Paving Colours and Finishes

Guidelines to choosing the correct colour paver for your needs

Reality Check

Tyres leave marks on any type or colour of paving. Darker colours will disguise the marks more effectively though they will still be visible.

Cement grouting will permanently stain paving to various extents. Cement staining is accentuated on darker colours like Black (charcoal). Bosun does not recommend cement grouting as not only does it stain, but it breaks and pops out over time.

This is a simple outline to help understand and select the best colour to suit your needs as well as the common differences you may encounter.  It is helpful to look at pictures, however It is best practice to make a selection by seeing some samples.

We recommend that you acquire product samples, or view the products in your desired colour from a Bosun office, before settling on a decision.

The samples will give you a good indication of how it will look once the installation is complete.  Differences in the colour may still be likely due to a variety of influences which include:

Concrete pavers are made using a combination of sand, cement, aggregate and pigment. These natural elements can cause differences in shades of colour in different batches as well as different sites.

The colour differences in paving are unavoidable but the variances do create a sense of appeal and character to the complete installation of your paving.  Without the differences in colour the final paving installation will look monotonous, bland and uninteresting.

The three images below are taken at different times of the day, at the same site, at different angles and consist of the same product.

When choosing paving from a printed picture or on a website, the following key aspects may change how the colours on the image appear: the time of day and climate conditions when the initial picture was taken, the printing of the picture in catalogues or leaflets and various screen resolutions for online viewing.  Appearance can also be affected by various manufacturing processes and finishes.

Concrete blocks are manmade and generally available in two types: single colours and multi-colours.

Single Colours

Single colour pavers consist of only one pigment to colour the concrete that it is made from, or no pigment is used and the colour depends on the aggregates used in manufacturing creating a natural concrete colour.

When packing single coloured pavers, we recommend that pavers be packed from randomly alternated packs to avoid patches of different shades, along the paved area.  It is also advisable to purchase extra pavers from the same batch due to breakages.

When deciding to purchase tan pavers, it is vital to take note of the considerable amount of tan variations due to the oxides used.

Multi-colours

Multi-colour pavers are manufactured using more than one pigment at a time to get a colour mix.  In the manufacturing process the multi-colour blocks may vary significantly (i.e. one paver may have predominantly or completely one colour compared to others in a batch).  We advise that when packing multi-coloured pavers, changes must be made accordingly to ensure that colours are distributed randomly to get the desired effect.  Once the multi-coloured pavers are installed together, the final result is that of a naturally attractive looking paved area.

When deciding on purchasing multi-coloured pavers, we recommend that you get approximately three different samples because there may be vast colour variations per paver.

It is important to note that the colours on pavers may fade due to environmental elements.

The various differences allow for interesting designs where the variations provide vivid emphasis and contrasts in an installed paved area.