Talasey — Support
Questions, answered in layers
Where can I buy Natural Paving from?
What are the main benefits of natural stone?
As the stone is natural, no two pieces are the same, allowing designers and homeowners to create stunning bespoke and individual designs which will outshine the likes of concrete and other man-made building materials. Some of the benefits natural stone has to offer include:
- Natural stone is generally easy to clean.
- Using natural stone materials may add greater value to your property.
- Natural stone is uniquely formed, each piece of stone has its own characteristics, colour variations, veining, markings and occasional charming imperfections.
The diversity of the product allows it to be used in several applications. Each piece of natural stone has a unique blend of colours and tones. All of our Natural Stone makes a durable frost-resistant paving and walling.
What is natural stone actually made from?
What does Ethically sourced stone mean?
Being fully aware of the inhumane practices that exist in parts of the world, Natural Paving Products has made a firm commitment to demonstrate to our industry just how natural stone mining should be conducted successfully and ethically. We are a part of the Ethical Stone Register and ask that when you purchase your natural stone products, you ensure they are ethically sourced.
By only purchasing ethically sourced stone you will help to ensure that:
- Child labour is not used for the quarrying of stone, allowing children to instead get an education, which then allows their parents to get work in the quarries.
- The hours of work are not excessive.
- The working conditions in which the stone was mined are safe and hygienic.
- Fair wages are paid to the workers who quarry the stone.
- Workers are treated in a fair and humane way
Understanding the importance of ethical sourcing is vital. By supporting and working with the Ethical Stone Register, we can help eradicate not only child labour in the stone industry but also inhumane and unsafe working conditions for all stoneworkers.
By sourcing stone ethically, we are helping more children get into schools, giving them the best possible start to life, whilst also allowing their parents to have a secure and safe job. Natural Paving Products has engaged with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian children’s rights and education advocate and an activist against child labour. He founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA Save the Childhood Movement) in 1980 and has acted to protect the rights of more than 83,000 children from 144 countries.
As part of the BBA auditing process, Kailash and his team have visited our factory and he is now working very closely with us on various charity projects with our ultimate aim of eradicating child labour and improving education standards within the stone regions of India.
How do I pick the right natural stone for me?
How do you lay natural stone paving?
For information on installation methods for our Natural Paving Products see our Guide to Planning & Installing Natural Paving.
What should natural stone paving be jointed with?
On patios and paths, for easy, all-weather joint filling on all our stone ranges, you can use Pavetuf Jointing Compound. For joint widths of 3mm – 20mm, a minimum depth of 20mm. Refer to jointing compound for full details.
For use on patios and driveways, a stronger, rapid-setting mortar that is suitable for all our stone ranges, use our Pavetuf Jointing Mortar. More suited to professional installers, for joint widths of 5mm – 50mm and a minimum depth of 200mm. Refer to full details.
Alternatively, you can point with a traditional mortar joint. Mix four parts of building sand with one part of cement. Add as little water as possible to bind the mortar, and use a plasticiser as directed. Use a small pointing trowel to feed the pointing mortar into empty joints from the edge of a larger trowel and then use a pointing bar/ iron to press it down, taking care to clean the edges of the slabs with a wet soapy sponge as you go.
Which is the correct way up to lay natural paving?
You must always lay the largest face (and uncalibrated, riven face) upwards. Please see our Guide to Planning & Installing Natural Paving for further information.
Should I seal my natural stone paving?
There are many sealers available on the market that offer different finishes. Natural stone does not have to be sealed so sealing is a personal choice. Some sealers are designed to affect the appearance of the stone, such as leaving a satin finish. Sealing can help delay the absorption of liquids also.
An important factor to consider if deciding to seal your stone is whether or not the sealer is breathable, because if it is not then mobile salts in solution can be trapped beneath the surface. An example of a potential problem caused by the use of the wrong sealer could be where efflorescence develops but the sealer prevents salts from exiting through the sealed surface. The build-up of the salts not only can result in a difficult-to-remove stain but can often cause disruption and breakdown of the surface itself.
