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4 best outdoor flooring ideas for the entryways of your project. 

Architecture is defined by the context it sits in. The immediate context of any architectural structure, regardless of function, needs an entryway, which invites its users and marks the first impression. These entryways are finished with flooring materials adequate to bear varying loads of pedestrian, light and heavy motorways and so on. 

Outdoor paving materials also incorporate the landscape in and around the structure. This article describes a few outdoor paving materials that you might want to incorporate in your next architectural design project:

1. Porcelain and Ceramic Tiles

Porcelain and Ceramic floor tiles are widely used across the globe for the purpose of flooring of outdoor spaces. The terms are used rather alternatively, missing upon a key detail that porcelain tiles are a form of ceramic tiles that are thick and sturdy.

The tiles are available in glossy, textured and matt finishes and should be used according to the spatial requirements. Textured and matt finished porcelain ceramic tiles, that are anti-skid in nature, are preferred along the pool area and climatic conditions receiving a high volume of rainfall or snow, which has the tendency to become slippery. Very few anti-skid variables in glossy tiles are available for outdoor flooring.

Ceramic floor tiles are the most cost effective choice when it comes to choosing floor tiles outdoors. They are not limited to standard types and patterns but in a myriad of colors, textures and designs. In all likeliness, the luxe poolside ‘wooden and stone’ flooring that you see, are textured tiles.

2. Cobblestone :

Cobblestone flooring style outdoors dates back to roughly the 3rd and 4th centuries and has been used all over the world. Traditionally, stones were placed and arranged by hand, set in sand and sometimes bound by mortar. Sand-set cobblestones made an adaptive road surface which would not crack under movement or climatic extremities.

Cobblestone has paved its way in modern applications often used in restoration works, new city plazas, parks, residential driveways and patios. Authentic cobblestones are hard to procure, thus new cobblestone materials can be found with ease.

The ancient design of cobblestone can now be replicated using texture finished stones, making them ideal for high traction areas like driveways, shaped to deal with countless designer patterns and color variations.

3. Flagstones

Flagstones are another historic method of laying flooring, rooting its origins to Ancient Rome. They are incredibly dense and durable stones with natural variation in color and have more or less regular dimensions except the shapes.  Flagstones are irregularly shaped pieces of stone, often cut to shape,  laid at random to create a mosaic which grows seamlessly to incorporate movement in design according to the adjacent landscape.

Some stones used to give flagstones their flair are : 

  • Slate is a fine grained, metamorphic stone which is widely utilized for cladding. This stone is available in silver, gray, green and copper colors.  
  • Sandstone is another type of sedimentary rock which is composed of layers of quartz grains and stones cemented together and used to make patios and pave the walkways. This stone can be procured in beige, pink, gold and red colors.
  •  Limestone forms the primal matter for cement, however, is a sedimentary rock made of calcite stones. Gray, beige, yellow and black limestones are used for facades, interior and exterior walls, interior and exterior floorings, gardens, swimming pools, road surfaces and pavements.

4. Clay Bricks:

Brick, as old as its use might be, has lived to be the favorite materials for those who prefer to do-it-yourself (DIY) for the ease of installation. The uniformity of a brick’s structure gives it the flexibility to be arranged in different patterns or as a veteran would call it, bonds. The bonds not only give  the bricks a visual structure and pattern but also bind them together to keep them from shifting and keep wastage minimal. 

Some easy-peasy and prevalent patterns of laying bricks are:

  • Herringbone, where bricks are merely laid at 90-degree angle to one – another in a zigzag pattern

  • Basketweave, as the name suggests, looks like a woven basket. It rates high on a DIY-er’s list because of how simply it can be installed. The pattern can be accessorized by adding a horizontal line of bricks. 

  • Half-Basket weave is similar to the above mentioned Basketweave, however, the only difference being that two horizontal bricks abut a vertical brick to give a complex look.

  • Stack bond, also known as Jack-on-Jack, is a pattern where bricks are laid simply in aligned rows. It is the face of perfect geometry and one of the most commonly used patterns in construction.  However, a strict edge needs to be maintained and can only be used on linear pathways.

 

You can make the most out of your outdoors by strategically choosing furniture and the surrounding planning landscape. Outdoor furniture and fabric can be classic or colorful and add a splash of life to the sodden earth colors.

Here at Material Depot, you will find furniture inspirations, fabric and much more to assist you spruce up your outdoors.

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