What is a natural stone paver?
A natural stone paver is a thick piece of quarried stone made for outdoor floors. The thickness is what separates most pavers from an indoor tile: most stone pavers at Stone Tile Depot are 1 1/4 inch, with a group near 1.18 inch and others at 1, 1.13 or 1 1/2 inch, against the 3/8 inch of a typical interior floor tile. A few split-face pattern sets are thinner, at 1/2 inch. Each piece is cut from a quarried block, so color and veining vary from one paver to the next, which gives a stone terrace its natural, unrepeated look.
Travertine pavers
Travertine is the most common stone in this range and the classic choice around a pool. It forms at mineral springs and has natural cavities through the body, which are usually left open on a tumbled paver and give it a soft, rustic surface. Colors run through beige, brown and gray: Light Standard, Light Select, Chiaro, Ivory and Latte on the light side, Walnut, Noce and Tuscany Walnut in browns, and Silver in gray, with blended pattern sets such as Country Classic. The full range is in travertine pavers.
Marble pavers
Marble pavers bring stronger color and veining to an outdoor floor, and the finishes are worked so the surface is not glossy: sandblasted, tumbled, leathered or textured. Grays and whites lead the group, with Mist White, Wynwood Gray, Tundra Gray, Fantasia Blanca and Cosmic White, and a real blue group follows in Azure Breeze, Harbor Blue and Atlantic Blue. Beige marbles include Royal Beige, some pieces still listed under its earlier name Diana Royal, with Vanilla Shadow in beige and gray, and Cosmic Black adds a dark option. The full range is in marble pavers.
Limestone, granite and sandstone pavers
Limestone pavers are mostly beige and white, with a few blues and grays. Shell Reef and Myra Shellstone show fossil and shell texture across the face, Mayra White and Paris are clean, pale stones, and Caribbean Blue comes in a natural finish and a pattern set. Limestone stays cooler underfoot in light colors, which is why it is popular around pools in warm climates; the range is in limestone pavers.
Granite is a dense, hard stone, offered here as flamed Gray Mist and White Mist pavers, including a Gray Mist pattern set. Sandstone pavers include the flamed Mountain Bluestone, a blue-gray stone, and Fossil Rustic, Rustic Canyon and Venetian Grey in a natural finish, with a rugged, textured surface.
Tumbled, sandblasted and flamed finishes
Tumbled is the most common finish on natural stone pavers. The stone is rolled with abrasive media, which softens the edges and corners and gives the face a worn, antique look that hides wear well. Sandblasting blasts the face with grit for an even, matte texture with crisp edges, and it is common on marble. Flamed finishes, on granite and bluestone, use heat to pop the surface crystals for a rough, textured face. Leathered and brushed finishes fall between, with a soft texture and a little sheen, and some marbles come in specialty textures such as Textura and Fine Picked.
Paver sizes and pattern sets
Stone pavers come in single sizes from 6x6 and 6x12 up to 16x24, 24x24, 24x36 and 24x48. Large formats such as 24x24 give a calm, modern terrace with few joints, while 6x12 and 8x16 suit borders, paths and a more traditional running bond. Pattern sets combine several sizes in one order so the floor lays out in a repeating, irregular-looking design. The French pattern, also called Versailles, mixes rectangle and square sizes and is offered in travertine, marble and limestone, with the Versailles name used on several marbles. The Roman pattern, a related multi-size set, comes in travertine and marble, and granite has a Gray Mist pattern set.
Where stone pavers are used
Stone pavers suit patios, pool decks, garden paths, courtyards, entry walks and outdoor kitchens. On a patio, a large 16x24 or 24x24 paver gives an open, calm floor, while a French pattern set breaks up a large area visually. Narrow formats such as 6x12 and 8x16 suit paths and borders, where a running bond or a herringbone guides the eye along the walk. Outdoor kitchens and dining areas often use a sandblasted or flamed surface, which keeps a matte, textured look under use, and a stone that matches the house or the pool coping ties the outdoor rooms together.
Choosing a stone for a pool deck
Pool decks call for a stone that stays comfortable barefoot and has a textured face. Light travertine and limestone stay cooler in full sun than dark stone, and tumbled or sandblasted surfaces are the usual finishes around water. Many of the same stones come as matching pool coping, the edge piece that caps the pool wall, so the deck and the edge share one stone and finish. Coping is in pool copings, and porcelain and concrete pavers are in the full pavers range.
