Silver Grey

1. CHECK YOUR PRODUCT 

Before any work is carried out, each piece of natural stone should be inspected, both wet and dry, prior to laying as pieces will vary. No returns can be accepted once the product is installed, so it is important to confirm you are happy with your product before proceeding. When work begins, ensure the area is cleared of all vegetation and debris. Then, ideally using a scaled drawing of your planned area, you can start plot pointing by marking out the space using pegs and a string line. 

2. PREPARE YOUR BASE  

• Remove topsoil as from the area to be paved. 
• Base materials may consist of granular materials (crushed aggregates) to be placed in a 6” layer. The thickness of base will vary with type of soil subgrade and climate, colder climates may require thicker bases. Soil conditions may vary (*). 
• The sub-base layer should be thoroughly compacted with enough water to aid compaction, increase density and control dust. Install Geotextile fabric to separate the subsoil from the base, as required by design. 
• Once the desired compaction has been achieved place a 1” bedding layer of loose sand on top, ensuring that the base is level by using a string line or screening board (*). 
• Patios should be laid with slope to drain off rain water. This slope should be at least 1/4” drop for every foot away from the house. 

 3. LAY YOUR SLABS

• Choose the design that you wish to lay, then starting in a corner carefully place the first slab in position and gently tap down using a rubber mallet.  

• The bedding layer of loose concrete sand allows for leveling the surface of each slab which may vary from piece to piece due to their texture. (*) 
• Slabs may be laid with up to 1/2” joints and filled with Polymeric. 
• Resin Sand on completion of installation. Install edge restraints. 
• When using Polymeric Sands or Joint Sands; adhere to manufactures recommendations and guidelines (*). 
• We recommend ULTIMATE Universal All weather Paving Joint Compound.   

1. CHECK YOUR PRODUCT

Ensure that you check your product before laying – we recommend dry laying a random selection of your slabs (from more than one pallet where applicable) to ensure that you are satisfied with the colour variation in the slabs. Claims or returns based on colour variation will not be accepted once the product has been laid. Ensure that whilst working with outdoor paving slabs that they are rested on wooden battens to prevent any edge chipping. 

2. PREPARE YOUR BASE 

Prior to installation, all necessary ground work should be completed. This includes ensuring there is a sub-base of at least 50 – 100mm thick of type 1 material (hard-core) which has been sufficiently compacted down, with a suitable water drainage fall (a fall of 1:60 is usually adequate).

3. PRIME YOUR SLABS 

• Apply a Slurry Primer mixed using cement powder, water and an outdoor based SBR bonding agent to a creamy consistency to the back of each slab before it is laid to help the paving adhere to the bed. 

• Paving slabs may need to be handled by 2 people (in particular the larger sized slabs). When applying slurry primer, ensure that you rest the slab on wooden battens to prevent any chipping. 

• Before applying the slurry primer, using a stiff brush, brush the back of the slab to clean off the magnesium oxide releasing agents, this will create the bond of the slurry primer to the Cerapave Porcelain paving. Paint each slab with slurry primer as you lay them, not all at once before you begin laying. The slurry primer on the back of the slab must still be wet when it is laid down, therefore you should not prime all slabs first before you start laying. This will ensure that the slab adheres to the mortar bed correctly. If any slurry primer is on the face-up side of the slab, immediately wash away the residue with water as you work. 

4. USE A FULL BED OF MORTAR

Just like natural stone products, World of Stones USA Cerapave Porcelain paving must be laid on a full wet bed of mortar. We recommend a mixture of a moist consistency (rather than runny) with approx. 4:1 sharp sand to cement. 

Please remember that with all World of Stones USA products – the spot laying method is not suitable! 

5. LAY YOUR SLABS

It is essential that each slab is tapped down to ensure as much of the slab as possible comes into contact with the mortar. When laying your project, ensure that you mix slabs to achieve an overall blended appearance. While the finishes of Cerapave Porcelain paving have less surface variation than natural stone, they are still designed with a level of variation to add a range of texture to their surface. If within the selection of slabs you encounter any repeat patterns, we suggest that you rotate slabs 90/180 degrees in order to minimise the appearance of repetition (this may be more prevalent in slabs which have a more extensive surface pattern). 

6. CUTTING  CERAPAVE PORCELAIN PAVING

Cerapave Porcelain paving can be cut with a disc cutter fitted with a suitable-for-porcelain paving diamond blade (this must be a petrol disc cutter as you must feed the disc with water to cut). However, for neater and more accurate cutting, we recommend using a suitable water-fed slab bridge saw. Ensure that appropriate protective clothing is worn while operating machinery. 

7. CHECK YOUR JOINTS

Allow for 10-12mm+/- approx joints when laying the slabs. We suggest an outdoor jointing compound (suitable for porcelain paving) should be used with our Cerapave Porcelain paving products – please speak to your merchant or landscaper for the most appropriate jointing compound for your project. As stated, World of Stones USA Cerapave Porcelain paving products are not designed to be butt jointed.

8. IMPORTANT –  CLEAN THE JOB  

It is particularly important to work cleanly when laying Cerapave Porcelain paving, both during and after installation. Once the job is completed, additional cleaning may be required if any residue remains, particularly from jointing compounds. Ensure that the jointing compound has set sufficiently and then clean the slabs with a suitable residue remover (depending upon which jointing compound has been used). Any residue left over from the laying process must be removed as soon as possible – failure to do so may result in staining on the surface of the slabs. If your Cerapave Porcelain paving has been laid in conjunction with any natural stone, ensure that the porcelain paving cleaner/residue remover you are using does not contain any acid and check they are suitable for porcelain paving.