Laying pool deck pavers or considering planter wall pavers installation? When you are looking to engage the top paving contractor Los Angeles residents recommend to enhance your outdoor spaces, a key choice you need to make relates to whether you should use permeable or non-permeable pavers.
Permeable And Non-Permeable Pavers: What’s the Difference?
Non-permeable pavers have solid surfaces that do not allow water to enter through and force it to run off. Examples of these types of pavers include asphalt, traditional brick, stone, concrete pavers, or poured concrete. These surfaces lead to stagnant water puddle formation when there is heavy rain apart from preventing groundwater recharging. During heavy rainfall, impermeable surfaces lead to large volumes of runoffs that reach water sources, causing floods or erosion of banks.
Permeable pavers are made of a layer of fired clay brick or concrete. These pavers have joints that are filled using crushed aggregate. They are different from porous or pervious pavers in the sense that rainwater passes around instead of through the pavers.
The primary goals of permeable pavers installation are to reduce downstream erosion, limit runoff, and improve water quality at source. Permeable pavers filter pollutants in the aggregates that occupy the paver joints, thereby preventing them from entering the deeper layers.
Advantages of Permeable Pavers Installation
- Permeable pavers have large joints that allow water to swiftly flow through them.
- Joints do not need to be re-sanded frequently.
- Walls can be built around the perimeter without damming as the drainage of water is through the joints and not through the pavers.
- Durable and easy to maintain.
- Lowered costs as there is no additional cost of installing a separate drainage system.
- An eco-friendly and sustainable way to recharge groundwater and prevent water pollution in the source.
- These pavers have good tolerance to freeze-thaw cycles due to open aggregates used in the joints. With the abundance of air space between joints, water gets into these spaces and freezes which minimizes heaving.
Custom Patterns and Design Options to Outdoor Spaces
The installation process of permeable pavers differs from that of traditional pavers. Firstly, the permeable pavers are considerably thicker than the non-permeable pavers, which typically are around 60 millimeters thick. The interlocking pavers joints also vary in width depending on what volume of water needs to be managed. Unlike traditional pavers, sand is not used to fill the joints to allow water to pass through.
Professional paver contractors carry out test digs to determine the soil type to arrive at the appropriate installation techniques. The kind of soil beneath your driveway, patio, or outdoor kitchen can influence the extent of preparation needed before installing permeable pavers. Our highly trained and experienced professionals inspect the soil type and the volume of water that needs to be managed before determining the installation technique.
Your search for the “best concrete contractor in my area,” ends with Colossal Builders. As the recognized experts in permeable pavers installation and the preferred paver driveway contractor, we offer custom patterns and design options to outdoor spaces. The result is the best of both worlds – aesthetics and sustainability.