All about the size of paving slabs

If the contractor and the customer are not ideological admirers of non-standard solutions, preferring to tinker with mosaic masonry, but create their own masterpiece, then they take into account the standard and standard sizes of tile fragments. Paving slabs are chosen according to the size, color and shape of the fragment.

There are more than a dozen types of the standard form of a piece of paving slabs.

• Collapsible square paving slabs: 300x300 mm - four large squares measuring 200x200 mm, in which a recess for a small square is cut at a distance of 5 cm from the central corner. The fragments are laid with a recess to each other, a small square 100x100 mm is inserted into the formed lumen. The thickness of each fragment is 7 cm.
• Simple square - 300x300 mm, with the same thickness (height). Square tiles are the easiest to lay: no overlap of protrusions into the depressions of the contour of the fragments is required.
• "Petal" - three undivided hexagons with a distance of 20 cm between the opposite faces of the figure. They represent a three-pointed star. The hex-triangular orientation of the assembly allows you to lay out the pavement in small hexagons, if you do not use color separation. The tightness of the arrangement of the composite fragments will not immediately make it possible to see that this is a “flower”, and not simple hexagons. The drawing of the sidewalk resembles a honeycomb.
• "Butterfly" - shaped brick, the sides of which are broken. Length is measured along opposite edges parallel to each other - as well as width. Size - 210x112x70 mm (all standard sizes are 70 mm thick).
• At the "racket" the thickened side (looking from above and below) has a width of 137 mm, a thin one - 87. The length of a fragment is 255 mm.
• Prism - a parallelepiped with dimensions of 70x70x210 mm.
• Standard "brick" - in fact, a brick - "weaving" 200x70x100. Refers to varieties of rectangular texture.
• "Prefabricated brick": small fragment 88x88x70, large - 180x88x70. Custom brick size.
• "Arrow", or "scales" - the side faces have a width of 103.5 mm, the length (height) of the fragment is 198 (excluding the bend in the middle and the obtuse angle formed by it).
• "Hexagon" - a primitive replacement for "flower": the distance between the opposite edges is 20 cm, between the opposite vertices - 2
• "Rhombus" - the distance between the more distant opposite corners is 329 mm, between the closer ones - 190.
• "Bone" or "coil" - distance between horizontal edges (set "standing") -198 mm. Between vertical projections - 163.
• "Reverse coil" represents two spliced ​​halves of an ordinary "coil", located with the outer edges to each other. The impression is that they were fused together - there is no dividing line.
• "Honeycomb", in contrast to the "petal", four small hexagons are used. "Honeycomb", "hex" and "petal" form a single standard.

The texture of the pavement is not a mosaic that needs to be picked up for a long time so that the fragments are next to each other. Faces, corners and edges are easily repeatable, which allows, unlike mosaics, to easily and quickly multiply these fragments, laying them out almost the same. As with bricks, this texture assumes the presence of shapes in the making.One shape - one piece, no special fitting required when laying out the sidewalk.

Exotic is the curly texture of paving stones with edges in which the bulges enter the corresponding concavities. Rare types include triangular tiles - regular or isosceles triangles that form a rhombic structure (two equal triangles are equal in area and diamond shape).

The largest size is 500x500x50 mm, typical - 300x300x30 mm. Options - 200x200, 400x400x40 mm - the usual "squares". It is difficult to use large tiles - they are typical for concrete slabs. Large-sized tiles have a drawback - they are more difficult to lift and carry, you cannot cope with such work alone.

You can choose the paving slabs suitable for specific tasks in width, length and height. The smaller the fragment, the less and the load on it - according to the laws of physics. Non-standard sizes, up to a mosaic texture, emphasizing the originality, individuality of the sidewalk area, are preferable for places where driving is excluded. The length and width in a single rectangle is calculated based on the texture.

For example, to cram the "bone" into this quadrature, without getting extra, not fit into the rectangle outlined by the plan, as well as hastily cemented empty spaces, use simple, sawn in half fragments - "coil", "hexagon". For cutting fragments for this purpose, an angle grinder is used, equipped with a saw blade coated with diamond dust. The work is performed by a professional who has a keen eye and a clear, well-defined hand. Extremely small fragment size - 100x100 mm. It is impractical to use smaller standard sizes - labor intensity increases, productivity decreases, labor can become unprofitable.

The paving height (thickness) is divided according to the design and expected load.

• 3 cm - recreation area and paths in the park with small, calm human traffic. The typical value of thickness and width is 30x30 mm. Example: 300x300, 400x400x30 mm.
• 40, 45, 50 and 55 mm thick - the usual pedestrian zone (streets, avenues, overpasses, parking areas). With a margin - the thickness and width can reach 40x40 or 50x50 mm. Large squares can be used - 400x400x50 mm.
• 60 - intensive human traffic, parking for cars (travel, driveway).
• 70 and more - designed for freight and passenger, bus, trolleybus traffic (except for super-heavy special equipment, tanks, armored personnel carriers). A typical representative is 400x400 mm.
• Up to 100 mm - any auto traffic (all cars and special equipment). Tiles are used in length and width, for example, 500x500, 600x600 (rare) millimeters.

Lack of thickness will lead to rapid cracking, collapse of paving slabs. In a few months or a year, the road, parking lot, access road will finally turn into a crumb of sand, destroyed cement mortar and the composite from which this tile is made. Rubber and plastic chips added to such tiles will soften in 40-degree heat (in the southern regions), become sticky like overheated asphalt, and the traffic zone will turn into a wavy mess, to which dirt and debris will stick. In addition to the dimensions of the fragment, production technologies are taken into account. Vibro-cast tiles are used in areas with low activity, vibropressed - with high, sometimes near-limit. Glide (especially in winter and during heavy rain) provides a smooth surface. Rough, grainy reduces it.The second is relevant on high-speed roads, however, laying out a highway or avenue with tiles is a rarity used only in resort cities or unique neighborhoods that are historical and cultural heritage.

The color scheme - for example, curly gray tiles - plays an important role in landscape and street design. The exteriors, for example, of polar cities and regional centers, where the climate is extremely harsh, and winter lasts 9-10 months, provide for bright and rich colors of warm colors (from red to yellow, brownish shades). They knew about this even in the late Soviet times, when they laid out colorful and bright panels on the walls of buildings. Gray tiles - as opposed to colored tiles - fit into a simple city-wide design, complementing gray curbs and dusty asphalt. There can be dozens of shades of gray. Finally, environmental friendliness plays an important role, for example, in the hospital area, resort areas.