Paver Search Blog

Water is the strongest element of nature. It may seem as though we have plenty by looking into the ocean, rivers and lakes but in fact each year our water supply decreases due to not enough rainfall. We ourselves can help with wastage of water.

Here are 10 simple ways you can save water around the home;

1. Firstly instead of watering down a driveway or sidewalk use a broom to remove all leaves and debris.
2. Water your gardens in the early hours of the day or even late at night. This will reduce the amounts of evaporation that occurs.
3. Use a specific nozzle on the hose that will switch off when water begins to leak.
4. Try not to use a large amount of fertilizer on the lawn. Fertilizing requires loads of watering on a daily basis.
5. Try to only water the grass every 4 to 7 days in the warmer months and 9 to 14 days during the colder months. This is all that is recommended.
6. If you have water feature in your landscaped garden try to use a water system that recycles the same water. By doing this you are saving bucket loads of water.
7. If you have a swimming pool in your yard consult your nearest pool retailer on purchasing a water saving pump.
8. Never leave a sprinkler unattended. You may forget that it is switched on and let it run for hours. Sprinklers can waste gallons of water in a minimal amount of time.
9. Try and plant flowers that do not require regular water.
10. Use mulch that will retain moisture in the soil, saving you the hassle of watering it all the time.

Landscaping and Water

Landscapes main source of life is water. Landscapes thrive and survive off water. Without water there’d be no way flowers, trees, plants and grass would survive especially in high temperature areas.

The amount of water you feed your landscaping will depend on;

• How large the area is.
• Which type of grass you have.
• What type of flowers and plants you have.
• What type of lawn maintenance is needed?

Standing in your landscaped garden with a hose watering your plants can take up to hours when doing both the front and back areas. You will also be wasting a lot of water that could be used sensibly some where else.

Why Not Install Your Own Irrigation System?

An irrigation systems installed in your residential home will help with the maintenance of you wonderfully landscaped gardens. There are several types of irrigation systems.

Drip Irrigation System

This type of system is more suited to residential properties with smaller yards and landscaped gardens. Drip irrigation is suited for the watering of plants, flowers, trees and shrubs. They can b e installed right at the roots of the plants and flowers. Drip irrigations water flow is slow and drip like. It delivers the right amount of water daily, weekly or monthly without the wastage.

A drip irrigation system is easily installed just below the surface of the ground. Small trenches need to be dug out to insure that the system in secure. They can be set by a timer giving you the opportunity to have the gardens watered when you please.

Choosing the Right Irrigation System

Choosing the right irrigation system for your home or farm can be a tough choice. It is an important decision so of course you need to research the many different types of irrigation systems to find out which will best suit your needs. There are many components which make up an irrigation system, things like;

• Sprinklers
• Panels
• Taps
• PVC tape
• Pipe’s
• Pumps

Irrigation systems do not come assembled ready for installation. You can choose which type of components you would like to include in your system that will help you save water (most importantly), time and money.

Hopefully this information we have provided you with is helpful. So visit your local retailer who specialises in landscape irrigation systems and you too can help save water!

Although paving stone roads originally came from Egypt over 5000 years ago, they wasted no time immigrating to virtually all countries of the world. Old fashioned paved streets can still be seen today in many cities of the world, standing the test of time.

Today we take a look within and beyond our borders, across the pond to see the paved streets of the world.

Cobblestone

The pre-cursor to what you would normally consider a paving stone road, cobblestone distinctly has round stones mortared together. Protruding up several inches they make for a very bumpy surface indeed.

They made their debut on the world stage in the 1700s but were quickly phased out and replaced with more smooth and practical ‘granite setts’ in the late 1800s; (so much so that it is rare indeed to find an old cobblestone road in modern times).

(Right) Small and rather uniformly sized cobblestones in Italy. The theory behind this shape and pattern is improved traction for horses.

(Right) Large, coarse cobblestone road.

Granite Setts (Belgian Block)

Often mistaken for cobblestones, granite setts are quarried, cut and shaped to whatever specification desired. Granite setts are mortarless and are set with sand; as opposed to cobble stones which are simply round natural stones set in mortar.

Unlike cobblestones, roads made out of granite sett are still found throughout the world, especially in a larger city’s ‘old’ or ‘historical’ district. However not all Belgian Block roads are from the days of old. Many municipalities (especially those in Europe) actively build new roads in Belgian Block, in order to achieve an atmosphere of old world charm.

Belgian Block roads have also gained a reputation for various bicycle races in France, as being the most difficult and pivotal point of the race (due to the difficulty of cycling on their surfaces)

Possibly the most creative applications of Belgian Block can be found in far off Lisbon, Portugal, where you can throw a stone without encountering some for of aesthetic paver sidewalk, street or square.

It goes without saying that many a paver has wished for some kind of machine to lay his pavers for him. Especially while doing something repetitive and uniform, such as a long driveway with no curves.

Well dream no more, for that fateful day has come! Dutch company VANKU BV has revolutionized the commercial paving industry with their ‘Tiger Stone’. This six-meter wide machine creeps along at a slow pace, leaving under it perfectly laid and arranged pavers.

While the Tiger is not necessarily something a home owner could benefit from (unless they had a very long driveway indeed), contactors and municipalities would very well with one of these machines for roads and streets.

The Tiger touts being able to lay at maximum 980 square feet of pavers in one day which is over two times the amount an experienced crew is capable of laying (the average being around 400 square feet a day). That includes even edging pavers!

Remarkably the Tiger’s machinery is rather simple and easy to maintain. Pavers are fed in and arranged by hand, they then slowly slide down at an angle and plop into place, and that’s it!

All of this begs the question… How much does it cost? Well that depends on the model. The machine comes in 13, 16 and 20ft widths and prices are from $81485 to $108655 respectively.

Check out the machine in operation:

Tiger Stone

One of the World’s Oldest Professions

While it may not seem like it at first glance the paving industry is in fact one of the oldest professions in the world, dating back as much as 5000 years. Although it certainly is likely to extend back even further, the earliest known record is from about 2600 BC in Egypt.

Although paved roads have been around for 5000 years it wasn’t until 500 BC when the Roman Republic began cutting 6 sided hexagon pavers for roads. Until this time paver shapes were random and natural. The Roman engineers would dig a deep bed and fill it with crushed stone and sand, and lastly place the pavers. This technique and the hexagonal paver then continued on unchanged for 2000 years.

The most remarkable aspect of this is after thousands of years of weather, wars, and other elements these roads of pavers are still there, intact (albeit a little worn down) and fully functional. Which leaves one begging the question: “how long do paver roads last?” We have yet had enough history to hazard a guess.

Modern Pavers

It wasn’t until after the Second World War did we see a significant change in the paver world. With the introduction of concrete pre-cast pavers companies were able to drastically reduced costs in the application of pavers, a barrier which had limited the use of paver roads since the beginning (however mass production had not yet begun).

Concrete pre-cast pavers also insured that all pavers would have a completely clean and smooth surface, making vehicle and foot traffic much more agreeable.

In addition to the control of their size and shape, an aesthetic factor entered the picture, with a choice of various colors for the concrete pavers. From red and green to dark blue and light brown.

The last development came from Germany in the 1960s, with the mass production of concrete interlocking pavers which then markedly increased its accessibility and affordability as a driveway/road application.