With un-breathable sealants, manufacturers will normally recommend that you wait three months before sealing your recently paved area, to allow efflorescence to appear. This can then be washed off before sealing
If using a breathable sealant, the paved area can usually be sealed straight after installation, but always check with the product manufacturer.
If you make the decision to use a sealer on your natural stone, test the product on a small, discreet area first, to make sure you are happy with the result.
How do I prevent and clean leaf staining on my paving?
What is the difference between a Through Full-Bodied and Colour-Bodied porcelain?
Through Full-Bodied The body of the tile colour is consistent with the raw materials used in the manufacturing. This body type is referred to as a “salt & pepper finish”. The tile has no surface print, and the colour of raw materials run all the way through the tile. In this type of tile, the colour options are limited but if chipping does occur then it is normally not so visible to the naked eye.
Body Information:
- No digital printing on the upper side of the product, only a salt & pepper body.
- Body colour denotes on the top surface finish.
- In this type of porcelain, there is a very limited amount of colour options available.
Colour-Bodied The body of the tile is matched to one similar to the surface print, though once laid as paving this is immaterial. There is little visible difference if there are small chips caused by accidental damage during cutting, handling and install. Keep in mind that porcelain is an extremely dense material, so the chances of chipping are very low. They still go through the same vitrification process, assuring the user of very low water absorbency, high stain resistance and long-term durability.
Body Information:
- Colour match to the surface colour which is visible through the entire product.
- Little visible difference if there are small chips.
- Can still have various finishes such as polished, slip resistant, matte.
What is the difference between rectified and non-rectified porcelain?
Rectified Tiles have their edges machine cut after firing, giving a consistent size with 90 degree angles allowing for minimal joint widths and crisp lines.
Body Information:
- Precisely ground and machined
- Near-perfect straight edges
- Exact dimensions with small manufacturing tolerance, normally +/-1mm
- Tighter joints are achievable from 5mm and above.
Non-rectified Tiles have uneven edges, giving them a more natural look, but with the downside of needing more grout to install. Whilst the edges are not machined, the edges are still straight due to the high-quality moulds used on the press.
Body Information:
- Can have slight dimensional differences
- Will have a bigger manufacturing tolerance than rectified
- Larger joint widths are recommended, normally from 7mm and above
What are glazed porcelain paving tiles?
Is porcelain low maintenance?
Porcelain paving is known to be one of the easiest types of flagstones to keep looking clean and ‘as new’.
Its fantastic technical properties mean it doesn’t weather as quickly as other paving types and when it does need a general cleaning, it requires minimal effort. Vitripiazza is an extremely strong, hard-wearing paving type and has very low water absorption, giving excellent resistance to the environment and weather, with high resistance to UV, frost, salt and acid.
For further information see our Guide to Understanding Vitripiazza.
Do I need a priming slurry to install porcelain paving?
Why does my vitripiazza porcelain have arrows on the back of the tile?
If the tiles are laid keeping arrows in any one direction a more consistence pattern can be achieved. This is not mandatory, and tiles can be laid randomly if desired.
Vitripiazza ranges that the arrows will appear on:
- Anno
- Bellezza Lite
- Cava Quartz
- Cava Stone
- Cava Granito
- Sofia
What is the best way to lay external porcelain paving?
There are various methods for the installation of vitrified porcelain paving. Our Guide to Planning & Installing Vitripiazza has been created with our suggested installation process which will give the very best aesthetic results and assure you of the short, medium and long-term performance of the paving in the UK climate.
While it’s true that you can lay directly onto grass or sand, we would strongly recommend you install on the construction shown within this guide.
What is the best jointing option for porcelain?
There are various jointing options available for vitrified porcelain and the key to a successful joint is choosing the correct type of solution for your application. See our recommendations below:
Pavetuf Jointing Grout – Specifically designed for use with porcelain products and is the ideal choice for professionals and DIY’ers. Suitable for joint widths of 3mm to 15mm, at full depth of the tile. Suitable for driveway and pedestrian use. Internal or external use. Smooth finish.
Pavetuf Jointing Mortar – Can be used for any type of paving. Suitable for joint widths of 5mm to 50mm, with minimum 20mm depth required. Suitable for driveway and pedestrian use. External use only. Granular finish.
Pavetuf Jointing Compound – Not suitable for porcelain constructions laid on concrete sub bases, it is essential the product installation guide is followed when considered for use. Suitable for joint widths of 5mm to 20mm, with minimum 20mm depth required, joints must be struck off to ensure good compaction when installed with porcelain paving. Suitable for pedestrian use only. External use only. Granular finish.
How simple is porcelain to clean?
- Brush the area regularly with a normal bristle brush to keep it clear of leaves and debris.
- General soiling can be easily washed off by using Pavetuf Porcelain Cleaner or with hot soapy water.
- For more heavy-duty cleaning our Pavetuf range of specialist cleaners has been designed to deal with almost everything you will come up against.
- Algae or organic growth can easily be treated with Pavetuf Green-Off.
- Pressure washers can be used by selecting the fan setting on the nozzle and ensuring a distance of approximately 30cm-45cm away from the surface is maintained so the jointing is not affected.
how do i prevent and clean leaf staining on my paving?
It’s good practice to maintain areas where leaves fall be regularly brushing them up, as some leaves and plant life will leach tannins when they lay on the ground which can discolour paving and standing water.
Do not worry though, if you have any paving where the leaves have left stains, our Pavetuf Green-Off Cleaner is the perfect choice to remove these easily. Green-Off is simple to apply and works very quickly to remove staining from the affected paving areas.
It contains no solvents, acids or caustic soda, meaning it will not damage the treated surface and is safe to use on all natural stone, including sandstone and limestone, granite, marble, porcelain, ceramic and any kind of concrete and decorative paving.
What is the difference between porcelain and ceramic?
Ceramic tiles can be used for indoor and outdoor renovation projects but vitrified porcelain is the preferred option. So why is vitrified porcelain the preferred option and what are the differences between porcelain and ceramic?
The main difference between a vitrified porcelain and a ceramic tile is the water absorbency rate. Vitrified porcelain absorbs less than 0.5% of water whilst ceramic will absorb much more.
Vitrified porcelain paving is produced through the vitrification of its component materials, i.e., clays, feldspar and siliceous sands. These materials are sintered through firing in kilns in excess of 1200ºC, compacting the elements which closes the pores and giving the porcelain its excellent technical properties that enable it to be the perfect paving and cladding choice for many domestic and commercial projects.
Ceramic on the other hand is manufactured in a similar way but tend to not have the quality clay used in vitrified porcelain and are not fired at the same high temperatures. They then simply have a glazed top surface meaning they are not as hard wearing as vitrified porcelain.
Can porcelain be used on a driveway?
The answer to this is yes. Our Full-Bodied ranges can be used for driveway products for trafficking with domestic cars or light vans but they will require installing on an adequate concrete base (minimum 100mm) and supporting sub-base and construction.
The paving should then be bonded to the concrete base using a high-performance cementitious tile adhesive appropriate for this type of traffic. Talasey are unable to give specific adhesive recommendations so seek guidance from the adhesive manufacturer for specific advice. The Colour-Bodied ranges are not recommended for driveway use.
Where can I buy Vitripiazza from?
Our Vitripiazza porcelain paving is available to purchase through our extensive network of distributors and stockists. To find your nearest stockist, please visit our find a stockist page.
Where can I buy Luxigraze Artificial Grass from?
Our Luxigraze Artificial Grass is available to purchase through our extensive network of distributors and stockists. To find your nearest stockist, please contact us.
How long will artificial grass last?
The life expectancy of Luxigraze depends on its usage. If installed and maintained to our recommendations, it is estimated that it will last for up to 15-20 years through normal domestic/garden use.
Will my artificial grass get hot in direct sunlight?
