Porphyry met many of their needs and everyone agreed from the start, it was just a question of choosing the size, the finish and the type of sealing.

Let's start with aesthetics... if you think of any porphyry outdoor paving you've seen in squares, parks and streets, the colour grey will come to mind, and indeed it is the most common shade by which this natural stone is known. But you may not be aware that there are several natural porphyry colours, mainly three, and customers have chosen this striking, rust-coloured flamed finish.
 

Even the choice of format was not random, in this case there are four types: opera incerta, squared, sawn and cubes. They opted for the largest format of the smallest type, a cube porphyry with sides between 8-10 cm, which we laid following a radius pattern.

Well, once all this has been done, we begin with the laying, which takes place on a bed of risetta, laid directly on the lean-to, in which we have sunk our cubes with a thickness of about 5/6 cm. Keep in mind that for the laying of an outdoor porphyry floor the dimensions are important, in fact you will have to have 12 cm of thickness available to realize this natural paving that needs more layers.

Up to this point, it looks like a normal porphyry floor...

This exterior acquires its main characteristic through the joints that have not been made with traditional sand and cement but with the innovative sealing with percolated polyurethane resin.

Whaat?

After laying the porphyry cubes and beating them dry with a special machine, the joints were filled with a small-sized porphyry grit and covered with a casting of polyurethane resin. This casting is done manually: our installers use guns to spray the resin perfectly into the joints, which falls 5-10 cm below the final level, thus making the porphyry floor stable and cohesive.

After seeing the realizations in the link above, compare them with the photos of this exterior that I leave you in the gallery below:

The choice made by these customers for their outdoor paving definitely improves the aesthetics of their home (remember that the exterior is the calling card you give to your guests) but I would like to point out that their particular need was related to the steep slope of their driveway and only this solution could overcome future problems related to stability and rainwater drainage.

If you are wondering whether oit costs more than a traditional porphyry floor, yes of course it does! The steps are larger and more delicate, so the labour is more expensive and the sand and cement costs much less than porphyry grit and polyurethane resin. So in what cases and why should you opt for this type of flooring?

First of all, let the data speak for themselves:

If the slopes are steep, if the area in which you live is subject to frequent rainfall and if it is a driveway area in which heavy vehicles also have to pass, I recommend evaluating this option, which will avoid many problems in the long run.

Keep in mind that the only disadvantage with respect to sand and cement grouts is cleaning, which will certainly be more laborious due to the roughness that makes this type of floor draining and non-slip.

Below is a video that will be very useful for understanding the advantages of choosing this type of flooring for your outdoor area:

Thank you for reading this article. I hope I have not been too technical and that the photos and videos have helped you to better understand the characteristics and procedure for creating a porphyry floor with resin joints.
I would also like to thank Studio CZ for having recommended us to these customers who have chosen to entrust us with the work on their outdoor floor.

If you too are thinking about this solution for your floor and live in the provinces of Vicenza, Verona and Padua, you can contact us using the form below: the first appointment will take place in one of our Showrooms (see addresses below), and with a map of your outdoor area we will be able to design it, choosing together the material finish that best meets your needs.

Please note, however, that we are a small company, a firm specialising in interior and exterior finishes made up of a team of interior designers. We like to find tailor-made solutions for each customer and work with the most beautiful and newest products, preferring the Made in Italy to everything else, so it is difficult for us to use cheap products because we provide a series of services that are "included in the price" including consulting, design, inspections... Also: 

• We can only do a few jobs in a year: on average a dozen exteriors;
• We do not have the capacity to do huge jobs;
• Nor can we move too far from Vicenza-Verona.

This is because we have to give the right assistance to jobs and customers! That's why I'm already warning you that if you need to lay thousands of metres of flooring or if the site is far from Vicenza and Verona, the areas where we operate, we won't be able to meet your request. If, on the other hand, you live or will live in these provinces, you can visit us in our shops and we will be happy to design your home together, both for external and internal finishes. 

Here are the addresses of our shops specialising in floors, walls, bathrooms and kitchens: