From Boring to Beautiful: Why Paving is the Future of Outdoor Design
When it comes to designing the perfect outdoor space, the choice between paving and poured concrete can make all the difference. While concrete has long been a go-to option for patios in New Zealand, paving offers superior benefits in aesthetics, durability, and overall value. Here’s why paving should be your top choice when creating a stunning and functional outdoor retreat:
1. Aesthetic Appeal That Elevates Your Space:
Paving stones come in a wide variety of colours, textures, and patterns, allowing you to create a customised and visually appealing patio. Whether you prefer a rustic, natural look or a sleek, modern design, pavers offer endless possibilities. You can create almost endless designs to make your patio unique to you. On the other hand, poured concrete is limited in design and requires expensive staining or stamping to achieve any level of customisation. Everyone else down the street has the same old boring, blotched, cracked poured concrete. Be the envy of your neighbourhood and friends. Create beautiful spaces for happy family times!
The flagstone look has been around for over 2,000 years and still hasn’t gone out of fashion! It is truly timeless.
Paving sizes range from the cobble look of 100x100mm to 230x115mm to 400x400mm, 542x270mm, 600x600mm, 450x450mm, 900x900mm, 1200x600mm, and many more, offering incredible flexibility in design and application.
2. Durability That Stands the Test of Time!
Poured concrete is prone to cracking over time due to weather changes, ground movement, and general wear and tear. Once a crack appears, it’s difficult to repair without leaving an unsightly patch. Paving stones, however, are individually set, allowing for slight movement without compromising the entire surface. This flexibility makes pavers much more resistant to cracking, ensuring your patio stays in top condition for years. If you experience any cracking of your grout lines, they are easy to repair whereas once concrete cracks your only option is to live with it or cut out and replace. The new concrete will never match the old either.
A very important point to bear in mind is that most patios will experience some ground movement or settlement over time. A lot of clay subsoils in New Zealand seem very hard but they do expand in the wet seasons and contract in the dry. This means that it is highly likely that your poured concrete patio will crack somewhere at some point and most often this happens away from the control joint so you end up with an ugly jagged crack.
Paving on the other hand will only crack along a grout line or two which is often not even noticeable. But if it does bug you, you can easily repair it with one of our resin based grouts!
Additionally, poured concrete fades over time, becomes blotchy, and often has an inconsistent texture. Once the thin fine surface wears away, it exposes the black aggregate underneath, which can make the patio look worn and unattractive. Furthermore, if you want to extend your patio in the future, adding to poured concrete can be a nightmare as each new batch will have a different colour, creating an inconsistent look.
Another major drawback of poured concrete is that it wears unevenly. High-traffic areas, whether from foot traffic or vehicles, will deteriorate much faster than lesser-used sections. This uneven wear leads to an unsightly and inconsistent surface that can make your patio look old and worn out much sooner than expected.
3. Easier Repairs & Maintenance!
One of the biggest drawbacks of poured concrete is that any damage or stains are difficult to fix without replacing large sections. Paving stones offer a major advantage in this area—if one stone gets damaged or stained, it can simply be replaced without disrupting the entire patio. Additionally, pavers are less likely to stain compared to concrete, making them a lower-maintenance option. You can also use a Premier sealer to seal your pavers if you choose to. And with our Porcelain paving there is no need to seal at all.
4. Slip-Resistance & Safety!
Safety is a key concern, especially for families with children or elderly members. Poured concrete can become dangerously slippery when wet, increasing the risk of slips and falls. Many paving stones have textured surfaces that provide better grip and traction, reducing the likelihood of accidents in wet conditions. Our Porcelain paving is specifically designed to be non-slip, ensuring maximum safety for your outdoor space.
5. Better Drainage & Water Management
Concrete is non-porous, meaning water tends to collect on the surface, leading to pooling and potential damage. Pavers are designed with joints that allow for better water drainage, preventing puddles from forming and reducing the risk of water damage to the patio foundation. A lot of our grouts are permeable too so if you have a permeable base, water can flow through the grout lines.
We also have fully permeable paving options available too if your council requires you to have a permeable driveway or patio or both.
6. Higher Resale Value
If you ever plan to sell your home, a well-designed paver patio can significantly increase its street appeal and resale value. Homebuyers appreciate the durability, aesthetics, and low maintenance of pavers, making it a worthwhile investment. In contrast, cracked or stained concrete patios can be seen as a costly problem that needs fixing. Even a multi million dollar home can be ruined by a poor quality driveway and patios.
7. Warranty & Long-Term Value
One of the biggest disadvantages of poured concrete is that it comes with no warranty at all. This means if it cracks, fades, or deteriorates, you’re left to cover the repair costs yourself. In contrast, our Premier Pavers Italia Range and Lifestyle Range both come with a 10-year warranty, ensuring peace of mind. Even more impressively, our Porcelain and other stone pavers come with a 100-year warranty, making them a true long-term investment for your home.
8. Superior Material Quality
Our Porcelain paving is designed to offer the ultimate outdoor flooring solution. It is non-slip, non-fading, stain-resistant, and engineered to replicate the beauty of expensive real stone. With many colours and textures to choose from, you can achieve the perfect aesthetic for your patio without the high cost and maintenance associated with natural stone.
9. Eco-Friendly & Sustainable
Pavers offer more environmentally friendly options than concrete. Permeable pavers allow rainwater to seep through the ground, reducing runoff and minimising the strain on local drainage systems. Some paving materials are even made from recycled materials, making them a sustainable choice for eco-conscious homeowners. All of our paving can be recycled too through our crushing plant or by reselling on platforms like Trademe. This means they have an endless lifecycle whereas poured concrete has to be trucked away to landfill.
10. Consistent Quality & Manufacturing Precision
All our paving is produced in a controlled factory environment, eliminating the variables that affect poured concrete when mixed and poured onsite. Factors such as temperature, moisture, wind, and shade can significantly impact the final quality of concrete, leading to inconsistencies in colour, texture, and durability. With factory-made paving, you get a consistently high-quality product that looks and performs exactly as intended every time.
The Clear Winner: Paving Over Poured Concrete
When considering all the factors—design flexibility, durability, ease of maintenance, safety, drainage, warranty, material quality, value, sustainability, and manufacturing precision—it’s clear that paving is the superior choice for your new patio. Not only does it enhance the beauty of your outdoor space, but it also ensures long-term performance and adds value to your property.
Paving is the way of the future for patios and driveways in New Zealand.
If you’re looking to create a patio that stands out and lasts for years to come, choose paving over poured concrete. Your future self will thank you!
Written by Bernard Powell – Landscape Designer and Consultant
Premier Group NZ
For more helpful resources and your free landscape design planner and guide go to www.premierpavers.nz