As with decking, patios and other landscaping products exposed to direct sunlight, artificial grass can get hot in extreme temperatures. Simply rinse with a garden hose to quickly reduce the surface temperature, if, for example, the children are playing in bare feet.
What is artificial grass made from?
Luxigraze Artificial Grass is manufactured from durable plastic polymers polyethylene and/or polypropylene. These lightweight plastics are extremely resistant to damage, providing Luxigraze Artificial Grasses a UV Guarantee.
How does artificial grass drain water?
Does artificial grass have a directional pile?
All artificial grasses have a slight pile direction along the length of the roll. This will be noticeable when first unrolled. The artificial grass will look slightly lighter from one direction, and darker from the other. This needs to be taken into consideration when measuring, planning and installing.
Where possible, make sure the grass pile is facing towards your home or main viewpoint, to ensure a full and natural look. Artificial grass looks at its best when you are looking into the pile of grass, otherwise, it can appear shiny.
Can you use artificial grass for a driveway?
Can artificial grass be recycled?
Not all artificial grass can be recycled. Luxigraze 35 Tranquillity, however, is an eco-friendly, 100% recyclable artificial grass. Currently, there is nowhere in the UK to recycle artificial grass.
Developments are being undertaken and this initiative is expected to be extended to more countries in the coming years. By the time the grass reaches the end of its life span, there should be a recycling facility available in the UK.
Can I use a power washer to clean the paving and Pavetuf Jointing Compound joints?
Yes, you can however a pressure-washer may not be needed. We have made cleaning easy with our full and comprehensive range of Pavetuf maintenance products, negating the need for the use of high-pressure power washers.
Our cleaners can treat all kinds of different stains and dirt build up. Please use the chart below to identify the cleaner to suit your requirements. If you do choose to use a pressure washer, do not clean your paving and newly installed Pavetuf Jointing Compound until it is fully cured, at least 4 weeks after installation.
When you clean the patio hold the power washer on a low pressure, at an angle of about 45 degrees and use a fan spray from no closer than 300mm from the paving joints. Alternatively, often a hose and brush will suffice to remove built-up dirt and debris.
How can I revive and clean my old Patio Paving?
How can I get green stains off my paving?
Our Pavetuf Green-Off Cleaner is a high-performance, long-lasting advanced formula that removes organic growth which causes green stains on paving. Containing no solvents, acids or caustic soda means it will not damage the treated surface and is safe to use on all natural stone, sandstone, limestone, granite, marble, porcelain, ceramic, and any kind of concrete and decorative paving.
Green-Off Cleaner will not affect the colour of the treated area and is fast acting and easy to apply. It is particularly effective on areas where algae, moss, fungus and leaf staining occur. It is easily applied using a watering or a garden pump sprayer. Pavetuf Green-off takes the hard work out of cleaning your paving.
What is the best cleaner for natural stone?
If I am using a pedestal system, how can I do an area that has both paving and decking products on?
How much weight can pedestals take?
How many pedestals do I need for my project?
How do you lay paving or decking on pedestals if your area is uneven, or you are laying on a slope?
Laying on uneven ground is made easier by using one of our two options to help you keep it all level. Our HA5 Self-Levelling attachment is sold separate and simply clips into the base to assist with levelling of uneven ground up to 5%.
Our HS2 Slope Corrector can be stacked underneath the adjustable riser base to reduce inclination differences from 2% to 10%. Each Slope Corrector will give you a 2% difference and you can use up to five of these under each riser.
Can I use channel drainage on a driveway?
Can I use Pavetuf Jointing Compound with a driveway project?
Can I joint my patio in wet weather?
Yes, one of the benefits of Pavetuf Jointing Compound over traditional jointing methods is that is can be applied in wet weather. However, if extreme weather is forecast like heavy prolonged rain, snow, freezing conditions and extremely high temperatures.
Please refer to our Guide to Using Jointing Compound.
My Jointing Compound has left stains/marks on my paving, how do I remove these?
