products here at Perfect Pave and we “try before we supply” testing all products on our own instillations before we sell to the public.

Do Slate Patio Slabs scratch?

Riven slate patio slabs do scratch, and darker slates such as Brazilian black slate show them more visibly. Our black slate however is high quality and dense slate that’s less porous and doesn’t absorb much water and therefore is less prone to flaking and deep scratching.

Does Black Slate Paving Fade?

Riven slate paving in all forms don’t actually fade like some materials such as black limestone when in direct sunlight, as they age the natural iron content may work to the surface and you may see lighter streaks of the same colour or slightly different colour streaks in the paver. We at Perfect Pave believe this is part of the charm of using slate.

What is Riven slate paving?

When being split to form paving slabs it often splits in layers which results in a fairly smooth even surface This is true for Brazilian black slate and Indian grey slate . However, the layers often don't split away evenly on Indian blue black slate and rustic copper slate resulting in a more varied riven surface. Slate is formed in layers over Millions of years on different continents over the world and is classed as a Metamorphic stone.

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