When used correctly Pavetuf Jointing Compound will not stain the paving. Staining can occur if insufficient water has been used during the installation, allowing the compound to leave a temporary resin stain. The staining is broken down by UV, so areas that are subject to a lot of sunshine will progress quicker than shaded areas.
It is advised that it may take a full cycle of the seasons before it diminishes completely. Usually, the initial staining will have quite a sheen to it. This will last for 2-4 weeks before the stain then becomes a more matt finish, then over the coming weeks and months this darkness lightens off until, eventually, it will dissipate altogether.
Why are water-based sealers better than other sealers?
Unlike some sealers on the market, Pavetuf Sealers are non-toxic, technically advanced, water-based, and are solvent-free, making them an environmentally friendly option. They have been designed to delay the penetration of water and oily liquids allowing time to clean up any spillage to prevent staining of the hard landscaped area. With the added benefit of being breathable, not only can they be used to seal your paving before installation, but they can also be used immediately after.
Composite Solutions
Where can I buy Piranha products?
What length are the Piranha decking boards?
Will Piranha Composite Decking scratch?
Will the Piranha Composite Decking boards change colour?
What material should I use to build the sub-frame for my Piranha Composite Decking?
Can I use an aluminium sub-frame?
How do I cut the composite decking boards?
How do I clean the composite decking boards?
Where can I use Piranha Composite Fencing?
Product & Material
What is Pioneer made from?
Why use Glass Fibre in the core?
Does the decking fade over time?
What wood finishes are available?
Is Pioneer safe for families and pets?
Can Pioneer be used near pools and water features?
Is Pioneer safe to use near hot tubs, beaches, or where chemicals may be present?
Installation & Fittings
How is Pioneer installed?
What tools and accessories are required?
How do I fasten the boards to the joists?
There are 2 options available depending on your chosen installation method.
- Hulk™ collated clips, each box contains 150 clips and is designed to cover approx. coverage is dependent on board length and board spacing. If setting your joists centre to centre to fit a 4800mm board, you would use a 480mm centres to keep them equal. 1 clip at each end plus 10 joists = 11 clips per board.
- Starborn™ Pro Plug system is a hidden top fixing method used mainly on starter edge boards to fix the first board in place. A hole is routed out the board with a special tool, screw inserted, and the Pro Plug is inserted which is made from the actual board surface. It can also be used as the method for the whole installation if preferred.
Each Pro Plug full kit includes 150 screws and 165 plugs. Screws and Pro Plugs are available to purchase separately with 100 number each per box/bag.
On a 170mm starter deck board it is recommended to use 2 Pro Plug per joist fixing, 1 30mm from the edge of the board and another 30mm in from that. A clip is then used on the grooved side to secure the whole board. 22 Pro Plugs and screws per 4800mm board.
If using Pro Plug as the whole install method then 3 plugs per joist fixing is required, 33 Pro Plugs and screws per 4800mm board.
Always allow a small buffer for cuts, wastage, or custom edge detail
Is Pioneer compatible with timber or metal subframes?
What is the Pavetuf Adjustable Riser System?
Can the boards be lifted and reused?
Is Pioneer compatible with timber or metal subframes?
Maintenance & Warranty
Does Pioneer require sanding, staining, or sealing?
What is the expected lifespan of Pioneer decking?
Is there a warranty?
Sustainability
How sustainable is Pioneer?
Does Pioneer use any toxic chemicals or treatments?
Is the decking recyclable at end of life?
Technical & Dimensions
What are the dimensions of a standard Pioneer board?
Pioneer is wider than most other boards on the market at 170mm (W)
Deck Boards and Starter Square Edge Boards
170mm (W) x 21mm (H) x 4800mm (L). Each pack includes 66 boards, covering 55.44m².
Standard board coverage 0.81m2 if including the 6mm joint width 0.84m2
Fascia Boards 151mm (W) x 12mm (H) x 2200mm (L). Each pack contains 38 boards, covering 12.54m2 or 83.60lin m
Board coverage 0.33m2